Bye for now my friend…… see you down the road Greg!

Kaity and Matt, may you ,and all of us, find comfort in the many special memories shared with your dad. 

I had the good fortune of having Greg in my freshman science class at CHS and then had the honor of being his track coach through his senior year. I got to see him grow from a goofy, gangly kid to a fine young man.  Greg was a great learner, he was enthusiastic, a hard worker and could be very focused. He came from a great family. His wonderful parents were very supportive.

In working with Greg through the years and see him mature I began thinking about that if I had a son I would hope he would have the same qualities as Greg. Years later I did have that son and he grew to have many of the same characteristics as Greg. Like Greg he had a great smile, he had the ability to make friends easily, and was quite the jokester . Unfortunately we also lost him this year from the complications of colon cancer. Two great men who passed too soon.

Greg also played football but he excelled on the Track. He was fast over the hurdles and had excellent form. (I will try and upload a photo). He always ran both hurdle races. In his senior year(1976) he won both the High Hurdles and the Intermediate Hurdles at our district meet and thereby qualified for the Oregon State High School Championship Meet the next week in Eugene. Greg continued his winning ways at Lewis and Clark College running for my old coach where he had more success and not just athletically but academically as well.

I last had contact with Greg when he had moved to Bend and we talked about sharing a beer when I passed through town. I regret that never happened.  In all my years of teaching and coaching Greg was one of the great ones.  

Journeying through photos of Greg, I was reminded of his ability to be fully present. A seemingly simple thing, but one that lingers with powerful beauty…one of the kindest gifts you can give to another person.

He taught and showed me many things over those years. I had no idea how much you could do in a day! Head out on a morning run, cook up and enjoy homemade waffles with chopped apples and pecans, hit the local farmers market (make new friends) before grabbing the roads bikes to meet old friends for a quick 10 mile ride along the Portland bike path. :)

Yes, Greg had an ardent zest for life, but he was most passionate about his kids, Katie and Matthew. He was so proud of who they were and who they were becoming. He loved them above all things and it was beautiful to witness.

Greg introduced me to many things, but the greatest of things was love. I hope he knows how deeply he was loved by many.

Praying he will, forever, find rest in the arms of God’s eternal loving grace.

Always 💖

Driving home from lunch one day , high school lunch break. Greg , Perry, myself and Kernal if my memory of who was all in the car is correct. Greg driving his parents car had a fender bender like a month or two after after he got his drivers license. It happened and mister calm and cool Greg starting saying sh-t sh-t sh-t, what am I going to tell me dad. The short story John Greg’s dad got to hear from all four of us about what happened  because Greg had us go with him to see his Dad. That made Greg a wise man that day. 

The lesson Greg and we learned that day was take the situation head on and don’t bend the truth. I am sure Greg had some penance to pay as John always was giving Greg valuable insight about being responsible for your actions. 

Our Friendship and all the crazy story’s and fun we had through high school together will never go away

You will be so missed my friend. 

I was very saddened to learn of Greg’s death. I knew him well in our early days at Centennial and then at Lewis and Clark College. We were on the track team together at L&C and freshman year roommates. Needless to say, we spent lot of time together. We shared a lot of laughs and he was always great fun to be around. He had the ability to make everyone feel welcome and included in any situation, and the only person I’ve ever seen who had mastered the art of the 15 minute nap.  We didn’t see each other often following graduation, but when I did see him it was if no time had passed. He clearly touched many lives during his nearly 65 years with us, and will be deeply missed. My sincere condolences to his children, siblings and other family members.