2010... In Memoriam

[physics-fan3.14]

I thought with everyone we lost this year, it might be nice to do an "In Memoriam" thread. Post a funny story, an anecdote, a memory, a coin that reminds you of someone, or really just anything. This is to remember all those we lost in the worst year on the boards I can remember.

[WoodenJefferson]

Rey Brown posted as rbrown4 and after his dad passed away a few years ago, we were comparing coincidences with both our Father’s burials. My Dad passed away in March of 1980 and in Wisconsin, a March winter is still a very common event.

 

We were standing in the cemetery, it was cold, the sky was a wintry gray overcast and the ground was still quite frozen with about 4” of patchy snow. As the Pastor was speaking, I gazed upward, perhaps to hold back a tear and a lone Canadian goose flew directly overhead. The goose was so low you could make out it’s eye, it did not honk but it looked down and then just slid silently through the sky.

 

As my Dad was an avid hunter of ducks & geese, I took this as a pretty significant sign.

 

Rey conveyed to me that while his Father was being brought home for the last time in the church, something eerie also happened. He went on to explain that his Dad loved trains and that he collected all sorts of train memorabilia.

 

During the church service, there was a moment of silence. As if on cue, this distant train rumbling across the great plains of Texas began to sound it’s whistle. Rey went on to say they usually just gave three short toots and then one long whistle blow for the crossings but this particular train sounded his horn on and off continuously for the whole time.

 

He said the din of the lonely whistle could be followed across the front of church where his Dad laid in peace. When it faded off into the distance, the moment of silence had ended and the procession went forward.

 

Rey also took this as a significant sign.

 

Rey eventually succumbed to cancer and has been missed.

 

Rest in peace buddy.

 

 

[bsshog40]

I agree we've lost alot of friends this past year. Going bac thru posts lately I noticed Chads avatar and remember his humorous remarks he used to have. Rey helped thru a rough time in my life. Occasionally he would call to see how I'm doing and we would talk a little coins but most times he would tell about him and Donna sittin in a hot tub listening to my CD. He really enjoyed this and one of his wishes was to have my song played at his funeral, which it did!! Life is short and I've learned to try to enjoy life to it's fullest, and try not to be soo materialistic because you Definitely cannot take it when you go.

[supertooth]

Jason------ This is my "first" response to these events. I just couldn't bring myself to reply all year.

 

Rey Brown's death hit me like a sledge hammer. Oh, I knew that he was going to pass on----but that didn't seem to matter. He had been sooooo dedicated to his Dad and was a true son from all that I saw and heard from him. We had talked "MANY" times about his Dad's coins. I respected how Rey was trying to honor his Dad's collection. It seemed sooooo strange to me. His Dad was past 90 and yet Rey was just in his 40's. His passing truely BOTHERED me deep down.

 

Then there was the sudden death of another dear friend Lou {IGWT}. Again, I just sort of sat here at my computer. Silent prayers were all that I could manage. Lou and I had had a sort of "special" relationship. He was letting his youngest daughter collect Walkers and I had encouraged that. He and I had written many times. Lou was a fine Christian man and father. Worse----he sent me pictures. That made it very personal for me. These two deaths hurt me the most. I guess, in part, because I was older----and I treated them in a fatherly manner.

 

But, it seemed as if every week we had become aware of another passing. It was indeed a "TERRIBLE" year for us here on both forums. I'm very glad to end 2010 and to start fresh again tomorrow.

 

I can only ask The Lord to welcome ALL who passed in 2010. God rest their souls. Bob [supertooth]

[cpm9ball]

Obviously, Rey followed in his father's footsteps in his love of trains because he began collecting medals that had trains on them. It didn't matter if it was in a prime focal point or if it was obscured in the background.

 

In 2007, one of my "French Connections", Fabrice Volckaert, posted an auction for a medal that had a really wierd locomotive on it. It had some sort of screw drive mounted vertically on the front of the vehicle. The medal was dated 1836, so there is no telling what ideas of locomotion inventors of that era had in their minds.

