Saturday February 6, 2016

Dear Robbye, Neysa, Christopher, Benjamin, and Joshua:

I was very sad to see the obituary in the Friday Sunpaper. I am Gary Kiselewich, and Robbye may remember that I crossed paths with all of you back around 1972 (except maybe Joshua, who may have been after this time).

Rick was my history teacher at Northern High School in Baltimore, and I got to first know him there. Rick loved new things, so he taught his course using a computer simulation of world politics, with groups of students playing the roles of different countries. I was a geek even back then (before we had the word geek!) and Rick recruited me to help manage the game. In those days, that involved punched cards that were sent via courier to a mainframe somewhere. That lead me (and Rick) into a summer job at Hopkins where Dr Steven Kidder studied the impact of such games on education. I also remember a snippet of conversation that summer about Rick's time in the service where he said that it was his job to report on Russia troop strength as the tanks rolled over his position (glad he never had to do that!). I have a picture of Rick from my time on the yearbook staff at Northern that I will try to upload to you as well.

Rick also hired me out to help with your renovation of a certain house in the 2600-block of Calvert Street. As this mostly involved breaking a lot of stuff (plaster mostly), I was well qualified. The re-building part was largely up to a handyman (Mr. Something, I can't recall, but I think Robbye had some doubts about his abilities). Nonetheless, I remember it as turning our pretty well. For a while, I was sorta part of the family, as I often stayed for dinner after the days' work. I remember Neysa as quiet, Christopher ('Tiffer') as a good little friend, and Ben as just a baby. As I said, I'm not sure Joshua was on the scene yet. I think Rick said that all of you had traveled around a bit in an RV (maybe to the Kentucky area?), and how much Ben enjoyed it since everyone was close around. I also got a parking ticket that summer (a No Parking sign was blocked), and Rick went along to court with me for moral support (we won!).

Rick was a good teacher, a good friend, and for a while a good father-figure (as my father passed away suddenly near the end of my high school years). I will always remember him fondly.

Warmest regards,

Gary Kiselewich