Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 12:22 AM

It is really great what Dave's friends have done to memorialise him. Thanks for sharing with us, everyone.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 12:20 AM

Thanks Linn, that's the 2nd time I've heard Dave sing that now. I believe that's that last time I heard or saw him. He is missed.
I wish I knew him better.
Barry

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 07:38 PM

This past week I was pleasantly surprised to find Dave's voice on a tape of the post-Getaway singaround at Sinsull's. (Yeah, I'm just getting around to transcribing it.) Dave sang so seldom, though he knew a lot of songs, that it was truly a surprise as well as a coincidence that it showed up NOW. Anyway, Barbara Benn kindly converted it, emailed it to me, and I emailed it to Pete Childress for inclusion at the memorial website.

So it you'd like to hear Dave singing "Our Baby Has Gone Down the Plughole" (and see a photo of him from that evening), please go to --

Memorial

Linn

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,Peter Childress
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 11:37 AM

Hi, Folks-

Dave Loomis' permanent memorial website is up at http://www.wewillalwaysloveyou.com/DaveLoomis . I'm certain that friends and family would welcome your comments in the "Book of Remembrance" that is on the site. And many thanks and much appreciation to Bat Goddess for her kind correspondence.

-Pete
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: Peace
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 05:18 PM

Dave's Obit of February 2, 2007

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,Peter Childress
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 05:15 PM

Hi, Folks-

Dave was a longtime member of s private Viet Nam Veterans mailing list, and we're all still reeling from his loss. I'm building a permanent web memorial for him, but nobody knows the actual date of his death. If someone would be so kind as to send me that information to [e-mail], we'd all appreciate it. I'll repost a message here with the URL for his memorial after I put it up on the web.

Many thanks...

-Pete Childress

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,DSVVIC
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 02:33 PM

Dave was known to those of us on a Canadian VN Veterans chat group. he will be missed by many of us from around the fireside chats...ds

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,Your Pal... Sal
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 04:59 PM

Dave was an internet friend who will be sorely missed. My sincerest condolences to both family and friends.

Semper Fidelis,

Sal

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: curmudgeon
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 10:01 AM

A podcast of Dave's Memorial Service is available   here.

You might need to turn up the volume a bit - Tom

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 02:37 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,Fred Goodwin (San Antonio, TX)
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 11:17 AM

I never met Dave, but corresponded with him online in various Scouting forums. This is such tragic news -- I was not aware of his illness.

He will be sorely missed, but I trust he'll be with the great Scoutmaster of all Scouts watching over us until we meet again.

Rest in peace, Dave.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: curmudgeon
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 10:25 AM

Here's Dave's obituary from today's Portsmouth Herald --

David C. Loomis

PORTSMOUTH -- David C. Loomis, of Portsmouth, died after a long battle with cancer.

He was born June 24, 1938, in Worcester, Mass. Raised in Lebanon, he graduated from Hanover High School. He attended Marlboro College in Vermont and later transferred to the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a degree in computer science.

He was a veteran of both the U.S. Army and the Air Force. During his military career, he was stationed globally in Thailand, Vietnam, England, North Carolina and Alaska. He retired from the Air Force in 1986 at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth.

A lifelong member of the Boy Scouts of America, he served in various leadership capacities here in New Hampshire and in North Carolina.

He is survived by his son, John and his wife, April; granddaughter Taylor of California; and his brother, Donald and his wife, Diane, and their daughter, Tanya, and son, Eric, of South Dakota.

SERVICES: A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church (South Church), 292 State St., Portsmouth. In lieu of flowers, it was David's wish that donations be made in his name to the Daniel Webster Council Inc. Boy Scouts of America, 571 Holt Ave., Manchester, NH 03109.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,J. Badertscher
Date: 01 Feb 07 - 04:27 PM

I met Dave at Philmont a number of years ago. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and can-do attitude. I have followed his comments on the Yahoo Scout Training site and could picture him speaking the words he wrote. He will be missed but I am sure he is organizing training and troop activities in the councils in heaven and will greet all of his friends when we make the trip.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,Ted B.
Date: 01 Feb 07 - 04:21 PM

Dave will be missed. He touched more people than he would ever know. I met him in New Hampshire at a Scouting event. It is tough to lose a member of the Scouting Family.

