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Munson MemorialVOL70 Na20 MERCYHURSTCOLLEGE, GLENWOODHILLS,ERIE,PA. 1546 Aptfll7^TS7M e r c y h u r s t L o s e s O n e of I t s F i n e

AttitudeUncle Bob

AManWho Cared

A Funeral Service wa s held Monday at 2 p.m.in Christ the King Chapel for Robert BarrettMunson, Mercyhurst Retention Counselor, whodied Thursday, April 10,1997, at the age of 70.Father Steve n Anderson, Mercy hurst Chap-lain, who officiated along with Lutheran PastorReinhold K.Weber, said Munson had wanted hisfuneral service to be "a celebration o f life."Mercy hurst President Dr. William P. Garvey,characterized those who attended the MunsonMemorial service as "an incredible ecumenicalturnout The service was an excellent example ofthe best side of Mercy hurst/The strong sense ofcommunity was wonderfully exemplified. Bobwould have been very proud. It was a beautifulway for him to be remembered. People of allfaiths, ages and walks of life came together in acelebra don of diversity and community whichrecognizes the importance of everybody.*9Munson was born in Erie, Aug. 2,1926, thesonof the late ElmerLawrence and Martha RebeccaBarrett Munson. He was a 1944 graduate ofAcademy High School and earned a Bachelor ofArts degreefromMercyhurst College In1994.Mr. Munson, knows as "Uncle Bob "on theMercyhurst ca mpus, h a d beenan employeeo f heErie Insurance Excha nge andthen owned h isownbusiness, Munson InsuranceAgency, until 1991.He was a member of the Mercyhurst CollegeBoard of Associates, a trustee of the YMCA anda member of the United Way of Erie CountyAllocations Committee.He was a member of theadvisory boards o f the Mercy Center on Aging,Foster Grandparents,GECAC and the LutheranHome for th c Aged. IMunson was a life member of the YMCA andthe East Erie Turners. He Was a past president ofthe Mount Calvary Lutheran Church Councfl anda past secretary of the Lake View Country Club.Hewas a member of the Lions Club, denwoodPark YMCA and the Greater Erie YMCA.He was also a member of Lawrence Lodge 708Fand AM, Scottish Rite, Zcm Zem Shrine Templeand the Royal Order of Jesters Erie Court 58. Healso played in the Zem Zem Pipe and Drum Corpsfor 25 years. He had served in the U.S. Armyduring World War IL ':

Mr Munson had two daughters, Susan L. Youngof Cambridge Springs and Mary & Baggao ofHawaii; a son, Jeffrey B. Munson of Erie; fivegrandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a niece;!and a nephew.Memorials may be made to thc'Robert B.Munson Scholarship Fund at Mercyhurst Col*lege.

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Robert Barrett Munson, *1926-1997

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ere to StartsIn the fall of 1992 a gentleman walked into my office in the Student Unionfor a dictionary for the Shane Reading Room and mat was theginning of an incredible friendsh ip.My husband Jay and I were privileged to spend a great deal of timewithespecially over the past few m onths. This lastweek, as we aha red partsThisJourney,was one ofboth great oy and sorrow. Wecame to understan

much about life and death and pain and peace. Hisgifts and talents wcispecial to so many.I could go on and on with story after story about the ptstfourand analears of getting to know and growing to love Bob Munson but that's notly necessary.Va not necessary because there b one common thread to every story abomBob. L^Attitude is everything! ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE." Hofr times did I hear that line?How many times did Bob respond to a "How are you?" with a resoundAM EXCELLENT!w WOW! I am atill uplifted try the thoughthave truly been blessed. H1 1 2 1AUofw who hadtoe opportunity toknowught na to believe in excellence, to strive for excellence! and to expoicellence. We are his legacy. Be Exccllentf^

