The Passing of Faybiene Miranda (AKA Fay Walters)

Diana sent me an obituary on Faybiene Miranda (AKA our classmate Faybiene "Fay" Walters) who died in 2013. She was a performer of Reggae music and the wife of lead guitarist Moonie Pusey of Steel Pulse. I was impressed with the amount of information on her and the band, Steel Pulse. She led quite a life. Rest in peace, Faybiene.

Deceased Classmate: Fay Walters
Date Of Birth:
Date Deceased: 12-20-2013
Age at Death:
Cause of Death: Not known
Classmate City: New York
Classmate State: NY
Classmate Country: USA
Was a Veteran: No
Survived By: Not sure

I (Rita Weekly) keep in touch with her brother, Les (class of 69). He informed me of her death. I know that she only attended our senior year. Her father was military and I believe she was a cousin to another 68 class member, Tim Walters. Untimely death, cause not known. Her brother has always said she was "born to be free". May she rest in peace.

The Passing of Faybiene Miranda (AKA Fay Walters)

It is with great sadness that I share with any of you who don’t already know that Faybiene Miranda, the wife of our lead guitarist Moonie Pusey (and the woman that introduced me to Moonie) died in her sleep on the evening of December 20^th.

Faybiene was a dynamo. She inspired everyone, everywhere she went. Her first Reggae hit was “Prophecy” in the early 70’s with some of the heaviest players that you could find in Jamaica at the time. She continued to make songs, write poetry, to educate and embrace humanity up until the day she died. In the months before her death, her students from the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble were hand-picked to perform for Michelle Obama. It was she who introduced her husband Moonie to her pals in the band Steel Pulse with whom he toured for 20 years. It was through her arts ed work that I met her, and through her, Moonie. She also sent me to the holistic doctor who saved my body from being self-consumed by psoriatic arthritis when a Western Doctor had written me off. She did wonderful things like this for people all day, every day.

Faybiene at Ted-X at Galapagos in Brooklyn, 2013

This is Faybiene at a Ted-X talk in Brooklyn, last year, backed by Moonie while she spoke about the power of words. I was lucky enough to be there in person. I think it may have been the last time I saw her in the flesh, because she was so busy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rISbcZg-j1o

If you know Moonie, or if you don’t, please send thoughts of love and strength his way. It’s a tough New Year to enter for him this time around. They had been together for almost three decades.

With Love,

Hank Coyote

10/22/23 02:31 PM

#938

Patti Ridenour (Adams)

I remember Doug because he invited me to the 6th grade dance and his sister was friends with my older sister.
I also remember the twins because they brought a book to Roosevelt showing some of the atrocities from the WW2 concentration camps with pictures that were horrendous!

10/23/23 11:26 AM

#939

Roger McDonald

I guess one has to applaud the diligence evidenced here recently in digging up these records of our classmates' deaths. But it is also all so sad. So, to dispel the mood, please note the reunion of three survivors on Steptoe Butte in the Palouse region of eastern Washington State in early October. Thanks to Malcolm Montgomery for hosting the event, David Richards for traveling from California, and to my wife Emily for putting up with three aged geezers. (Sorry we weren't able to make the LVth.)

10/23/23 03:08 PM

#940

Roger, sorry for bringing you sadness and I know you are not being unkind. This is the most that I have worked on a class reunion, but it made me sad in another way that so much was not known about many of our classmates. I guess you could say I have become melancholy about all of the people that I didn't know in school and will no longer have the opportunity to know. I felt it was time to make sure that we were aware of all the classmates who have passed and I have been more than happy to spend the time doing the research. Thanks goes to Larry Wilson. I have been sending all the obituaries that I found to him and he has been posting them.

Happy to see that you got together with Malcolm and Dave. I always enjoy the pictures that Malcolm shares from his area. Hoping to see you all at the 60th.

10/24/23 05:44 PM

#941

I am trying to finish up my search for missing obituaries on former classmates. If you have seen Larry's upates, he is almost finished with what I sent him. I am down to 10 classmates that have passed that I cannot find any obituaries or dates of when they passed. I am listing those classmates and possible information that I found. If anyone can help me with information, such as date of death, place of death, obituary, etc., please get in touch with me with a private message on our website Thanks for any help you can provide

John Lee Babcock - Born 10/9/1949, died 8/19/2023 in Henderson, Nevada.

