Wing upholds long legacy of promoting reading

Roma Wing welcomes twins Luke and Logan Hall. Luke, the older, was Thing 1, while Logan portrayed Thing 2. (RECORD PHOTO/GREGG PARKER)
Roma Wing welcomes twins Luke and Logan Hall. Luke, the older, was Thing 1, while Logan portrayed Thing 2. (RECORD PHOTO/GREGG PARKER)

MADISON – Vibrant and energetic 81-year-old Roma Wing was more excited than most elementary students about Dr. Seuss Week.

Keeping her tradition, Wing read for preschoolers at Trinity Baptist Church and second-graders at St. John the Baptist Catholic School. At Trinity, she was summer camp storyteller and reads for chapel story time.

“Even at 81, I can use my years in little theatre and the classroom. Kids don’t care that I’m a great-grandma,” Wing said.

In the 1990s, Roma and late husband John moved from Newbury, Mass., about 40 miles northeast of Boston. She taught elementary students for 33 years.

She sometimes taught “in a four-room wooden school with just two classes” to avoid the state’s closing the facility. “It was wonderful for little kids.”

Wing now volunteers for phonics at West Madison Elementary School. “I made a mistake, though, because one second-grader learned to read with a Boston accent,” she joked.

She has recorded special request books for the Alabama Institute for the Blind. “Old teachers never die. They just lose their class — and borrow others,” Wing said.

(RECORD PHOTO/GREGG PARKER)
(RECORD PHOTO/GREGG PARKER)

A few former students wrote their theses about books she read to them. “What greater honor could an old teacher have?” she said. “It’s fantastic to have ‘kids’ from nearly 60 years ago tell me via Facebook about reading those books to their children and grandkids.”

The Wings’ children are Michael Wing and Jacqueline Meurer, both of Monrovia.  Jacqueline’s children are Katherine Meurer and Jessica Nixon and husband Ramsis. Brian Wing and wife Denise of Mesa, Ariz.; their sons are Toby and Sgt. Benjamin Wing and wife Tanya and children Novalee and Olivia Wing.

John and Roma Wing were married 59 years. “We were glued at the hip since high school sophomores,” she said. They read nightly to their children. “I read whenever they weren’t out building tree huts or igloos,” Roma said.

Wing doesn’t plan to retire her red-and-white striped top hat any time soon. She will portray Cat in the Hat whenever an audience needs a reader.

Bob Jones High School

Local Talent Shines In Alabama Baseball Victory At Toyota Field

Bob Jones High School

Bartlett selected as Executive Director of US Chess Federation

Madison

Mill Creek students shine in Elementary Science Olympiad

Madison

Facility dog Daryl comforts, ‘listens’ to children at Midtown elementary

Madison

Batt-Rawden named ‘Alabama School Psychologist of the Year’

Madison

Madison city councilman Teddy Powell loses to Marilyn Lands in special election for HD10

Bob Jones High School

Bob Jones’ population fondly remembers Angela Mooney

Digital Version

Digital version of The Madison Record – March 27, 2024

Events

AUSA showcasing the U.S. Army’s technological advances in Huntsville

Madison

Voters in HD10 to decide who fills unexpired term today

Madison

Jackie Smith’s legacy thrives through her students at Mill Creek

Harvest

AUSA sponsors ‘Operation Deploy Your Dress’ for women’s gowns

Bob Jones High School

Bob Jones ‘fetches’ ‘Mean Girls – High School Version’ for Spring Musical

Events

Arts Huntsville announces Panoply Arts Festival 2024 highlights  

Huntsville

Women in Tech – Huntsville event to view business future, open scholarships

James Clemens High School

Students in grades K-11 earn City Chess Champ titles

Madison

MVP Community Impact Grant helps library’s Music Garden

Harvest

Enjoy a day of celebration at TARCOG’s Senior Fun Fest

Madison

Kim Dykes named state’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication Professional

Bob Jones High School

All-Girls National Chess Championships set for Chicago

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Mustang Mud Run Set For April 13- Register Now

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Madison Miracle League Facility Hopes To Be “Shining” Location

Bob Jones High School

Madison Visionary Awards: Madison residents and business leaders named finalists for volunteerism awards

Digital Version

Digital version of The Madison Record – March 13, 2024

x