Ted Beblowski

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: curmudgeon
Date: 01 Feb 07 - 10:02 AM

There will be a memorial service for Dave this Sunday, 4 Februaryat 4:00 PM at the South Church (Unitarian) on State Street, Portsmouth NH -- Tom

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: GUEST,JAJansenJr
Date: 01 Feb 07 - 09:54 AM

Dave Loomis was an Eagle Scout and frequent contributor to the listserve Scouts-L (www.scouts-l.org). He freely shared his
immense knowledge of the Scouting program with everyone on that list, and could always be counted on with a helpful idea. Dave, Via Con Dios! (Go with God).

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave Loomis (January 2007)
From: ranger1
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 09:14 AM

Damn. I will miss Dave. I'm glad I sat next to him at December's chantey sing.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Janie
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 10:12 PM

I didn't know him either, but I always liked what he had to say and appreciated his positive attitude. My condolences to all who knew and loved him.

Janie

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: GUEST,Eve
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 06:23 PM

I met David at the Press Room about 15 years ago. We were friends ever since, and he was very kind to me. We had Christmas together in 2006, and he struggled with whether he should go for the 2nd round of chemo. The doses were more than double, the first time around.   I was amazed at how well he seemed to accept the fact that he might not live even a year. He managed to still call me and ask how I was. I miss him.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 10:40 AM

Edmund and I met Dave at Tom & Linn's "Tune it or Die" party in the spring of -- was it 2001? There or thereabouts. He stands out in my memory for his sweet demeanour and his reminiscences of bilingual (French and English) rural life in New Hampshire when he was a child. His posts here were a true reflection of his personality: respectful and kind, with a twinkle and always a nugget of genuine information you didn't know before he offered it. Such a nice guy. Such a loss.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Partridge
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 10:24 AM

That was lovely to read Jacqui.
I didn't know Dave, but wish him well on his next journey

Pat x

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: jacqui.c
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 08:12 AM

I was thinking, as I read this thread, of the PM I got from Dave following my sending him the words for a parody on Gaudete and that it was worth sharing. Life has changed so much for most folk and these snippets from a different childhood are well worth sharing and remembering. This is a bit of Dave's legacy to us all and I'm glad that he found a 'good home' for this remembrance with me.

Jacqui,

   Thank you for that bit of authentic Christmas cheer.

   As one who was born a goodly number of years before you, I can still remember the older Christmases we used to have on a small farm in Lebanon a town in western central New Hampshire. Since this was well before a Sears store in every large town, we got the Sears Christmas "Wish Book" around October, and the two of us poured through this cornucopia of Christmas related products until we had cut our wishes down to a reasonable cost, and had submitted this list to Santa in a letter that our parents took down to the Post Office and mailed for us, well in time for Christmas delivery.

   These lists usually revolved around a farm set, mostly cardboard buildings and fences, with animals cast from whatever material was popular that year. Over the year the cardboard buildings and fencing took a lot of punishment, so we'd order a new set to replace the worn out one, and add to the number of animals. We raised Christmas trees for sale, so we simply went out into the tree planting and picked what looked like a good tree, as well as some odd boughs for wreaths and garland.

   In the past my mother had done a small business in wreaths and garland from the boughs and an evergreen creeper vine, and used to ship 300-500 wreaths to the Boston market each year. This was a good deal for her and us, because it allowed her to make some money off renewable resources, with little cash outlay up front, and this wen a dollar an hour was considered a very fair wage. She'd collect the makings, fasten them to a wire hoop, and then toss the completed wreath into a trough of water, to keep the material from drying out. Just before shipping the wreaths to Boston, she's do an all-nighter, adding pine cones and red ribbon bows to the wreaths, to increase their worth.

   In any event, having just emerged from our depression, we had a finely honed idea of the worth of things and rarely bought cheap items of decoration or for gifts. Tawdry just doesn't compete beside real items of quality workmanship and high quality raw materials. We'd always get the usual sweater and the occasional scarf, and the rest of Christmas was a few toys or the like, to please us.

