Memory of Jean Spencer

When I was a very young child, possibly pre-school, we had a very special neighbor down on north 17th Street in Woodward, Oklahoma. Her name was Jean Spencer and she had four (4) very ornery boys that I kind of tagged behind and observed their activities.

Anyway, this isn't about the four boys it's about their mother. She called me to her porch one day and gave me a small Christmas gift that I think of every year at Christmas time. It was a mouse trap that was decorated in silver. It was trimmed in lace and the entire thing was painted silver. She gave me a little talk of which all I remember is that every Christmas tree must have a mouse trap.

That mouse trap has long since disappeared but the sentiment has remained with me all these years.

This is one of my earliest memories.

Esther L. Moore

Published online 10/4/2009 11:18 PM

NEWTON - Esther L. Moore, 92, died Sept. 29, 2009, at the Presbyterian Manor, Newton. She was born Nov. 22, 1916, the daughter of Charles and Beulah Bell Smetzer Miller.

On Oct. 1, 1965, she married David A. Moore. He preceded her in death. Survivors include: daughters, Joan Bush and Barbarajean Thornton; sister, Della Mae Harr; nine grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services 10 a.m. Monday at Petersen Funeral home, Newton. Visitation was Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Newton. Memorials to Cassoday United Methodist Church, Liberty Baptist Church, or the Good Shepherd Hospice.

Memorial Day

Randy Pausch dies this morning

I have written about Randy Pausch at least a couple of times. He is the professor known around the world for his "Last Lecture." I truly believe that this is one man that made the world better and left it better than he found it. He and his wisdom and honesty will be missed by many, including me.

An Enduring Legacy

Randy Pausch Inspired Millions

Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon University who inspired countless students in the classroom and others worldwide through his highly acclaimed last lecture, has died of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47.

Also a Carnegie Mellon alumnus, Pausch co-founded the Entertainment Technology Center and led researchers who created Alice, a revolutionary way to teach computer programming. He was widely respected in academic circles for a unique interdisciplinary approach, bringing together artists, dramatists and designers to break new ground by working in collaboration with computer scientists.

Outside the classroom, he gained public fame for delivering what would come to be known as "The Last Lecture." On Sept. 18, 2007, only a month after doctors told him that he had three-to-six months to live following a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, he presented a lecture called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon.

The moving and often humorous talk recounted his efforts to achieve such childhood dreams as becoming a professional football player, experiencing zero gravity and developing Disney World attractions. In the process, he shared his insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to overcome obstacles and living generously.

"If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself," Pausch said. "The dreams will come to you."

The video appeared on countless websites and has been viewed by millions. Appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC's Good Morning America and the CBS Evening News followed.

A book version, "The Last Lecture" co-written by Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal (and a fellow Carnegie Mellon alumnus), became a best-seller upon its release this spring.

"Randy had an enormous and lasting impact on Carnegie Mellon," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. "A brilliant researcher and gifted teacher, he was a key member of our Human-Computer Interaction Institute and co-founder of the Entertainment Technology Center. His love of teaching, his sense of fun and his brilliance came together in the Alice project, which teaches students computer programming while enabling them to do something fun — making animated movies and games. Carnegie Mellon — and the world — are better places for having had Randy Pausch in them."

Pausch was also a pioneer in the development of virtual reality, including creating the popular Building Virtual Worlds class.
A memorial service at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is being planned; details will be announced at a later date.

He is survived by his wife, Jai, and three children: Chloe, Dylan and Logan. The family requests that donations on his behalf be directed to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, CA 90245, or to Carnegie Mellon's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund, which the university will use primarily to support continued work on the Alice project.

For more information on Randy's life and legacy, read In Memoriam: Randy Pausch, Innovative Computer Scientist at Carnegie Mellon, Launched Education Initiatives, Gained Worldwide Acclaim for Last Lecture.

Related Links: Watch Randy's Lecture on YouTube | About Randy's Last Lecture | Download Randy's Lecture on iTunes U | Buy the Book

Randy Pausch, noted CMU prof, succumbs to cancer

Friday, July 25, 2008

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Photo by: Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette

Randy Pausch talks to the standing-room only crowd at Carnegie Mellon University's McConomy auditorium Sept. 18, 2007.