By Karen English"Attitude," said Bob Munson, "is the oabout your life that you can control. Whe

out of bed in the morning, you decide whaday you're going to have/9Back in the 1970's, Bob was among Erance Exchange's top-selling brokers. Evenstarted his own insurance agency, the Musurance Agency, which he sold in 1991. Idifficult to figure out his secret to successhis attitude. He was a people-person, withpressible smile and a sincere hellofor everencountered.As co-workers and policyholders will attest,when Bob asked how yon were, he stlisten to your reply. If a person had a claproblem with a policy, he'd personally hesolveft.No run around or brush off, even thwas incredibly busy. Bob-personifiedInsurance's motto, "Above all in Service.''At a time when ma ny people feel they haachieved their career goals and are headedenjoy retirement in a sunny climate, Bob dthat he wasn't inished ust y etThere's always something else you wa nt Bob said in an interview conducted during of this year. He had always meant to get argoing to college but never found the timefriend convinced him to try ta king just onBob was 59 when he entered that classroomkids for thefirst ime, They werefreshfroschool! and he'd spent the last 40 years business world. He w asn't concerned with cing, but with just keeping up. It was hard wrecalled, but he kept at it one class at a timegot an associate degree.*After that, his long-time riend,college prDr William Garvey convinced him that he mwell hang in there for a bachelor's degree, anddid, eventually selling his insurance agencycould attend his senior year as a full-time sBob bad a great time and took every opportupa rticipa te in al aspects of student 1 ife He wa member of student government and a commment speaker at his graduation in 1994 whreceived a Bachelor of Arts degree in businesage of 67. j IA few days later, Dr Ga/vcy asked hm wcareer plans were now. Bob said he'd loo"another field o plow." Garvey made his phe needed help, someone to solve a few proin reorganizing student employmentat MercyGoto "Munson," p. 4.

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PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD April 17,1997

"Chef Roberto "seats the guests atthe Hanger Awareness DinnerAwesome Splendor

lam sad to see the red bird%leave....So many winters did it spend intcage.This cage was a home%Ihome ull ofwarmth and love,a home to grow strong.

I watch the red bird take it'swinged/lightacross the sky into the light,beyond the spheresand realms of peace.1To the peace thatonly God can give.These wings, they grewso strong,their strength carries the soulbeyond the planetsHHlllSl and the stars. IThese wings have beenformulating sincethe conception of our soulsEvergrowinglonger and strongerwith each good deed,each kindword,each selfless ac t

How sad for wings that stayweak and smallthey shall never know what liesbeyond the cloudsFly my love into endless peacefly my love,yourpain has ceasedan d your ob is done.Unlock the cageof your inner being andtake flightintoawesome splendor.

