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Friends--
My step-father of 35 years died this morning. His name was Conrad Royksund. He was 86 years old. He was born into poverty on a farm near Puyallup, WA. He was the first member of his family to attend college and earned a PhD from the University of Chicago. He paid his way through all of that by fishing in Alaska. He spent his professional career as a college professor.
I met him when I was just 3 years old and don't actually have any memories of my life before he was in it. He was intimidatingly smart, funny as hell, and worked his ass off. He taught me to meet people with kindness and decency until I was certain they could not be trusted. He taught me to meet ideas with carving knives until I was certain they could.
I will remember him as one of the bravest, most curious, and funniest people I have ever met.
He left this world with a satisfied mind. We are so grateful.
Dan Hubbard

Comments

  1. dan priceFebruary 5, 2018 at 9:59 AM

    A wonderful man. I'll miss him. We worked together -- his photos and stories, along with mine added greatly to the real story of the TOTS. He loved the TOTS and we loved him.

    ReplyDelete

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