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor whose final lecture inspired millions, has died of pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Pausch, 47, who turned the lecture into a book, said that no one would have been interested in his words of wisdom were he not a man in his 40s with a terminal illness, leaving behind a wife and three young children.

According to Dr. Pausch's Web site, a biopsy last week revealed that the cancer had progressed further than expected, based on recent PETscans.

"Since last week, Randy has also taken a step down and is much sicker than he had been," the Web site said. "He's now enrolled in hospice. He's no longer able to post here so I'm a friend posting on his behalf because we know that many folks are watching this space for updates."

Last fall, Dr. Pausch delivered the lecture at CMU, which still posts it on its Web site. The lecture has attracted more than six million viewers.

In the year preceding the lecture, he had gone through rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, but refused to give in to morbidity or self-pity. Instead of focusing on the cancer, he talked about how to fulfill childhood dreams and the lessons he learned on his life's journey.

In his 10 years at CMU, he helped found the Entertainment Technology Center, established an annual virtual reality contest and helped start the Alice program, an animation-based curriculum for teaching high school and college students.

After the lecture, he moved to Chesapeake, Va., to spend his remaining time with his wife, children and family.

With the help of Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, Dr. Pausch wrote a book, "The Last Lecture," which was published earlier this year. He elaborated on his lecture and emphasized the value he placed on hard work and learning from criticism. His words were intended as a legacy for his young children.

In May, Dr. Pausch spoke at the Carnegie Mellon University commencement. He said a friend recently told him he was "beating the [Grim] Reaper" because it's now been nine months since his doctor told him he would die in six.

"But we don't beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well," said Dr. Pausch, who urged the graduates to find and pursue their passion. He put an exclamation point at the end of his remarks by kissing his wife, Jai, and carrying her off stage.

Tony Snow

Press Secretary Relished Job

Tony Snow: 1955 - 2008

Conservative commentator and former White House press secretary Tony Snow has died of cancer at age 53.

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, July 13, 2008; Page A01

Tony Snow, the former television and radio talk show host who became President Bush's chief spokesman and redefined the role of White House press secretary with his lively banter with reporters, died yesterday at Georgetown University Hospital after losing a high-profile battle with cancer. He was 53.

Snow had colon cancer diagnosed and treated in 2005, a year before joining the White House staff. He found out it had returned after an operation in March 2007 to remove what doctors thought was a benign growth in his lower abdomen. The cancer had spread to his liver, forcing him off the podium for treatment. Snow vowed to fight the disease and return to the briefing room but announced six months later that he was leaving his $168,000-a-year job because he needed to recoup the income he lost when he left his job as a radio and television host. He later joined CNN as a commentator.

In a statement issued by the White House, Bush said: "Tony was one of our Nation's finest writers and commentators. . . . It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work."

In his brief tenure as Bush's public advocate, Snow became perhaps the best-known face of the administration after the president, vice president and secretary of state. Parlaying skills honed during years at Fox News, he offered a daily televised defense of the embattled president that was robust and at times even combative while repairing strained relations with a press corps frustrated by years of rote talking points.

He was lively and entertaining, he could be disarmingly candid when ducking a question, and he did not hesitate to retreat when it became clear he had gone too far. He could tell reporters to "zip it" one minute and defuse tension the next by admitting that he knew so little about a topic that he was "not going to fake it." He enjoyed the give-and-take of a tough briefing, but his smile, upbeat energy and glib repartee seemed to take the edge off sometimes rough rhetoric on behalf of an unpopular leader and unpopular policies.

When The Washington Post's Bob Woodward disclosed internal White House maneuvering to push out then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Snow tried to dismiss the account with a memorable put-down. "The book is sort of like cotton candy," he said. "It kind of melts on contact."

When a flamboyant radio reporter demanded to know whether Snow was going to evade a typically offbeat question, Snow chuckled. "No," he said, "I'm going to laugh at it."