By Michele GarveyFor Bob Munsonm

Our Friend Who "Seized The DayBy Father Steven Simon

"Excellent!" Whatever part of the Mercyhurst campus you were on,when you heard that crisp, vibrant, excited voice , you knew that it was BobMunson 's response tothe question "How a re you?" But while most peopleposing the question usually just ask it as a passing "hello," B ob's responsewas always earnest If Bob said "Excellent!" he meant "Excellent!"That was Bob. None of Bob'sfriends could anyone who came intocontactwith Bob ever feel aay thing other than riendship?)will rememberwhen Bob was anything but enthusiastic. Although Bob knew a greatnumber of peoplefrommy Russian community, I never knew Bob untilhe appeared in my Russian culture class several years ago.I'm always delighted to have adult college students in class, becausethey are always very interested in the material and ready to participate, butBob was more than the typical adult student His enthusiasm and interestspread to everyone around him, and soon teachers and students ceasedseeing a 60-something-year-old student His youthful demeanor madehim a magnet for all the other students and I swear that more college co-edsflockedaround Bob than any other guy in class. Maybe hewas a fatherfigure, butI think theyjust found him as charming and dashing asI'm surethe 60-something women must have.Having Bob as a student in a number o fmy Russian studies classes wasa delight Bob often told me how much he learned in my culture andliterature dasses, but I think I benefited from his presence in my classesmuch more than he did from anything I tried to teach him. His sinceredesire to understand the material always led him to ask probing questionsand to take the chance of being wrong. Seeing that the "old man" was notafraid to make a mistake, the younger students soon lost their inhibitionsin expressingwhat Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky were saying in the novels weread.After B ob graduated and became "Mr. Help," his enthusiasm andempathy for the students wa s incredible. Often Bob , Phil Supina and Iwould discuss the generic question of middle age adults, "What's wrongwith this generation of students?*9Instead of throwing up his hands in rustration when he ran into studentswho were "slackers" or had real problems, Bob went after diem like aparent who loved every one o f his charges. Had not cancer taken Bob, Idon't think he could have stayed in his job for too long because he felt thepain of these young menand women too intensely. The only times beforehis illness that I saw the pain of rustration n Bob's face was when hewould tell me about a student whose problems Bob felt he couldn't helpcure. But he always tried!I don' t know about other faculty and administrators, but as soon as I sawa student struggling in class, homesick or "goofing off," I immediatelytold that student that he or she had to talk to Bob. Usually after hegot them,you could see that if things weren't solved, they knew Bob deeply caredand was trying to help them.I visited Bob two days before he died When I saw him, he wasdecimated by the cancer which took him. But when I left his home andgotInto the car where my wife was waiting, I struggled to describe the sceneIhadleft MBob, in a hospital bed, was surrounded by loving family and frien ds.Obviouslywracked with pain, he smiled as I approached* Wheal told himI wanted to say a prayer, Bob summoned his strength and notifiedeveryone clearly and decisively, "We're praying!" Everyone around Bobtouched him and each other and prayed. I was so overwhelmed by thisobviously sincere unity of prayer that I had trouble getting out thewords.And when Iwas finished, I looked forwords not trite, not deceitful, not?Jperfunctory. I couldn't find he right words, but I told Bob what Ifeltatthat moment I told him he was a lucky man. And I explained by sayingthat I often fear that I will live too longthat is to the age where I willbe a burden* Rather thanbe missed, my death will be seen as overdue. Isaid to Bob that I knew hewas being deprived of precious years of vibrantlife, but bis death would now be seen by everyone who knew him as atremendous loss. His death was not overdue, but premature.And I mean those words as much as Bob meant it every time hedeclared "Excellent!" Yes Bob, you were right When someone askedyou how you were, we all knew you were describing yourself,not merelyhow you felt when you said "Excellent!"For everyone who knew th is excellent man, his death is recognized asa great loss. When we say that Bob died when be was only 70, we realizethat the word "only* really has meaning. Bob didn't live so long as tobecome superfluous. He is lucky for he left everyone regretting his loss.

Bob proudly displays the T-shirtsigned by members ofthe howhich he received as a gift during this year's season."It seems as if I've always known Bob. I can't rememberhim or having been introduced. One of the first things I do r

trying to get him to define what he meant by excellen t 'Whmean if you say it all the time?' I asked him. This resulted inconversations that allowed me to get to know him, his experand sorrows."Excellentwa s a state of his own soul which he wished forBob recognized the power of words to change an atmospheryou feel that you were OKas an individual. B ob also openedto all who knew him. He welcomed my family and invited uover any time."Bob's life was an undescribable gift for me. He experienccomplete fulfillment during his time here where he was ablethe students. He used to tell me 1 love these kids, Betty . I rto be here with them."' ] \ \ J BetfI Director o

"Bob had a huge impact on a lot of students at this campucouldn't believe it sometimes. Whenever we had a concernproblem for one o f our students, we'd ask Bob for advice. Hrounds on our road games and held many get-togethers andhis house for the team."Bob's legendary hi the fact that it didn't matter what day what was going on, a few words from Bob made the day seeHe had a natural ability to make people feel good about them"In the world of hockey, Bob taught our guys a lot of life lePeople got to see how you can deal with a debilitating diseasclass and dignity and how to live life to the fullest rhese lessimmeasurable. Even up to his last day he was teaching the costaff and the players." . ^ i. *.j*^ 7 Hockey Coach Ric

Bob dressed as Pagan from the Dickens' novel pUyer Twpresentation in his British Classics class in 1993. J Ba^a^aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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PAGE 3 THE MERC1AD April 17,1997

