John Robert Homer, III

John Robert Homer, III

Wednesday, December 19, was just another day of work for Bob Homer, a stock broker at A.G. Edwards and Sons, Concord, NH . He went home, opened the door for his pets to go out and return, turned on the TV, and relaxed in his favorite easy chair. After failing to show up for work Thursday, and again Friday morning, his associates notified the police. He was found in his chair. It appeared he went to sleep and never woke up. A heart attack was assumed. His recorded date of death is Friday December 21, 2001.

A resident of Williamstown, MA , Bob came to Amherst from Holderness School . He was a history major and a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, for which he served as rushing chairman. After graduation, he continued his studies. With his master's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts, Bob embarked on a teaching career, teaching history at Governor Dummer Academy and then at Longmeadow High School. He was also active in conservative politics, and served as chairman of the Massachusetts chapter of Young Americans for Freedom. He was an ardent supporter of the Nixon Administration's war policies.

Following his teaching career, Bob went into investment brokering, first with Kidder Peabody, then with A. G. Edwards. Although investment brokering was his "day job," he developed his hobby of photography into a second career. For many years, he was employed as a professional photographer for sporting events for the University of Massachusetts, He was also employed by the Atlantic Ten Conference to photograph its sporting events, and by the state of New Hampshire , for which he photographed the events at Cannon Mountain , a ski resort owned by the state. He was a certified ski instructor.

Bob was respected by his working associates who affirmed that he was expert in investments, sports, politics, skiing, and photography. After he died, his good friend and A. G, Edwards associate, Joe Scattergood (Amherst '61), took in Bob's ancient cat, and not knowing the cat's name, named it "Homer.”

As printed in an obituary in the Boston Globe, Bob leaves a son, Steven M. of Denver; two daughters, Andrea Maselek of Framingham, MA and Lisa A, Whalen of Alphaeretta, GA; his mother, Mrs. David Gregg of Exeter, NH; and two sisters, Diana Breed of Natick and Deborah O'leary of Portsmouth, NH . The Class of 1957 expresses its condolences to all of the aforementioned.

-Chuck Evans '57