Robert Scott Brickels - Born 11/10/1950, died 4/20/1998 in Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Florida.

James Henry Decker - Possibly born 6/8/1949 or 12/29/1949. Possibly married to Martha Dick, Ruth Evans and/or Terry Berry. May have lived in Florida when he died.

Carolyn Clara Ford (Butcher) - Born March 1950, died 9/16/2018 in Florida. Married to Robert Miller (no date of marriage or divorce) and married Randall Butcher on 3/19/1994.

Karen Sue Hurst - Born 10/10/1950. Possibly lived in several cities in Florida and possibly involved in an accident in May 1990. There is a gravesite for a Karen Hurst at Dunn Creek Cemetery in Oceanside, Florida, but there is no date of birth or death.

Mary Lou Louden (Johnson) - Steve Ogilbee provided an obituary.

Philip Ivan Mick - Born 3/1/1950, died 6/27/2022 Lived in Crawfordsville, Georgia

Anita Ruth More (Butts) - Born 1/29/1950, died 4/8/2011 in Columbus, Ohio. Married John Butts on 7/20/1968 and divorced 11/26/1997. They moved to Zanesville, Ohio, but she moved to Fredericktown, Ohio after the divorce.

Linda Lou Pierce (Frischen-Lee) - Born 4/7/1950. Possibly married to William Bergin 9/15/74. Married Tom Frischen (twice) and Mark Steven Lee.

John Neil Ritchey - Gale Cady (Williams) talked to John's ex-wife, who advised that he is not deceased and is living in Florida.

Roderick Neil Simpson - Born 5/4/1950, died 9/6/2023 in Newark.

10/25/23 10:28 AM

#942

Diana,

Sorry to have missed the Reunion wrap-up meeting yesterday. Probably would have been too cumbersome of me to participate remotely anyway. I used that time to help my son get our bees settled down for the winter here in Reno, NV. Any take-aways from the meeting would be appreciated. If it is easier to go over this by phone you could call me at 775-303-7064 but please text first to this number so I will recognize the #. If it is not too cumbersome, I would be up for helping, though remotely, for the planning of the 60th. Also, I am trying to find something on an obit for John Babcock. Even though I live over 450 miles away I have some contacts in the greater Las Vegas area. Will see what I come up with. You could also email me directly at cprice@charlespricemd.com. Charles

10/25/23 12:43 PM

#943

Charles, we had to cancel the meeting yesterday due to an emergency. Will probably reschedule in November. It will be posted on the website and we will let you know to expect a call. I am sure the committee will get an earlier start with the 60th and will appreciate help.

10/25/23 11:34 PM

#944

Diana, thank you! I am having trouble finding an obit for John Babcock. Where did we receive the information on his passing? i will keep following up on this end. Charles

10/26/23 04:08 PM

#945

Diana,

John's daughter, Johnna Babcock Parker, posted his passing on FaceBook on 8/21. I am attempting to contact her as to an Obit.

Charles

10/26/23 05:19 PM

#946

Thanks, Charles. I know some other classmates are, also, trying to get one. I hope we do so that we can pay tribute to him.

10/27/23 01:40 PM

#947

I sent a message to Johnna as well via Facebook Messenger.

10/28/23 12:42 PM

#948

Larry,

Thank you.

I am sure she appreciates contact from John's old classmates.

And I appreciae your efforts to keep the In Memory section up to date.

Charles

10/28/23 12:44 PM

#949

Larry,

I have a couple of photos of John. Can't seem to post them here. Could I send them to your email?

My email is cprice@charlespricemd.com or text to 775-303-7064

Charles

10/29/23 04:44 PM

#950

Gale Cady (Williams)

Hello, all,

I am a longtime friend of Jean Magdich, who was married to Jack Ritchie just after both of them graduated from high school. I messaged her this morning (she has a fantastic handmade pottery shop and business just outside Logan, Hocking House Pottery - you should go!) and she told me that Jack is still living and resides in Florida.

