Deceased July 29, 2013
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25th Reunion Book Entry
In Memory
Just after graduation and a stellar career on the mound, Dick embarked on a fantasy life for an Amherst baseball player. As he described it in our 50th reunion book, the dream dissolved rather rapidly. “I found myself in the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Raleigh, N.C., which was to be my home for the remainder of the summer, after signing a contract to play minor league baseball in the brand-new New York Mets organization…, an ‘interesting’ experience going from the enlightened world of a New England liberal arts college … to cheap hotels, uncomfortable bus rides, playing baseball in badly lit run-down ballparks.” Check “Quincy Jets 1962” and find that Dick managed a 6–3 record in 29 games before leaving for what he described as a “real” job.
Initially, Dick’s real world was a career in administrative, sales and marketing management with international firms that took him and his wife, Priscilla, to London in the mid ’70s. With a family of a son and two daughters, the couple then moved to Dallas, where Dick began a rewarding 25-year career in law firm administration. In 1992 he married Ansley, and they eventually settled in her hometown of Atlanta.
Dick retired in 2007 and the couple, with 10 grandchildren, enjoyed life in a condominium complex outside Atlanta. Using his administrative skills, Dick became involved in the condo association and served two terms as president. He was deeply committed to cheering on the Atlanta Falcons, his fall substitute for the hometown Braves.
Several classmates recalled Dick’s rich, deep voice, hearty laugh and hidden sense of humor; he loved to relax listening to Frank Sinatra. Certainly the Amherst baseball fortunes under the watchful eye of irascible Coach Paul Eckley would never have reached Little Three Championship caliber without his overpowering fastball and mound composure. In 1962 the Mets went 40–120 in their initial season; Dick, in typical fashion, smartly chose another avenue for his talents.
Dick Drew ’61