SIMON'S LEGACY

Named After Simon

Reminscenses

The Simon Craig Vodosek Memorial Fund

Pop over to Simon's Fund Activities for the latest on projects we are sponsoring with the Fund.

Here is the growing list of donors to Simon's Memorial Fund.

Memories of Simon in Audio and Video

It was harder to pull together a gathering of this size so far from our new home, but we had wonderful help from Sandra Walls, Jane Bishop, Katie Kyndeley and others in setting up the meal and making the room look nice. Our last minute production of a printed program for the service led to a tableful of folders to put the two sheets together to form the 4-page booklets. Everyone pitched in. The food was delicious. We made sure we had plenty of good bread from Zingerman's in Simon's favorite flavors.

At the end of the potluck gathering, we showed slides of Simon's life. Markus had devoted several days in May to selecting photos from our early years (pre-2002, when we went digital). He had sent off a few hundred negative sheets to an online company (Digital Memories Online) to have the negatives scanned into high-resolution digital files. It took a lot of eliminating to get the show down to about 200 images.

It was so much fun, so touching, so sad to watch photos of Simon with a roomful of people who had known him with his piles of curly hair and his pre-cancer vigor. Of course, he was pretty energetic and delightful even with cancer, but those early years, before illness, really came back for us on June 3rd in Ann Arbor. We also shared photos of Simon as his life came to an end. It has been difficult to feel ready to show these photos of him so changed. When we shared them before the service with Bonnie Marquis, and later Henry Reynolds and Kerianne Tupac, each said, through many tears, that we absolutely must leave these photos in the show. It seems to be one way to comprehend Simon's death.

(Kerianne, a graphic designer among many other things, gave generously of her time and expertise to make the program come together on short notice on the afternoon of the June 3rd service. She had been out in Salt Lake City last July, and was visiting with us on July 28, 2004, the day that Simon had a seizure/stroke that left him unable to speak to us. I still remember her face peeking out the front door to call me in from the rose patch, telling me something was wrong with Simon.)

The memorial service was led masterfully by the Reverend Kenneth W. Phifer, just two months shy of his well-deserved retirement from the ministry. He was assisted by Director of Religious Education Laura Spencer. Laz Slomovits of Gemini was joined by his wife, Helen, on the harp to perform three songs at the service. It was serene, surreal, sublime.

Thanks to all who made this important event possible for us. There is more to tell, and we will continue with the telling.

Memorial Service on August 28, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Simon's memorial service on August 28, 2004 was a wonderful event. So many people shared in so many ways to make this gathering possible and deeply meaningful. We intend to provide photos, texts, and other reminders of this event on the site, eventually.