R e m e m b e r i n g A W o r t h y A d v e r s aBy Chris Wloch9 H

I guess I consider myself to beore fortunate than the averageMercyhurst student During mytime at this college , I've had theopportunity tobe exposed tomanyreat teachers and made a num-ber of close friends, Prominantamong these is i very special in-dividual whom many on campuscame to know as "Uncle Bob."I remember first meeting Un cleBob two years ago when I was asophomore. At the time, I wasdetermined to leave MercyhurstI hadno idea where I wanted togoor where I thought I wanted to be(I had briefly considered Gannon),ut I was pretty sure that thiswasn't itFor three days in a row, I wentand argued with "Mr. Munson,dieretention counsel or" ventingmy rustrationsand explaining mysituation to him. Just as he hadhelped countless others, UncleBob did everything he possiblycould to make the situation moretolerable. He personally went tospeak with the dean about me,and he m ade a lot of time in hisbusy schedule to work with thefinancial aid office in solving myproblems.;More importantly, Uncle Bobhelped me to realize that whenthings1 aren't going as plannedyou might sometimes need toswallow your pride and acceptthings as they are. It's importantto make every effort to changethings when you cany" he told meafter Pd decided to stay atMercyhurst "But never beingwilling to compromise and un-dertake the hard part of makingchanges within yourself is only

going to hurt you in the long run."Over the next yea r I developeda rather unique, "adverserial" re-lationship with Uncle Bob. Be-cause I'dfirstcome to see him asanadministrator whose authorityIwas challenging, I grewto enjoygoing to his office for friendlyarguments on a number o f topics.Although I never had the pleasureofbeing ina classwithhim, UncleBob had previously taken manyof the same courses that I was in,andhe shared with me a few ofhisown insights into Russian litera-ture,history, philosophy, psychol-ogy and theology.Uncle Bob always provided m ewith a receptive and eagerly ap-preciative audience for myprojects.WhenIfirststarted writ-ing for Th e Mercladlast year, hisoffice was one of the few that Iwould run to every* Friday morn-ing with a copy in my hand, just toshow him diearticleIhad written.When I wasfirstasked to go intoa Religious Persons class to do alecture on Buddhism, Uncle Bobwas the first person to hear mypresentation and encouragemetoconquer my fear of public speak-ing.You s ee, learning about differ*ent religions was a passion thatUncle Bob and I shared. Wewereconerned not jus t about descrip-tions of beliefs and rituals, butalso infindingout how p eople'sfaith can motivate them to act inthe world. For a long time, thebulletin board beside his officedoor had a poster describing howthe "Golden Rule" is proclaimedby eight of theworld'smajor faithtraditions. Unde Bob was theul-timate example of this principle.Notonly did he treat other peoplethe way he wished to be treated in

Senior Tony Greidanus (r.) poses with Bob after hocke,< game in1996. -Never have I met nun wfth so much energy end love togive others. All that he nskedfor *M smile and a Mendly wordin return,' he said. My meeting Bob Mtmson wis troly n honorand has Influence* me to become the man I amtoday.Being

return, he regarded the gains andjoys, the pains and losse s of oth-ers as his as well.For two years in a row, UncleBobalso organized and conductedthe panel discussion on world re-ligions at Academ ic Celebration.Lastyear,whenhe asked me tobeon the panel, I felt like I had lethim down for the first time be-cause I had to do another presen-tation at the same time for a classgrade. Uncle Bob was alwaysintrigued bymy personal religiousbeliefs, and he respected the dif-ferences between us, even whenthey seemed irreconcilable onthesurface.Uncle Bobwas oneof the mostunselfish people I've ever met inmy life. In fact, I never reallylearned to o much about his per-sonal life before this

his suggestions for even a shortmoment, I would no doubt be

cept for his views on the novelswe discussed or his ideas abouthow religion should bring peopletogether, not cause divisionsbecause he always tended to fo-cus our conversations on me andmy accomplishments, ambitions,ideas and goals.

