Deceased October 2, 2002

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In Memory

Steve Raymond died on October 2, 2002, with those he loved by his side. He had been successfully fending off prostate cancer for ten years, but this summer other tumors appeared throughout his body and quickly spread. Steve came to Amherst after graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School near Pittsburgh, PA, in 1960. I enjoyed being his friend for fifty years. We had both moved to the same street in Mt. Lebanon within three weeks of each other at the beginning of fifth grade. Through our public school days we became fast friends. His quick wit, creativity, and analytical skills were obvious thoughout. We saw less of each other while at Amherst as he went from James dorm on to three eventful years in Chi Phi, while I moved up the hill to Kappa Theta. However, after our summer jobs were done, we would spend a week together at my family's cabin in the Adirondack Mountains--weeks which provided us both with the fondest of memories. For decades since then Steve and his wife Alice and sons Leigh and Ethan joined me and my family for joyous times by the side of the lake. In his last years, he and his second wife, Sue, bought a place on a lake nearby, where they had joyfully begun their retirement together.

Steve enjoyed his days at Amherst in full measure. His James hallmate and Chi Phi roommate, Dave Bunting '64, remembers frequent card games, bull sessions, late night capers, all of which Steve enjoyed at full speed while maintaining a good enough academic record to be eligible to write an honors thesis. That he did not do so is testimony to his independence. He refused to budge when his advisor did not feel that Wallace Stevens was a significant enough poet for such treatment. Though reunions weren't on Steve's list of favorite activities, after he and Sue purchased their house on Oxbow Lake, they cheerfully hosted summer gatherings with Dave Bunting, Jim Donham '64, Vince Simmon '64, Mike Dunn '64 and spouses.

Steve graduated from Columbia law school in 1967. He and Alice and Leigh moved to Rochester where Ethan was born. Steve began a successful career as a tax attorney. Again, as noted often at a remarkably uplifting memorial service for him, he became know for his sharp analytical mind, his sneaky, complex wit, his love of games, and his liberal politics. The Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation honored him during their 25th anniversary celebration in 1993 for his dedication to the cause of providing legal assistance to the poor. He was also known as a most successful fundraiser for the Democratic Party in Monroe County.

Steve is, and will be, missed by those of us in his family and circle of friends who treasure his love of us all; his dedication to excellence in whatever endeavor he took on; his pranks, capers, spur of the moment game inventions; his incisive mind and good soul.

Steve Raymond's body was buried in Lake Pleasant, NY, in November. His spirit has been amongst the hills and lakes for a long time.

Don MacKay '64