In Memory

Robert Stapp

Robert Stapp

Yearbook quote: "I'm sure care's an enemy of life."

Died November, 1987 -- cancer



 
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12/05/09 07:48 PM #1    

Terry Hodges

Bob was a boy in my neighborhood. He, like me, was interested in model airplains. We built them, flew them, crashed them, rebuilt them, and flew them again, an unending cycle during our jr. high years.

Bob wasn't popular in school and kept to himself most of the time. I never knew him to have a girlfriend or to even go out on a date. He was simply too shy to ask. But he was a nice guy with a good sense of humor, and I enjoyed his company.

Bob, John Kovar and I once built backpacks and hiked into the far reaches of San Gabriel Canyon. We spent the night sleeping on the ground near the ruins of some very old stone building. It turned out to be a poor choice for a camping spot, because during the night literally thousands of big, long-legged harvest spiders emerged from the big piles of stones there to take a stroll. We woke up with them all over us. I don't remember how Bob and John dealt with the problem, but I just covered my mouth so I wouldn't inhale them and went back to sleep.

I know little of Bob's story following high school, except that he remained interested in airplanes and was in the process of building a full size sail plane when cancer took him. It so saddens me that he was never able to fly that airplane.

I have a photo of Bob, John and me in our homemade backpacks, ready to set out on our mountain adventure. I study it from time to time, pondering the injustice of what fate had in store for us. It seems so unfair that they were destined to die so young and I would live on.

I miss you guys.

T. Hodges


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