Gruff exterior belied devotion to students, colleagues

Students that walked into Melvin C. Shaikes' classroom at Gemini Junior High School in Niles often tread in fear of the big, burly science teacher, whose voice echoed across the building.

However, it didn't take long, friends say, before they discovered the soft and caring person beneath the gruff exterior, and it was that they remembered long after they left the confines of the school.

"He was really tough on his students in the beginning," says Don Blitz, a former math teacher who team taught with Mr. Shaikes. "But when they left, they loved and respected him."

Mr. Shaikes passed away Thursday. The five-year resident of Grayslake, formerly of Carpentersville, was 62.

Colleagues at Gemini describe Mr. Shaikes as a leader among the faculty, and someone staff and administrators all looked up to and respected.

"After a few years of being on staff, the administrators would go to him, and ask his opinions on decisions coming up," Blitz added.

His natural leadership among his teaching colleagues led Mr. Shaikes to be elected president of the East Maine Education Association.

Teaching science at Gemini was Mr. Shaikes' first and only placement after he earned his undergraduate and master's degree in science education at Northern Illinois University.

What began in 1968 as his first job in the field remained his life's work - including nearly 30 years in the same classroom - working with adolescents and opening their eyes to the wonders of science.

"He covered everything, from chemistry to earth science," says his wife, Harriet, a former special education teacher at Gemini, whom he married in 2003. "He taught the basics as well as labs, and all in the same classroom."

The foundation he laid in science led to a pair of his students being named Rhodes Scholars, as well as one student, Kristina Govorovska, who nominated Mr. Shaikes for an Award of Excellence from the Illinois Math and Science Academy, which he won.

Winning the statewide award only underscored the excellence he brought to Gemini's science department, Blitz added.

"It was a wonderful science department and one that he helped support every summer by working on its summer curriculum," Blitz said.

Beyond the awards and formal leadership positions, Mr. Shaikes played an informal role with Gemini's students who did not speak English at home, whose numbers approached nearly 80 percent of the enrollment at one time, Harriet Shaikes said.

"Mel grew up in Berwyn, in a household where they did not speak English at home," she said. "He still could understand enough to get by and he reached out to many of the students, particularly those from Poland and Russia, and made them feel at home."

Beyond his wife, Mr. Shaikes is survived by two sons, Chad and Darin (Carrie) Shaikes, as well as a granddaughter, Alyson Ann.

Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday before a 4 p.m. funeral service at Strang Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 410 E. Belvidere Road in Grayslake.