In short, Snow led the first press briefing for the talk-show era, and he played the role with gusto. As the first working journalist in 30 years to serve as White House press secretary, he loved nothing more than jousting with reporters and expressed disappointment when they did not challenge him enough. To him, the job was the "Disney World of communications," as he once termed it. But at times, it seemed to be more about theater than information. He demonstrated little interest in the nitty-gritty of policy and delegated most off-camera reporter inquiries to his deputies. Precision was not his strong suit; translating difficult decisions into easily digestible explanations was.

Joining the White House as part of a staff shake-up in spring 2006, Snow quickly became a star among dispirited Republicans thirsty for an aggressive champion. In a break with tradition -- and, to some, crossing a line too far into open partisanship -- the White House used him to headline Republican fundraisers across the country as he became a high-profile advocate for the administration. He was the first press secretary in years routinely asked to sign autographs and pose for pictures while on the road. He made the rounds of talk shows, hit the lecture circuit and answered questions on a conservative Internet blog.

ABC News correspondent Ann Compton, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said yesterday that Snow was "the first press secretary who chose to use the podium as a way to argue the president's case -- not just in the president's words, but in his own."

"He was the first one who came from editorial writing and a pundit position, and he really did use that to articulate Bush's point of view."

Snow's freewheeling style took him too far on occasion. At one point, he said Bush believed that destroying embryonic stem cells was "murder." He later had to retract the comment, saying that he "overstepped my brief" and that the president would not use that term. Snow also apologized after initially seeming to brush off the seriousness of sexually explicit messages sent by then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to underage House pages by referring to them as "naughty e-mail."

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Ph.D. with Jeffrey Zaslow is one of the most meaningful books I have ever read. I posted about Randy Pausch and the video The Last Lecture last year. It is not necessary to watch the video before enjoying this book but you certainly should take the time to watch it at some point.

Professor Pausch has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after leaving his position at Carnegie Mellon University he was invited back to give his last lecture which is a tradition. Unfortunately, the last lecture in his case had a special meaning.

This book is NOT a transcript of The Last Lecture video so don't think you can get it all from the "movie." There are no great revelations in this book but a lot of reminders pertaining to what we should remember, what made us who we are, what life is all about, and how we all want to be remembered. It also includes much about business, customer service, honesty and apologizing, sincerely. It is not a sad book but a celebration of life, specifically Professor Pausch's, but it could be any of our life's.

Maybe I feel a special connection to this book because Professor Pausch and I share a common factor... terminal cancer. Randy, nor I, nor any terminally ill survivor wants sympathy for the sake of our illness. Like most people we are looking for the way we can make a difference in our family's and friends' lives and be remembered in this world for something other than taking up space.

I've had a lot of thoughts and feelings about having cancer that I've been unable to explain. I think I found that explanation in this book and it is a great quote:

"Many cancer patients say their illness gives them a new and deeper appreciation for life. Some even say they are grateful for their disease. I have no such gratitude for my cancer, although I'm certainly grateful for having advance notice of my death."

Take a few hours and read this book!

Professor Pausch's web site is: www.thelastlecture.com.

Additional web sites mentioned in the book: The Entertainment Technology Center, www.etc.cmu.edu; the Alice project, www.alice.org.

early mentor

Thirty five years ago when I started in the banking business Martha was one of my mentors. This was long before "mentoring" was a buzz word or the thing to do. We didn't always agree but she was patient with a know-it-all 19 year old and taught me a great deal about business.

I have quoted her often in my 35 years of banking. One of my favorite pieces of advice she gave me was an explanation of which customers walking through the door of the bank were important. She always said the guy coming in in a business suit with his shoes shined looking like money could wait a few minutes... he was there for a loan. The guy in his overall and boots with cow shit on his boots took priority. He doesn't wait, get up and and help him immediately... he is there to make a deposit and probably a large deposit. Over the years this has been proven true to me numerous times.

Not often in life does a person have the opportunity to be taught by a dedicated, passionate professional like Martha. That dedications is what too many business are missing today.

