The Hill community is coming together after the loss of one of our own. Ryckman “Ryck” R. Walbridge had a legendary career at the Hill School, not only teaching for forty years, but also serving as a girls’ soccer and boys’ lacrosse coach and form adviser, among a plethora of other roles. Walbridge passed away the week of February 19  after battling cancer. The Hill News would like to not only review a legendary career, but also give a voice to the people who knew him best. 

A New York City native, Walbridge spent his early life all over the Western Hemisphere from Cuba to New England before coming to Hill for the th

ird year of his teaching career. A more detailed biography of Walbridge’s life before and after his time here can be found on the Hill School website. 

While he does have a classroom, an athletics facility, and a faculty house named in his honor, Walbridge worked to leave his mark and made Hill a better place every day he was here. He served as adviser, committee member, then finally, assistant and associate headmaster before departing Hill after four decades in 2014. Though many members of our faculty and staff had the privilege of working with Walbridge throughout their time at Hill, there are no current students who have known what it was like to share a classroom, dorm, field, or office with him. However, we can certainly all feel the impact he left on the Hill. 

“Ryck sprinkled humor into everything he did. He so effortlessly showed us what it really means to live a good life,” said his soccer player, colleague, mentee, and friend Courtney Neese ’00. “In the midst of the countless hats that he wore at The Hill School, he had an uncanny ability to make you feel like the most important person in the room. He was one of the most sincere people I have ever known. He taught thousands of students to love Biology and soccer and lacrosse and sailing, but all those disciplines were just vehicles for teaching us to have a little fun, enjoy life, and cherish the people surrounding us.” 

“One of the definitions of the word ‘icon’ is ‘a person regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration.’ For me, Ryck was simply that. He was symbolic of what a true boarding school master should be, and therefore, he is worthy of our emulation,” said Chair of the Science Department and Senior Master of Science Bill Yinger ’95. “But most of all, if I had to nail down that facet of him that made him most successful, it is that he was kind. Once you knew this of Ryck, any pretense was immediately dispelled, and you knew that what you were getting was a person that deeply and honestly cared about you more than himself. All of his successes, as a teacher, coach, dorm parent, advisor, father, husband, and mentor stem from that fact. That is why he is loved. We could all learn from that.” 

“Mr. Walbridge was a fixture at The Hill School.  The image I hold close to my heart is of him standing in front of the Science Building with his coffee greeting all the students and faculty on their way to breakfast,” said Dean of Faculty and Senior Master of Mathematics Elizabeth Dollhopf. “He was a joyous person, wonderfully sarcastic, but joyous.”

Walbridge will not be forgotten at Hill, a place he poured so much time and dedication into. Our thoughts are with his family and friends as we commemorate his legacy at Hill.