The Extraordinary Journey of a Pioneer District Educator

Board Member Marcia Andrews congratulates Rosa Nash on her 100th birthday.

The second-born child of Fletcher Harris and Susan Motino Doub  was born in Sabana Grand, Honduras  on September 15, 1913. (Granddaughter Melissa Nash said that date is actually a guess since the actual records  may be inaccurate. Her grandmother may be 99 or 100—but the family held a 100 year birthday celebration  anyway.) Rosa and her family would eventually make their way to Labelle, Florida where she graduated from high school as Valedictorian. 

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1935 from Florida State College for Women, Rosa taught high school for a time in Labelle.  She later moved to Belle Glade where she taught 7th and 8th grade science and math.  She would soon marry Lawrence Nash, a chemist and inventor of insecticides, and they had two children, Lawrence, and Millie.

She later left education for a job with the Belle Glade Post Office where she worked her way up from a clerk to be appointed by President John F. Kennedy as the Postmaster in 1962. She remained there for over 30 years. During that time Ms. Nash developed Menieres Disease in both of her ears—a rare condition that left her profoundly deaf around the age of 50.

Just prior to her retirement from the Post Office, Ms. Nash was offered a job teaching at the newly-built elementary school for exceptional children; but she was told she would have to return to college to obtain a Master’s degree. And so she did—commuting 80 miles from Belle Glade to Miami two nights a week for a year.  At that time, US 27 was only two lanes and fraught with frequent accidents and violence. Her two granddaughters , Melissa and Michelle, often traveled with her, but there were also times she made the trip alone. Forty years after earning her Bachelor’s degree, Rosa Daub Nash earned her Masters of Education from the University of Miami and proceeded to teach a class for the deaf children of the community for the subsequent 11 years at what is now known as Gove Elementary School.

After attending her birthday celebration Board Member Marcia Andrews stated that Ms. Nash’s life and commitment to education and community should be an inspiration to students and staff alike. “ Here’s a woman who taught, worked as a postmaster, raised her children, and participated in numerous community organizations and her church—and she didn’t let her hearing impairment stop her.” Ms. Nash, who has said she hopes we all get to live to be 100 years old, also stated that teachers still don’t get paid very well, and they seem to have a lot more they have to do.

The pioneer educator’s fascinating life has taken her from Honduras, to California, to Florida, and Tennessee. She now lives quietly with her daughter Millie in Port Saint Lucie.  Granddaughter Melissa said Ms. Nash enjoys reading books on her new Kindle and playing Freecell on the computer.

Click here to see more photographs.

For more information, contact her granddaughter Melissa Nash, 561.697.4911 or email Melissa@4aronline.com. 

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