Hello World,
John Zeller died last week. His memorial service is today at Lowdermilk Park at 9:30AM. He was 57. The obituary said he died in his sleep. I hope that was true and if so, what a way to go, but far too soon. I loved John. He was one of the good guys in my eyes. I loved working with him. He became “Head of School” at CSN after I left and after James left. Let me see if I can get his picture.
John E. Zeller
This is how I remember him. He left CSN a few years back. By then I’d lost touch with what was going on at the school, but I had a sense that because John didn’t have his “doctorate” the Board wanted a “credentialed” headmaster. So now there is a “Doctor” in the house. Not sure what happened to him after he left CSN, but I see he was divorced from Lisa which was a shame, as I thought they were a pretty good couple. I remember the difficulty they suffered when Wren was born. Then there was Jackie (named for his father) who I never knew as I was gone from CSN long before she was born. Anyway, I’ve been reflecting on my time at CSN. It was good, bad and ugly. But it was an experience unlike any other I’ve known in this town. Overall, I loved working at CSN, but it’s not the school I knew. It’s big business now. I went on the website this morning and there are 168 faculty and staff members. I remember when we started with only a handful – less than 20 at the start. But things change. Anyway, I’m very sad about John’s passing. He was way too young. But that just reinforces my decision to retire. I want to do it while I still have energy and good health.
Sunday, April 16, 2017. The service at Lowdermilk for John was really well attended. John’s sister spoke eloquently. Then Wren and Jackie spoke and finally Lisa. Moe Kent kept the service moving. He said that John had “battled demons”. I can imagine what that meant. I ran in to Joan Gardner on my way in and stood with her for the service. It lasted about 1/2 hour and when it was over, we left and skipped “speaking with the family”. As I looked around for people I knew, there were few. I saw Tony and Wynne across the yard. I think I saw Mary Davis sitting. Never saw Denny Durian but he was probably there in the crowd.
Speaking of retirement, I found out that they “eliminated” Amy Blackmore’s position on Wednesday. That is a bit of a shock, but not really. Ever since Kent left, I think she realized that her days were numbered. But there wasn’t any time for her to say goodbye to people. I spoke with her and that was the one thing she regretted. They were going to make the “announcement” on Friday – yesterday. Wonder what they came up with. Morale is quite low right now and the Hollaran Survey is coming up shortly. I’m wondering what came of the survey on “Best Places to Work” with Moorings Park. I think my timing was good.
I’m still trying to get signed up for Medicare Part B which I need in order to get the other insurance I need through Humana. I’m letting John Beane lead me through this. I hope I get the signed letter I need from MP today in the mail, then I’ll go to the SS office on Monday and get it done – I hope.
Well, I’m still not sure what I’ll wear today to the memorial – it’s at the beach, so I don’t think I need to dress to impress, but I would like to look nice, so I’ll go work on that now. I’ll be back later today to fill in what happened today. See you later.
The Rock & Roll Recovery bash was great. We set up the canopy. Here is a picture:
Rock and Roll Recovery Bash
It worked out well. We’ve already lost a part of the canopy that keeps one of the corners up. I’m hoping that going forward it won’t be a problem, but who knows. Anyway, the next event will be May 13th at the Intergroup Picnic. I don’t think they had as many people there as they had hoped. But it was still fun for us. The speaker was a guy named Todd who apparently had been in and out of every rehab in the US. I don’t think Treatment works all that well, but what do I know, except that it costs a lot of money and doesn’t work unless you want it.
I’m going over to Bill’s today for Easter Dinner at 2PM. I may ride BB. I’m not riding her as much until I get the Medicare Part B and the supplemental insurance through Humana. I’m definitely not riding her to church. The only trouble with the Humana policy is that Dr. McLean does not take it. So I may need to give him up as my doctor. But we’ll see how that goes.
Well, I need to get going now. Need to dry my hair. May come back and write some more, but I see I’m getting to the word limit, so may not. Thanks for visiting!
