A gift of gratitude

Lyons looms large in the annals of celebrated PA teachers. His impact has been noted by legions of alumni who, like Bush, appreciated his sharp wit, gentle nature, and persistence.

Lyons had not been dealt an easy hand in life. Growing up in nearby Reading, Massachusetts, the high school football star was recruited to play at Brown University. In the fall of his junior year at Brown, he contracted polio. Lyons spent nine months in the hospital. When he was released, he would need crutches to walk for the rest of his life. His football career was over.

Despite this setback, Eleanor says that her husband never complained. Instead, Lyons focused on his other love—history—and began a teaching career that would span nearly 40 years.

Raising a family of four on the Andover campus was enjoyable, says Eleanor, who found a community with other faculty families. Her husband thrived, publishing seven books, coaching football, advising The Phillipian, and teaching the challenging history course Man and Society.

While at Andover, Bush was known to be a social student who enjoyed sports including the infamous PA stickball league, of which he was commissioner.

Bush also paid attention to Lyons and his history classes. And as he grew older and his political career evolved, Bush recognized even more clearly the impact of his former teacher, going as far as to mention Lyons in several of his campaign speeches and write about him in his memoir, Decision Points.

Although Bush and Lyons did not agree politically, there was a shared appreciation and respect. Bush even invited Eleanor and Tom to the White House for his January 2001 inauguration. Eleanor recalls being ushered into the Oval Office and watching as her husband and his former student sat next to each other talking.

“That was wonderful, to see Tom and the president by the fireside having a conversation. They had a good rapport with one another,” she shares.

Daughter Kathleen also recalls that visit. “Although Dad did not necessarily agree with his politics, I remember he said, ‘That is a man of great integrity.’”

The feeling was mutual. And when Bush—who took up painting in retirement as a way to manage “being too antsy”—was asked by the Lyons family if he would consider creating a portrait of his former teacher, he readily agreed.

“I was intrigued by the idea,” Bush says. “Tom Lyons influenced my love of history. So I thought, let me see if we can find some pictures of him to use.”

The three paintings that Bush created are based on photos taken during Lyons’s 2001 visit to the White House. “I used a lot of color,” says Bush, “because he was a colorful man. He was a larger-than-life person.”

And the lessons that Lyons imparted—of integrity, persistence, and doing what is right—are lessons that Bush hopes today’s Andover students can still learn from.

“Take advantage of the opportunity [provided at Andover] and understand this is just a step in life. Learn as much as you can and be a good citizen. We need Americans to be citizens and not spectators. And don’t be discouraged by today’s political climate,” Bush advises. “History has shown that it will course correct.”