Former longtime Atwater High School athletic director and aquatics coach Roddy Svendsen remembers introducing his wife, Nancy, to many of his colleagues at a back-to-school function in 1984. When Svendsen introduced Nancy to Joan Faul, who was the school’s vice principal, Faul immediately made Nancy feel right at home.

“You know what, any part of the Svendsen family is part of our family now,” Faul told the Svendsens. “She welcomed my wife like she’d always been here,” Svendsen said. “My wife will remember that story until the day she dies. Joan was just so welcoming, and Nancy didn’t know anybody.”

Many community members, city and county officials, and MUHSD employees were on hand during a memorial service for Carol Joan Faul, who passed away on July 10. Faul was 85 years old. The memorial service was held at Joan Faul Park, which the City of Atwater named in her honor in 1993. Stories were shared about Faul as a tough but caring educator, a person who put her community first and someone who was always willing to help.

Faul worked in education for 36 years, starting out as a PE teacher at Atwater High in 1963. She later became Dean of Girls at AHS and then spent 1974 through 1998 as the vice principal at Atwater High. She later served as Mayor of the City of Atwater and spent countless hours volunteering for different organizations and clubs. An MUHSD Faul Scholarship is being set up so her impact will continue to be felt by deserving students going forward.

Former students shared stories of being caught trying to sneak off campus by Faul, who often patrolled the parking lot. They all described her as firm but fair. Current Atwater High Activities Director Nathan Braga was one of those Falcons students trying to sneak off campus during his freshman year. Braga and some friends were trying to go buy the new Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg CD when they were stopped by Faul.

“We tried to leave campus, and there she was, like a human stop sign,” Braga said. “We were nervous. She looked at us and said, ‘Boys, where are you going?’ We told the truth and said, ‘We’re gonna go buy the new Dr. Dre album, Ms. Faul.’ Without missing a beat, she gave us that smile and said, ‘Boys, Dr. Dre can wait until after school. Get to class.’ We thought for sure we were going to be in trouble. Instead, Ms. Faul simply took care of us. That was Ms. Faul. She could absolutely hold you accountable, but she also genuinely cared about you.”

Former Atwater police chief and city manager Frank Pietro told a similar story of trying to sneak off campus to buy some 15-cent hot dogs at A&W when he was a student at Atwater High. After about a 20-minute conversation, Faul ultimately let Pietro go.

“You got 10 minutes, but bring me back a hot dog with no mustard,” Faul told him.

Svendsen says it’s impossible to measure the impact Faul had on the thousands of students who came through Atwater High School.

“It’s indescribable,” Svendsen said. “I mean, she was a disciplinarian and everybody knew that you couldn’t mess around with her, but I don’t think I ever heard a kid say that she wasn’t fair. She was honest with them, and she always, no matter whether the kid was a discipline problem or not, always impacted that kid positively. The kids really wanted to change their behavior because of visiting with her and the impact that she had, and she was the same way with the staff.”

Sandy Schiber remembers starting as a 23-year-old PE teacher at Atwater High. Faul would often see Schiber arrive on campus and walk her back to the PE offices because she felt Schiber was too young to make that long walk by herself.

“There are four things that were important to her: the City of Atwater, the school districts, students, and friends,” Schiber said. “She didn’t just live in our community; she strengthened it by making the people around her better.”

There was a time when Schiber and Pietro took turns chauffeuring Faul around after Faul lost her driver’s license after crashing into the police chief’s car. They would take her to Save Mart because that’s where Faul liked to walk and get her exercise. However, she spent most of the time stopping to talk to people in the store.

“I spent probably six months trying to teach her how to drive again, which was another nightmare,” Pietro said. “I would take her out to the base and let her drive. The first time I went to DMV with her to try to get her license back, she got in the car with the driving instructor and drove off the curb. I took her there three times. The second time, she made it past the driveway but pulled out in front of a car, so that was cut short. So the third time I said, ‘Joan, we’re not going to Merced anymore. Let’s go to Turlock where they don’t know you.’”

Schiber used to help Faul pay her bills because Faul didn’t like her own handwriting and wanted help writing checks. When she got to Faul’s cell phone bill, she noticed it was really high and thought there must be a mistake. She told Faul they should call her cell phone company to figure out why her bill was so high. Finally, after asking three or four times, Faul gave Schiber the look that told her to stop asking.

Schiber said: “She looks up at me, and she goes, ‘Sandy, let’s just say I have a few friends I help.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, write the check then.’ That was Joan. She never announced her generosity. She never looked for recognition. She simply saw a need and she quietly took care of it.”

Other people have stories of Faul picking up the tab at a restaurant without them knowing it. When Atwater High posted an announcement of Faul’s passing on Facebook, the social media post generated 26,000 engagements, according to Braga.

“For those that don’t know, an engagement is the thumbs up or sharing it, making a comment, clicking and opening it,” Braga said. “The next highest post we had at Atwater High that whole year was 8,000. That says something. That isn’t just social media. That’s more than 26,000 moments where someone stopped because Ms. Faul meant something to them. It’s a reflection of a life, a life spent giving far more than it ever took. It’s a reflection of the kind of educator she was.”

Faul was referred to as an Atwater icon and a pillar of the community during her memorial. “Joan didn’t just leave us memories; she left us an example,” Schiber said. “The greatest way we can honor Joan isn’t simply to remember her, but to become a little more like her.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.