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Jun 18, 1950 - Mar 17, 1987
Hi Ruth,
I was directed to you by Sharon Easterly regarding a friend from CHS, Scott Thompson.
When I attended our reunion in '08, there was a table with pictures and names of our classmates who are no longer with us. Scott, among others was there at the table.
I was close to Scott in school and was very good friends with his family. He has two sisters, Kathy & Janet, and a brother Steve - a mixed family, but all living and attending Claremont schools. His sister Kathy, Scott and I did some events like weddings as an acoustic group in '70-'72. Kathy and I dated for a while too. But I digress...
Scott was always trying to "find himself". He was as good a friend as any one could ask for. Good musician, funny and totally ready for anything. I still have letters he wrote to me from the top of a mountain in Colorado when I was attending my "graduate school" in South Viet Nam. I was taken away for short times by reading his wacky but heartfelt letters and for a moment I was home with a good friend. Although none of us spoke about the politics or reasons for my being there, and though it was not cool to support the U.S. effort, Scott wrote regularly to keep me in touch with home and my friends. Although I have a lot of friends from that time, only Scott took the time in his own way to remind me that I was being remembered. That was my friend Scott.
In about 1983 or '84, I got a call from a mutual friend that Scott had taken his own life. I was so devastated that I had not known how troubled he was and that I had not been able to help him. In spite of the closeness with him and his family, I did not go to his funeral. I am still disappointed that I couldn't go, because I know that he would have been there for me.
I apologize for needing to tell you all of this, but I that's how it was. In high school, we were changing from kids to who we were to become. These are deep friendships and when one of us doesn't get through the hard parts, there is no way to make sense of the loss. Still today I miss Scott.
Over the years,I have attempted to locate his sisters without luck. I do know that one of his closest friends was Greg Shank (sp?) but I think he ended up graduating from continuation school. Greg is somewhere in the area, but I do not know where. Although I can't give you a precise date, Scott should be listed on with our other classmates who are no longer in our midst.
I complimented Sharon for the great website and thank you for the work that you do as well.
Sincerely,
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