Richard Thomas Erwin

It's hard to believe it's been two years already... We think of you and your "Richie-isms" often. We should have written them all down in the back of the May I book. I remember the day I took this pic of you, one of your first trips on the new "scooter" you'd gotten from your friend Laura, so pleased you were going to be more mobile... And that near-regal wave was the best! Still my favorite of all the pictures we have. The Robinson-Williamson-Stevensons miss you lots.

I stopped in the Smith one day, because I saw a sign in the window that read `Volunteers Wanted´. I was taking classes at FLCC, when it was still CCFL, and the extension center was on the corner of Seneca and Main Sts. Marcy McQuillan was Rich´s administrative assistant. She asked my name, and wanted to know why I wanted to volunteer, and what kind of work I wanted to do. I told her that I wanted to see if I could do anything to help them between my classes. She handed me a stack of flyers...

I covered the Smith Opera House when he was the executive director. He was always fun to talk with and was able to convince me to do a lot of stories that I probably could have passed on, but he had a huge personality and made me laugh. I got to do an interview with the Clancy Brothers and then got meet them. I shared an Irish heritage with him and we talked a lot about that. He was truly one of favorite people in all of my years in Geneva. He was a force for the community and did so much. I...

The few times I was lucky enough to meet Richard in person, his lively sense of humor and joie de vivre made a wonderful lasting impression. And while i knew of his involvement in the Smith Theater, I had no idea of the ground-breaking fund-raising and hard work that went into his leadership of the theater, nor did I realize the extent of his dedicated support of the arts in Geneva. (Before Richard's tenure at the Smith theater, I - a 1964 William Smith grad - have a vivid flashback of...

I will never forget Richard's signature words whenever he was saying good bye. "Take the rest of the day off," he would say. And people, high and low, old and young, always smiled or laughed. He was a great guy, who contributed so much to Geneva.

It was such an honor to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Erwin. He will be missed. Cherylea, P.T.

Richie you were truly a force in the Geneva community. Thank you for all the good times and shared laughter, and for being such a great sport - where will we ever find another "May I" player who can be such a gracious loser? To make a long story short... We loved you and will miss you, dear friend. Linda and George