Bryan Melara / Roundup
In her 37 years of teaching Kathy Daruty has given her students many valuable lessons. In that time one student in particular has given her a couple lessons.
Piano lessons that is. Four years ago, she noticed on a students personal finance project the student gave piano lessons. The former student eventually became her piano instructor.
Daruty admits when she began playing, she only knew what a “C note” was, now she’s able to play Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” in the original.
“I’m now a intermediate pianist.” she said. “I play at least one hour a day.”
With her plans to retire, she should have more time to work on the piano and maybe even become a concert pianist.
Her husband, Ron Remsberg, also a professor of philosophy and her “number one rooting section,” plans to retire after the semester as well, which has influenced her decision.
“He’s a big part of why I’m retiring,” she said. “He’s the most wonderful human being.”
The two have had “Tuesday night dates” for the past 35 years driving to work with each other and even occasional dinners before teaching their classes.
The couple met in graduate school at the University of Southern California, while working on their advanced degrees in philosophy.
“It’s been a wonderful life,” she said. “I can’t recommend this lifestyle enough.”
Daruty, a product of the inner-city grew up on Slauson Avenue and Overhill Drive in Inglewood.
Out of Dorsey High School, she got a full ride to USC.
Daruty worked full-time through college and went on to get her B.A. in business administration with a minor in philosophy in 1970. In those days, attending a college course in your chosen area of business, like Daruty did, was the most popular route into this career, however these days, looking for an online mba entrepreneurship can help you to get the same qualifications and skills to pursue your dream job.
Fresh out of college she began working in business for a short period of time.
“I was supposed to be a marketing assistant and they had me counting pencils and serving coffee,” she said about her business career venture.
In 1973 she began her teaching career as a part-time instructor at Cerritos College, El Camino College, Los Angeles Community College and L.A. Harbor College.
Shortly after she got a full-time job at California Lutheran University where she worked for five years as a philosophy and business instructor.
While working at Cal Lutheran, she recalls driving past the tall, forrest green sign on U.S. Highway 101 that read “Pierce College.”
As she would drive by the sign to and from work she recalls thinking to herself, “Dear God, that’d be such a great place to get a job.”
In September of 1979 that thought became reality when she began working in the business department at Pierce.
“I was very lucky to get the job,” she said. “This was my goal.”
Although she majored in business, it wasn’t always “business as usual.”
Throughout her career at Pierce she has taught two sections of Finance 8 in addition to Business 1, one section of Philosophy 1 and Philosophy 20 and an Encore Finance class.
“Teaching seven sections was never about extra income, but about my devotion to the philosophy and business departments,” she said.
Even with her hectic schedule as a professor, Daruty was still able to play an active role in the Los Angeles Community College’s honor society, Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS).
AGS is the organization responsible for the existence of the Dean’s List according to Daruty.
For 17 years Daruty was a Fac