Childhood has a way of slipping by in the most painful way — through the spector of death. I came to this conclusion again after finding the name’s of two people I’ve known, listed in the obituary section of Crescent City, California’s local paper.
Brad ‘Dode’ Lockhart and I went to Del Norte High together. He was born in Dallas, Oregon March 20, 1962. Born without the ability to grow hair, Dode took all the teasing dished out to him in stride and it’s became clear he still had his sense of humor about it, judging from the obituary photo in the paper, where he’s seen wearing a shirt reading, “I’m too sexy for my hair, that’s how come it isn’t there.”
The other passing is that of Chuck Blackburn who was born July 8, 1936, in North Creek, New York and died March 13, 2018 at the age of 81. Chuck was a real renaissance man as not only was he a Del Norte High School PE teacher for over three-decades, he was also a sport announcer, a newspaper columnist, a county supervisor and an author.
It’s truly a blessing to have known both men — even if it were only for a short period in my life.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
Leave a comment