I don't usually open up to oth-ers with my problems. Uncle Bobwas one of the few people I'veever really talked about the thingswhich really bothered me . Withhim I felt I could discuss thedifficulties with family, my alco-hol abuse, how to balance toomany commitments and when todecide ifone or more of themhadto be dropped in order for me toremain sane.Uncle Bob always gave meexcellent advice. The problem isthat I never seemed to listen tohim until after he had been provenright N ow I realize that if I hadonly stopped to consider a fewof

g a signed diploma inMay instead of just getting towalk with my class.Last Tuesday I was fortuna teenough to get a chance to saygoodbye. I hadn't seen Uncle Bobin months, but Ihad just talked tohim on the phone the week be-fore. Even though the intensesuffering he was in came acrossinhis voice, I th ought he soundedlike hewas strong enough tomakeit until summertime. I had evenhoped that he would be willingand able to let me interview himsometime before the endofApril.

That night, as I watched UncleBob surrounded byfriendsandfamily, I could feel an intensityof ove in thatroom tha tI'veonlyrarely experienced in my shortlife. It took me a long time tomuster up die courage to go up tohim. I didn't want him to see mewith tears in my eyes. Nervously,I approached his bedside, wrack-ing my brain for "the right thingto say." '.* *"Thanks, Uncle Bob," I said. "Idoubt that I even would be here atMercyhurst rightnowif t weren'tfor you.,I mean, you're not theonly reason thatI didn't leave, butyou were a big part of why Iactually stayed.|- "I don't know how I can tell youhow much I really appreciate allthe time and effort you've in-vested in me."With afirm grip on my hand,Uncle Bob looked me dead in theeye. The only thing he said was,"You'd just better graduate." jBeing in that room with UncleBob and all the people whom he'dtouched, was like riding an emo-tional roller coaster. I was crying

in fits one minute, andlike a fool the next, out oof deep peace, knowinghe would b e released froles of pain that I cannfathom.Most of all I was anf'being cheated out of tointense discussions andthatwill never be , I thouit dawned on me, I hcheatedmyself. I rememmany times over the pmonths-that I failed tocouple minutes out ofma good friend who hadmade the time for me nhow busy he was.I Often as 1 lay m oea latover the past couple weeking about what I had to dday I would say to mreally need to call Unclehow he's doing, maybe

gue with him a little. "Thling day, sitting atmy dephone, I would convincthat I was "wasn'treadyto make that call becouldn't pretend that evwas the way itused to bBut if I learned anythi' from Unde Bob, it's not "low in self-pity when thtion demands that you

and make the most of lifing every day to the frealize that I have a ccould sit here paralyzedpression and guilt over\ not taken or I can blaze- path with the' same penergy that Iused to envBob. No, M ercyhurst is same place without himhope, fervor, sense of pand deep compassion fowhich Unde Bob has ins

the youngergeneration wtinue to bear fruit for "

privflegeand calling him UodeBcb' was definitelyfi^an^i^

"The veryfirst ime I had Bob was 5 years ago. I wasteaching a night course, U.S. Since the Civil War andthere was this older, non-traditional student there whoproved to be an absolute spark plug in the classes I hadwith him."Bob bad served in Germany during the occupation atthe end of World War II. When I taught 20th centuryEurope, I had him in class again. He brought in some ofhis photographs and German Nazi paraphernalia that hehad gathered and this contributed a great deal to the class."Later on as I got to know Bob better, I found that hewas a great story teller. I remember his being verygenerous as well. I know seven 1 cases where he actua 11ypaidfor students' books out of his own pocket"Bob was a wonderful human being who lived, reallylived his faith. He dd a marvelous job when hewas here,**! it UF ll hAurrv difficult for the collet? e to reDlace him.

"Bob was a man of deep faith and couragI often talked about Catherine McAuley andspirit and how we could share it with othersthat I read Thomas Merton'swork, and heMerton fan. Bob and I also shared a love ofpracticed Yoga every day and said mat it wareligious experience for him. ,| "I will miss you Bob, but I also know thatpeace. I w ill still talk to you about the thingLet's pray to Bob, rather than for him."