Martha was also passionate about her husband Kenneth. In her eyes Kenneth could do no wrong and he was a priority in her life every day.

Martha Donley

STERLING - Martha Donley, 81, died Feb. 1, 2008, in the Sterling Presbyterian Manor, Sterling.

She was born Feb. 22, 1926, in Sterling, Okla. the daughter of David Henry and Myrtle Mae Hayes Woods. She attended Sterling schools and graduated from Sterling High School. She went to work as a secretary at the Fort Sill Army Base in Lawton. In 1959, she went to work for Woodward Savings and Loan as a bookkeeper, later as a cashier, and retired as vice president in 1989. In 2005, she moved to Rice County.

She was a member of the First Christian Church of Woodward, Okla.

On Dec. 26, 1944, she married Kenneth Dean Donley in Higgins, Texas. He died Dec. 19, 1982.

Survivors include: two sons, Larry Donley, Sterling, Terry Donley, Russellville, Ark.; a brother, Jack Woods, Dodge City; a sister, Joyce McDonald, Elk City; 11 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Janice Mae.

Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the First Christian Church in Woodward with the Rev. Chuck Shorow presiding. Burial will follow in the Elmwood Cemetery with the Billings Funeral Home, Woodward, Okla. in charge of arrangements.

Memorials may be sent to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Parkinson Division, in care of the funeral home.

(Hutchinson News, February 5, 2008)

Judy, Judy, Judy

Secret Santa Hands Out Crisp $100 Bills

Our original Secret Santa was revealed and passed away from cancer this year. For years his identity was known only to a TV news reporter and her cameraman who accompanied him each year on his gift giving tour.

Donor Distributes Money for Good. Only Catch: He Wants You to Pay the Kindness Forward

One secret Santa has decided to give out cash this holiday season.  (ABC News)

Dec. 24, 2007

A wealthy Kansas City businessman is a real live "Secret Santa."

He wears the big red Christmas suit, passes out his own money to those in need, and all he asks is that he remains anonymous.

"It isn't about the money. It's about the human spirit. It's about touching someone's life for just a moment, and the hope and the inspiration that it may give to them," said the bearded man.

This Santa follows the legacy of his dear friend, Larry Stewart, the original Secret Santa.

Before making a fortune in the telecom industry, Stewart was homeless. Once he had money to spare, Stewart started giving it away, and over 30 years, he passed out more than $1 million.

Late last year, in the final days of his battle with cancer, Stewart revealed his identity. At his deathbed, the current Secret Santa pledged to continue his incredible mission to keep his work and memory alive.

"Good Morning America" caught this Santa in the act of handing out crisp $100 bills, talking about Stewart's legacy.

"He'd hand him a hundred dollars, just like I'm handing you," Santa said to one lucky recipient. "All he would ask is that you do something nice for somebody, and pass the kindness on," Santa told another.

In his first year on the job, this new Secret Santa has, so far, changed the fortunes of 600 strangers. "If $100 can inspire 1,000 people to commit a random act of kindness and pass it on, that's the best investment I can get on my money," he said.

One special stop for Santa this year was the Kansas City Thrift Shop.

"I want to do something special for you this Christmas. I know you don't get paid a lot," Santa said, as he passed out money to the employees, amid great cheer. "You spend all your time helping people ... I want you to have the best Christmas you possibly can."

Secret Santa is currently training eight more Santas to spread this kind of joy in other cities.

Click here to learn more about Secret Santa and his world at SecretSanta.net.

Clint Johnson - A Rich Man

"who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" 2 Timothy 1:9 (New King James Version, www.BibleGateway.com)

Last night we went to the visitation for Clint Johnson. The line to get in the church was over one block long standing 3-4 deep. He was truly a unique and special young man that had won several honors and scholarships and was an Eagle Scout.

While standing in line I eaves dropped on conversations around me and heard many loving comments about Clint. It was obvious that he made friends easily, considered no one an outcast and made everyone feel very special. As a result, everyone that met him loved him and he will be missed by all of his friends and family.

If it is true that "a man's riches are his friends and family," then Clint was one of the richest. We can only aspire to be as "rich."