 

Anyway, I contacted Rey to ask if he would be interested in it, but I cautioned him that it looked pretty bad because someone had apparently tried to clean it with some kind of cleanser. When Rey told me that he wanted it, I suggested that he let me contact the seller because I had a pretty good relationship with him. It was early enough that there were no bids placed, so he was happy with my offer and pulled the auction. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I'm pretty sure it was less than $75.

 

After receiving the medal from France, I took a couple of photos of it before sending it to Rey. He was absolutely thrilled with it, and he posted a thread asking how he should proceed to conserve it. With the advice from Hoot, Rey soaked it in a mixture of Woolite and olive oil, and the photos Rey posted showed that the conservation worked perfectly.

 

After Rey passed, I related to one of the other members (I think it was Bobby) that I wished that I could buy the medal from Rey's estate as a remembrance of him. For me, it would have been the ultimate legacy, and I would remember Rey every time I looked upon that medal. Unfortunately, it was never to be, but my fondest memory of Rey is the feeling I got of his joy when he added that medal to his collection.

 

Here are the before (mine) and after (Rey's) photos of that medal.

 

Chris

 

[cpm9ball]

When I first joined here, I didn't have a decent camera to take photos of coins, and when I finally bought one, I also purchased photo software from ACDSee. I was having a heck of a time trying to learn how to post the photos. The protocol then was more complicated, and everyone was telling me that I couldn't post photos directly from my computer and that I had to use a hosting service. I refused to accept this advice and figured that there had to be some way to post them directly from my computer.

 

I had never had any direct conversations with Lou until I received a PM from him, and he spent hours helping this computer dummy find a way. In my mind, I was imagining that Lou was probably thinking to himself, "What have I gotten myself into?", but he never wavered in his determination to see me through to the end.

 

This is my fondest memory of Lou, his willingness to help a complete stranger without any more gratification than the achievement of a job well done. I'm still a computer dummy and I still take lousy photographs, but I really miss Lou not being here.

 

Chris

[James_OldeTowne]

Pete Rudden's passing (prudden) stunned me, as it seemed like literally "moments" earlier, we had been bantering back and forth regarding plans for selling some of his coins. His desire was to raise funds to help with health issues -- the very issues that proved to be his demise. I miss Pete a lot. In fact, just yesterday, I was going through some of our PMs.

 

Lou's (IGWT) was also a total shock to me. We had recently had an exchange of PMs regarding attribution of shield nickels. I though Lou was one of the best contributors to the boards.

 

There are others that I know will be mentioned by board members in this excellent and thoughtful thread.

[cpm9ball]

Lou's legacy will always be with us since his thread Post Your Most Recent Acquisition is pinned at the top of U.S. Coins..........11,107 replies & 248,647 views and still going strong since April, 2006.

 

Chris

[jtryka]

Wow, 2010 was perhaps the crappiest year ever for me! I'll be glad when it's finally over and we can move on.

 

It was a tough year for the board with many losses of great members, but also the shocking losses of so many that left us too soon in my view (of course I don't presume to second guess the Almighty when he chooses to take folks from this earth, but it always strikes me as terribly sad when a person is taken after we've only been able to spend a few short years with them). We lost a lot, and it will be a challenge to recover from the loss of our friends in this community, but we will move on as we must move on.

 

Beyond the friends lost here, I lost both my parents, my aunt and my great aunt all in less than 3 months. I'm still not totally over all that, but here's to this sorry year coming to a merciful end! May 2011 only get better!

[cpm9ball]

Wow, 2010 was perhaps the crappiest year ever for me! I'll be glad when it's finally over and we can move on.

 

It was a tough year for the board with many losses of great members, but also the shocking losses of so many that left us too soon in my view (of course I don't presume to second guess the Almighty when he chooses to take folks from this earth, but it always strikes me as terribly sad when a person is taken after we've only been able to spend a few short years with them). We lost a lot, and it will be a challenge to recover from the loss of our friends in this community, but we will move on as we must move on.