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Dr. Phillip SupineAssistant Professor o falSdence and History

Sister Carol Ann VDirector of Service"Mr Munson was a dear friend of mine.

me through some very difficult times. I am hhave known him and to have been hisfrienmiss him very much."M s Hl EX Junior Kris ten L

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PAGE 4 THE MERCIAD April 17,1997

By Dan HtlflkerSenior WrkerThroughout the school year, the *plans for the Senior Class of1997Project, which will be namedMunson Plaza, hive gone fromlittle more than a dream on paper,

to being reality. The plaza, namedin honor of the late Mercyhurststudent end administrator, Rob-ert B. Munson, will lie in whatwill come to be known as SouthGarvey Park. It is expected to becompleted in tim e, for the co l-lege's 1997 commencement cer-emonies hi late May.Financing for die park hisbeenthrough the Senior Class ProjectCommittee, which has raised$4,000 in pledges, the most everby any Senior Class. There al-ready has been about $2,500 col-lectedfrom hose pledgingmoneyto the projectTh e deadline for paying yourpledges has been extended toApril 23, and We will be takingother donations until the end ofApril. Our goal was to raise$3,500 for the project and wehave surpassed that inpledges bya wide margin," VanessaPappalardo, chair of the SeniorQass Project, said.The initial plans for the projectwere to be a park in honor of

Munson. Throughout the plan-ning stages of the project, thepark has come to include a ISfoot high original water sculp-ture by California artist ArchieHeld, which was donated byMunson. Thesculpture, which isentitled"Blessing," will be madeof bronze and Will feature threesquared projections reaching up-ward toward the sky, with waterflowing from the top piece downtoward a bronze circular pool atthe base of the sculpture.The thing that Bob liked aboutthe sculpture was mat it had asense of the m ystery of transcen-dence. He liked its elegance andsimplicity. Healso liked thename"Blessing" because it is an openended name with a religious over*tone," saidDr. Joseph G ower, VicePresident of Academ ic Affairs."We are shooting to have theparkfinished by graduation. Thesculpturewill be done by this sum-mer. He (Held) said somethinglike Juneor July," Gary B ukowsld,Vice President of InstitutionalAdvancement, said.The sculpture for the park wasoriginally to be placed outsidewhat will be the new entrance tothe Hammermill Library, butMunson agreed that it wo uld be

till

l l l l adequately placed in theparkafter suggestions by Gower and

college president Dr. William P.Garvey..:"We think that it will be thebestdisplay of public art in Erie. Notonly will ithave wonderful sights,but also wonderful sounds withthe water running. We hope thatitwill be a wonderful meeting placefor all of the students," Gowersaid.The park alsowill feature two4-foot high pillars located at theentranee, and a semi-circularwalltaming granite plaques dis-playing the names of senior* whodonated to the projec tThose seniors who donate $25or more will have their namesdisplayed on a plaque, and allthose who donate less than $25wOl have their names posted inthe Senior Registry," Pappalardosaid.According to Garvey, die road-way through tine area will beblocked off, and a cul-de-sac willbe constructed in rontof Baldwin.Only delivery trucks will be al-lowed to enter with limited park-ing spots\available for handi-capped access. This will m ake thearea around Zurn and Baldwin alittle safer for students aa theywalk between classes, as well asenhance the overall appearance ofthe campus, Garvey said."Beauty is importantnot just for

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Model of Archie Held's sculpture "Blessing." Photo: Garthe purpose of aesthetics, but alsofor the creation of a genial, hospi-table environment for students.The decision to name the parkafter Bob was a grand gesture on

the part of the studevery proud to be honway," he said.

