Dozens of former students, friends and associates attended a surprise retirement party Saturday for beloved history teacher Roger Thompson, 71, who has decided to end a 44year career that is one for the history books.

He taught for 33 years in Eufaula, where he gained a reputation for his ability to bring history to life for his students, and for his upstanding character and integrity and and his love of travel – making countless journeys to Europe and other far-away places, usually taking groups with him.

Among those who attended the party was Gene Cross, the principal who gave him his first teaching job in 1980 in Stirling, a small town near Lawton.

Also among the well-wishers was Ashley Nixon-Amador, internationally known as best-selling historical romance author Scarlett St. Claire, who was one of his many students whose road to success was paved by Thompson.

Adam Lynn, an EHS graduate, was there. He will replace Thompson this fall. Currently, he is site manager of the Honey Springs Battlefield in Rentiesville. Lynn went with Thompson on a couple of his international trips.

“I’ll do the best I can do, but I won’t ever fill his shoes,” Lynn said. “He was a wonderful teacher.”

High School Principal Heather Combs helped organize the party, which was held shortly after Thompson returned from leading a group of travelers on a tour of sites in England and France.

“Just looking around this room is a great testament to how he has touched and impacted lives during his 44 years of education,” Combs said to the gathering before presenting him with a plaque to show how much he was admired.

She noted that Thompson is not merely a teacher, but a storyteller and a historian who breathes life into history.

Cross was just beginning his career as a principal and Thompson was the first person he interviewed to fill a teacher’s slot in 1980.

“We hired him right out of college,” Cross said. “On the very first day he taught, he was the best teacher I have worked with in 35 years.”

They have remained steadfast friends through the decades.

“He stood beside me when my wife and I got married. I followed him around to three or four foreign countries,” Cross said.

He recalled visiting a few spots in London and a tour guide told the group about those sites.

“Then Roger would tell us the rest of the story,” Cross said.

Thompson taught at Stirling for three years, then moved on to Wynnewood for a few years and finally to Eufaula, where he spent most of his career.

But he never lost touch with Stirling.

“He came to Stirling for years and emceed our all-sports banquet. He came to all five of my kids’ weddings,” Cross said.

Many of his children and grandchildren went on those famous trips led by Thomson.

“I wish every teacher could begin at Stirling,” Thompson said during remarks to the group. “It was a great school 44 years ago, and is still a great school today. But Eufaula is heaven on earth. It’s a great school and a great community.”

He said teaching was a wonderful career for him.

“I found what I wanted to do – I wanted to teach history and I did. It’s been a good 44 years. I encourage people to go into teaching. There’s never been a time in history when good teachers are more needed than they are today,” he said.

Afterward, speaking to the gathering of admirers, he said he has no immediate plans.

“I don’t fish. I played golf in college. I’ll probably just relax for a while and take care of my place,” he said.

And read history books.

His favorite authors are, of course, historians.

Ashley Nixon-Amador, who was there with her husband Armand, said Thompson had a great influence on her writing career and the fact that her novels are steeped in mythology and Greek history.

“He made history interesting,” she said. “I remember one time I was sitting in his class and he was lecturing on the Holocaust and I was trying to take notes but I was so lost in his lecture, so mesmerized by how he spoke I realized at one point that I hadn’t been taking notes. My mouth was hanging open. I was just so thoroughly engaged with what he was saying. He made everything so interesting, almost like you were experiencing it.”

She once made a trip to Ireland with Thompson and his group.

“Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Applegate (her English teacher) changed the trajectory of my life,” she said.

She travels extensively around the world, often promoting her novels.

Another student who made trips with Thompson was Palmer Scott, a 2017 graduate of Eufaula High School and a 2023 graduate of OU law school.

“He made sure I knew the importance of character, and to have rigor in the face of adversity,” Scott said.

He said today when he faces a judge, he feels like Thompson is there with him.

Many former students who couldn’t be there sent videos.

• “I just want you to know you are the best teacher I ever had.”

• “You are one of the most influential people in my life,” said a 1997 graduate. “You gave me knowledge both in and out of the classroom.”

• “Mr. Thompson made a difference in my life. Thank you so much. Thank you for everything you did for me. You instilled a love of travel, and that is still with me. I’ve been to 15 countries and counting. And you taught me that character counts and to question everything – not to take things at face value.”

• “I still have the post cards you sent me from Ireland. I always enjoyed our discussions about books.”

• “You changed my life. I am extremely grateful. You are one of the most influential mentors I have had in my life. You ignited in me my will to learn at a young age – not only in my career but in my life.”

• “Half of the stories I still tell today were about your classroom,” said a 1989 graduate, now living in Fairbanks, Alaska.

• “You had a huge impact on my life. I’m living in Portugal now, teaching my kids to be travelers, never tourists.”