Class Note 1980
Wide receiver and returner Len Robinson caught last fall’s football thriller while visiting his daughter at Penn. “I watched with Greg Henry, Tony Taliaferro and Paul Stephens. Greg is retired FBI, Tony is general counsel for BCBS and Paul is a pediatric cardiologist at Penn. Paul’s wife, Tyra Bryant-Stephens, is a national leader in prevention and treatment of pediatric asthma. I met up with Coach Teevens ’79 and players. I’m staying busy with my internal medicine practice and family’s nonprofit foundation.”
Lenny’s teammate John Clark retired to Grafton, Vermont, after 30-plus years with EDS and successor Hewlett Packard Enterprises, including two years in New Zealand, a “terrific family experience in a truly beautiful place.” John returned to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and ended up in Kansas City, Kansas, managing information technology outsourcing. “My wife of 35 years, Becky (Colby Sawyer ’81), has a family home in Grafton. After her mother passed away last year, we decided to retire and move in with her father. We have connected with Frank Leddy, Pete Scannell and Richard ‘Boomer’ Ackerboom. The funeral for Michael ‘Benny’ Startt ’79 triggered an avalanche of correspondence among lodge boys who loved Benny. Times like these, we realize accomplishments, money and possessions are not important; instead, we value most the relationships we have nurtured over the decades. The investments we make in time, laughter, tears and love sustain us in the long run.”
Laura Prescott has moved to Lebanon, New Hampshire, and earned the Association of Professional Genealogists Award for Exemplary Service.
She accepted my humble request for notes on more important topics. “Christmas 2017: attempted to be normal for three days—ate, drank, baked, visited family and overindulged. I suffered because I’m fighting cancer, rather, putting up with cancer. And ‘normal’ doesn’t work anymore.
“July 2015 I was living in Utah and working for Ancestry when I was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer. Breast cancer had converted my stomach into an inoperable wreck. With treatable melanoma a decade earlier, I completely freaked out. The stomach cancer thing hardly fazed me. Yes, it scared me and my family knowing I might be dead in six months. Already a lost cause, I drew on my innate optimism and morbid humor.
“Chemo makes it hard to walk. I’m emaciated, with four ‘Borg’ tubes keeping me close to 120 pounds. Good news: Treatment options have multiplied, so I can linger longer on the cusp of living.
“Carefully worded Facebook updates provoke smiles and ‘thoughts and prayers.’ I appreciate all the support from my ‘genealogist family,’ ’80s, extended family and coworkers.
“I avoid pity with a vengeance. I just want people to laugh, live, love, explore, learn, hope and even cry with me. I’ve outlived my expiration date by two years. Each day is challenging, sometimes boring. If I didn’t turn to friends, family, laughter and positive thinking, I’d sink into giving up. The thought crops up more often than I’d like to admit: Wouldn’t it be easy just to let go? Maybe it’s the granite in my muscles and my brain that makes me persevere.”
Thank you, Laura.
—Rob Daisley,3201 W. Knights Ave., Tampa, FL 33611; (813) 835-7722; robdaisley@me.com; Frank Fesnak, 111 Arbor Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010; (610) 581-8889; ffesnak@yahoo.com; Wade Herring, 1 Verdell Drive, Savannah, GA 31406; (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com