"Bob la our most distinguished and amazing gradu-ate of the Adult College, Wewould go up to the MercyCenter on Aging and do a presentation to seniorcitizens about coming ba ck to school. B ob would talkabout his experiences as an older student His vitalitywas a huge inspiration. We have a number of olderstudents coming here as a result of his ' telling hisstory."Bob was very generous with his time and talents.He was good at gardening and he once helped to do theyardwork when he heard I needed some help."I've really missed seeing Bob in the halls. I findmyselfusing theword "excellent" all the time now asa result of him." _Mary Ellen Dahlkerap erDirector. Adult College

a>II i was someonewho wasso full of energy all thetime, from the m oment he turned the corner in themorning singing "Good Morning, Good Morning"down the hall. He certainly wasn't a quiet person."Bob was always eager to learn more. When you'dtell him something unbelievable! Instead of saying"you're kidding," Bob would exclaim "get out of thevillage!" I'm going to miss the way his laughteralways carried down the hallfromhis office.T h e students loved Bob. He had a sensitive side andhe empathized with their concerns. He'd go downduring lunch time to "schmooze the tables" as hecalled it and talk with the students. \"Bob was the crisis person. Whether it was a per-sonal or academic problem he was there to help. Bobwas known for his ability to get it done now. Thephone would ling, he'd write down the problem andrush off to solve it immediately." Elaine Ruggiero JAd 101 Counselor'

Bob was one of those guys who never grows old. Hewas the kind of person who refused to be defeated ordepressed. In talking with people who knew Bob 50years ago, I've found that he had the same outgoingpersonality and zest for life back then as well. ' jp During his years in theclassroom, Bob w as the quint-essential Mercyhurst stude nt Later aa a cou nselor, becontinued to display the kind of people skills and deepconcern for others thatwe prize at MercyhurstAs a very competent, caring and classy man, Bobexemplified everything the colleg e is all about Hemadea big difference at die college, and everybody will misshis en ergy, enthusiasm and positive 'can-do spirit9 Weneed more people like him." MmyhnrATnMmtDr. William P. Garvey

"Bob was one of the friendliest people I've ever met !He was always in a cheerful, good mood, and he jseemed to have a lust for life. ."Bob became more of a friend han a colleague. H eknew I hung around with Dr. Redman and Dr. Trout in jthe faculty dining room and he said that he wanted tobe in our "clique," so o f course we let him in.When he was in the hospital last yearfor ntestinal jproblems, my wife and I went in to see him several jtimes because he was the one wh o needed picking upfor once. Later, we visited him when he was receivingchemo treatments. It was amazing to me how com-posed he was through the whole ordeal."Even in those last few days, Bob was still anunbelievably unselfish person. He touched so manylives and made the college community and the Eriecommunity at large a much better place because of hissacrifices."1AV Michael FederklAssistant Professor of Political Science

{- "I feel that students should emulate manyof the qualpossessed: enthusiasm, optimism, dedication and interers. He was wonderful to talk with and wonderful to wMany students are still here at Mercyhurst becausMunson, and there's not another person I knowwho woua great liaison between students and the college."\ Nancy EichAssistant Professor of Com puter

"Munson," cont'd fr om p. 1.'Bob hada new job.That challenge soon solved, theythrew him another. Director ofResidence Life Dr.Gary Brownhad come upwith theconcept of"Mr. Help," a resource person tohelp students workout theirprob-lems so they could stay in school.Bob was a natural for the job ofretention counselor- he'd beenhelping people solve probl ems for

yean. Maybe it was because hewas older and wiser, or because* |he hadgray h air, but for whateverreason, the kids who came intohis office poured out their heartsto him as they would to a trustedrelative or a familyfriend.Manyof these students affectionatelydubbed Urn "Uncle Bob."j Bob listened. He cared. And hehook the time to help them findjways to deal with their issues,[whether they were academic,Iove-related, inancialor a familycrisis. Mercyhurst boasted a

record 80% retention rin part due to Bob's Mb Help.By caringfor hose kin his office, and shardom on the importantude,Bob sawa lotofkwhen they felt like qucaring came back to hashe battled cancer. Hwhelmed at the care ahis "kids" expressed their cards, and visit s aand he waa deeply apDespite the devastaillness, Bob kept his smor right up till the ehis last visitors were the worked with andfrom Mercyhurst forhad served as a mentorational role model. Bfrom this life last Thubut his words live on;... it's the one thing in lcontrol.* Words toThanks, Un cle Bob!