 

Beyond the friends lost here, I lost both my parents, my aunt and my great aunt all in less than 3 months. I'm still not totally over all that, but here's to this sorry year coming to a merciful end! May 2011 only get better!

 

Let's hope so, Jeff!

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

Wow, 2010 was perhaps the crappiest year ever for me! I'll be glad when it's finally over and we can move on.

 

It was a tough year for the board with many losses of great members, but also the shocking losses of so many that left us too soon in my view (of course I don't presume to second guess the Almighty when he chooses to take folks from this earth, but it always strikes me as terribly sad when a person is taken after we've only been able to spend a few short years with them). We lost a lot, and it will be a challenge to recover from the loss of our friends in this community, but we will move on as we must move on.

 

Beyond the friends lost here, I lost both my parents, my aunt and my great aunt all in less than 3 months. I'm still not totally over all that, but here's to this sorry year coming to a merciful end! May 2011 only get better!

 

Let's hope so, Jeff!

 

Chris

I hear ya my friend.

[robec1347]

I enjoyed interacting with Chad and Rey many times over the last 3 or so years. Both were passionate about the hobby, family and friends. And both were taken from us much too soon. I was fortunate to have been able to image a few coins from their collection. Of the coins imaged, these bring back the most fond memories of each friend.

 

Chad

 

 

Rey

 

[zrlevin]

Here's a coin I bought from Chad....it took me a while to get it away from him, but its one of my favorites. RIP buddy.

 

[jtryka]

I just went through a bunch of old PMs with Chad, lots of fun buying and selling from him, he had that youthful complete lack of an attention span that I'll always remember. I remember I bought his 1808/07 in VG in an NGC slab, I never really needed it since I already had one, but I bought it anyway since he needed the money for his next numismatic adventure. That one and the 1821 and probably a few others I can't remember are still sitting in my collection, preserving the memories of friends now in better places.

 

I think this is the 1821 I bought from him, if memory serves and it lets me post the image!

 

 

And this may be his 1808/07:

 

 

 

[WoodenJefferson]

Chad posted as MonkeyMan95 here on the chat boards and SilverEagles92 ATS.

 

I was the one who shrunk this image and PM‘ed

him to say it just seemed to fit him to a tee and he

quickly adopted the “Thinking Monkey”

I really had no idea Chad was that young, he had a terrific sense of humor,

one that I got, and was passionate with coin collecting. I also had no idea

that he had existing health issues and was truly saddened when he abruptly

departed this earth.

[physics-fan3.14]

Haha, I always used to smile when I saw that monkey. Chad was definitely a great guy, always helpful, always humorous.

[bsshog40]

Haha, I always used to smile when I saw that monkey. Chad was definitely a great guy, always helpful, always humorous.

Yes he was!!

[BillJones]

I really miss Bruce Longyear who was an independent dealer and then for a couple years a top notch numismatist at JJ Teaparty Coin Company in Boston. Bruce was a talented numismatist, a totally honest dealer and most importantly a great guy. When he left Teaparty, and great many of his loyal customers were genuinely saddened.

 

Bruce and I had a “Mexican Stand-off” over two coins. He wanted to buy my 1792 half disme which he had sold to me when he was at Teaparty, and I wanted an 1803 half dime that he had bought at a Bay State show when he was an independent dealer and had put into his collection. I asked Bruce to give me first shot if he ever decided to sell the 1803, and true to his word, he did just that.

 

Here are both coins.

 

The 1792 half disme Bruce wanted to buy from me:

 

 

The 1803 half dime I wanted to buy and did buy from Bruce.

 

 

Bruce pretty much left the coin business after he resigned from Teaparty, but I still saw him now and then at the Baltimroe shows. Since he had not been an active dealer for over 10 years, most collectors did not recognize his name when his death was announced.