Happy to know that he is still among us. :)

10/29/23 08:33 PM

#951

Gale, thank you so much. I was given his name by someone at the reunion. I will remove him from the list. I, also, searched Jean to find any information that I could. I came across the shop and wandered if that was her.

11/07/23 09:25 PM

#952

We have rescheduled our post reunion meeting. It will now be at the FOP on Tuesday, November 14 at 5:30PM. If anyone wants give thoughts, opinion, comments, etc. regarding the reunion or plans for the next reunion, please join us or send comments to us. Hope to see or hear from classmates.

11/08/23 11:21 AM

#953

Diana, Kathy et al,

If it works out and if it might be helpful, I would like to attend virtually. Either by phone. facetime, Zoom etc if that is convenient. If someone there has the knowhow to do Zoom, that might be best as many people can join by that format. I can be contacted by text at 775-303-7064 or by email at cprice@charlespricemd.com. Thank you all for the work you put in to make a 55th Reunion a happening event. Charles

11/09/23 11:12 AM

#954

David Fredrick Smith

I would also be interested in a zoom connection. dave_ald_smith@yahoo.com

11/10/23 08:54 AM

#955

David,

An interesting thought. I wonder if the post-reunion committee would find a zoom connection for us that are locality challenged to participate.

Are you familiar with setting up Zoom? I am not but guess I could learn if someone with the expertise is not available.

Charles

PS: The internet gods did not recognize your email address.

11/10/23 06:21 PM

#956

Charles and David, we would be happy to set up a Zoom meeting if we had more participants. You are the only two who have expressed wanting to participate virtually. Kathy had investigated Zoom during our reunion process. It's not hard, but there are some problems. She would have to get FOP permission and passcode to be use their website. There is a 40-minute time limit for the meeting and she can't necessarily be at the meeting early to get everything set up to start at 5:30. She is still working and travels for her work. She and I both drive 1-2 hours to attend the reunion meetings and other members may not be there on time. The Zoom meeting may not be able to start until close to 6P and then you have to wait for all virtual participants to get online with us. Those are the main reasons for not setting up for Zoom for two classmates. At this point in time, we can do FaceTime, but not Zoom. Hope this clarifies everything for you.

11/11/23 12:28 PM

#957

Diana,

Thank you.

Certainly it makes sense to do the FaceTime for the meeting on Tuesday.

Looking forward to planning for the 60th...

I am involved in a few organizations were Zoom is usd extensively for committee meeetings. Certainly something is lost versus in-person meetings. In my view, in-person meetings are far superior to Zoom if everything else is equal. As we all know, thinkgs are not ever (almost equal). Perhaps we can think of a Zoom component for the planning of the 60th Reunion. My wonderment is whether there might be an uptick in participation and some additional energy if such a component is available. Also think I understand the 40 minute time-limit. If my cursory knowlwdge serves, that is for a free Zoom meeting. If cost for a longer Zoom meeting is part of the issue, we might explore whether some of the committee members would like to underwrite the cost of Zoom for the longer meeting time. My understanding is that a year of Zoom for meetings that can last up to 30 hours per meeting cost arount 150.00/year and can accomodate up to 100 attendees. If we are thinking of having Zoom availability for the five years through the 60th that would be a total of about $750 which would probably extend to a post-Reunion wrap-up. I would be willing to committ to sharing in the underwriting of this even up to the full cost if no one else wants to share in the cost. This would somewhat decrease the anxiety of the 40 minute time frame. The internet issue may be able to be worked around as well. Barbara's brother Doug Pricer who owns WCLT Radio may be able to help with some ideas as well. If this potential wishes to be expored, I can look further into this. No need for you guys "on the ground" to do all of the heavy lifting.

11/21/23 06:24 PM

#958

Sorry for the delay in posting after our post reunion meeting last week. Charles Price and David Smith joined us by phone.

The committee has decided on the bench for the class donation. It will be red in color. It will be a while before it is ready. The material will be coming from India, which will take about 6 months. Then, it will be engraved " In Honor Of The Class Of 1968". When it is finished, we will have the opportunity to decide where it will be placed at the high school.

We are planning for the 60th reunion to be held in October 2028. Keep that in mind, so that you will be available to attend. We really want to see more of our classmates there.

Charles would like to get phone #'s and e-mail addresses for classmates. If you know of a classmate who has not joined our website or is not on our Facebook page, ask them for their information (be sure that it is OK to share with the committee) and forward it to Charles. He wants to get more people involved in the committee and a another way of contacting classmates. If we can get more classmates involved, it will be more feasible to conduct the meetings by Zoom The committee would like to have a meeting a couple of times per year for the next 4 years and then monthly starting in late summer or early fall in 2027. There will be more time to plan for the 60th.

The committee would like to form sub-committees for planning the next reunion. The tasks would be divided into hotels, catering, decorations/50-50 drawing, music, donations, and outreach for making contact with classmates. I will continue to maintain the "In Memory" during the next 5 years and Donetta (Phillips) Kirk will continue to be the reunion photographer.

The committee is planning on having a 2-day event for the next reunion. The plan is to have one fee for the Saturday evening reunion and no fee for a Friday evening mixer at the FOP (just classmate cost for drinks).

Hope to see more of you in 5 years.

11/21/23 10:03 PM

#959

Diana sent me John Babcock's obituary. May John rest in peace and may his family and friends be comforted.

John Lee Babcock

October 9, 1949 - August 18, 2023

John Lee Babcock, 73, of Henderson, NV, passed away on August 18, 2023, peacefully surrounded by his family and close friends.

John was born in Coshocton, OH, on October 9, 1949, to the late Jesse Edward Babcock and Amanda Ellen (Thomason) Babcock. Survivors include his wife Susie and daughters, Josie, 16, and Johnna Babcock-Parker (Jason), 47, of Henderson, NV, family friend, Donna Curry (former spouse and mother oh Johnna). Grandchildren: Myles Findlay-Babcock, Dane Parker, Levi Parker and Moreea Parker. Siblings: Terry Babcock (Paula) of Walnut Creek, CA, Gary Babcock Marhofer of California and James Babcock of Canton, OH.

He was pepreceded in death by his parents and brother, Bill Babcock of Newark, OH.

Before moving to Henderson, NV, John was a mailman in Newark, OH. In 1979, he moved to Nevada and became a 21 dealer at the Barbary Coast Casino. John and Donna were entrepreneurs and founders of Subway in the state of Nevada. They opened their first location in 1983 and built many more through the years.

John married Susie Schwartz on August 27, 2005, at the Little Chapel of Love in Las Vegas, NV.

The jingle “Make new friends but keep the old” rang true for John, because he kept his friends throughout the years. He loved making people laugh. From his card tricks to magic, to his endless jokes and the stories he told made him one of a kind.

Halloween was John’s favorite holiday. He would make astonishing haunted houses every year and decorate them with all the blow-ups you can imagine.

John’s passion for basketball and collecting Larry Bir (Celtics) memorabilia was insatiable. His passion was definitely golf. He loved traveling with his best friends to Ireland and playing all of the beautiful courses. The stories they have are endless.

In honor of John, his friends are holding a golf benefit at the SouthShore Golf Course on October 10, 2023. Proceeds will go to Josie’s education fund.

John was always willing to lend an ear to friends and family and generously shared his business expertise to help many achieve their goals. His heart and soul will be greatly missed.

Johnny Mac will hold a Celebration of Life party on October 9th from 11:30 - 2PM at Johnny Mac’s restaurant.

Wonderful ‘silver and gold’ friends were there at the end to lend support to John, Susie, Josie, Johnna, and Donna. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do so.

The family would like to thank Sunset Hospice for the excellent care and support of the family. Thank you to Connie for making us feel so loved. You always made John happy.

He was a kind, generous and very humorous soul and will be greatly missed and remembered for the many lives he touched.

On the day of his death, a double rainbow appeared over the Last Vegas Valley. A rarity and a wonderful way to remember John.

12/25/23 03:37 PM

#960

John Roberts

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

03/29/24 09:07 PM

#961