   Living on a small farm, we raised dairy goats for milk and meat, kept two pigs over the summer to slaughter for hams, bacon, and fresh pork, and s small flock of chickens for eggs and eventually meat. We had raspberries, blackberries, and a few apples, but always bought a peck of peaches for canning, and had an acre or so in vegetables for the daily table, and canning. By and large, we turned sweat equity into our meals both during the summer, and later on into the winter and spring, having only to purchase canning and curing supplies, to preserve what we had grown.

   While living out of town did have its disadvantages, once we had demonstrated that we were mature enough to be trusted, we could hike to town to see the Saturday matinee, picking up enough soft drink bottles to pay for our tickets, and perhaps a box of popcorn. In any case, we learned value early, and were rarely fooled by cheap trinkets and other dross.

   Happy Christmas,

   Dave

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: fat B****rd
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 04:30 AM

RIP Dave.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: number 6
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 12:19 AM

This sad news. My deepest condolences to his family.

bill

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Alice
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:33 PM

I'm very sorry to hear of this loss. My sympathy to his family and friends.

Alice

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 09:27 PM

Recently, Dave wrote to Jacqui about his childhood. I hope she chooses to share it here. He writes beautifully. It is only a bit of his story but hopefully there is a diary somewhere with more.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 08:18 PM

Go well, Dave.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Peace
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 03:46 PM

I traded a few messages with Dave from time to time. He was a really good guy.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 03:29 PM

Dave will indeed be missed around here.   We all build some odd friendships in this cyberworld but though they may be different, they are real nonetheless. Dave was a friend and valued contributor.

Sins, maybe you could share that table spot and raise another glass for all of us here as well.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 03:16 PM

Even in cyberspace, his goodness came through. Rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: bbc
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 03:14 PM

Sad news, but it sounds like a life well-lived. Thanks for letting us know.

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 02:31 PM

Condolences to his famiy, & those here that knew him.

If there is a Heaven, one more for the Singaround.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: KT
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 02:11 PM

My heart's with all of you who knew him. May love send him on his way.

KT

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Amos
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 02:08 PM

Adios, compadre. You were fine company, even over the strange distances of cyberspace, and good to go down the road with. Be at peace and find the future you most like.

A

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:39 PM

Oh My! I did not know. RIP Dave.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:36 PM

The first time I met Dave was in the late 1980's, when we were both stationed at Pease AFB. I had no idea he liked folk music, but he was rather easy to identify when I later saw him at the Press Room - a tall guy with white-white hair and a boomy voice.

The last time I saw him was at last month's sea song sing, where he presented me with Stan Hugill's Shanties From the Seven Seas and a T-shirt from a N.H. Folk Festival, a tradition that lasted all of two years. Dave said he'd been clearing his stuff out and finding good homes for things. I gave him a hug, then watched him leave, and that was it. He had cancer and didn't want anyone except a few people to know. I knew, but I don't think he knew I knew, so that hug was just because he'd thought of me.

I'm sad he's gone, and I think he must have been in some pain. What I'll remember though, is how much fun he seemed to be having.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Alba
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:24 PM

Oh this News is so sad. It is very hard to share news like this when you are hurting from the loss of a good friend. Thank you Tom and Linn for letting us all know.

Dave, Sir, you will be missed here by many and I suspect by many more in many other places too.
It seems to me that you fought a good fight. May you rest easy and free from pain.
My deepest Sympathy to Dave's Family and his many Friends.

Very Sadly,
Jude

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:23 PM

Sorry to hear that. If he was religious I hope he has gone to his God.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: jacqui.c
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:20 PM

So sorry to hear this news. Dave was a kind and gentle man. He was rather quiet and unassuming, the perfect audience for us rowdier elements.

We will miss him.

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 01:19 PM

I spoke with Dave just before New Years to see how he was doing. He had decided to go through with another round of chemo. Dave was very philosophical about his impending death. He was also determined to keep living.
He called on New Years Eve to apologize for not being well enough to make the trip. The week before he had planned a Loomis' traditional New Year's feast to bring along - pork and sauerkraut simmered for ten hours to a melt in your mouth consistency and served with buttery mashed potatoes. Some of you know that New Years was a sit down dinner and no food was needed but it seemed so important to Dave that I told him to go ahead and share his tradition.
I believe the last song he sang at a Song Circle was Rawtenstall Annual Fair. I sang the mermaid verse thinking it quite risque; Dave countered with "Father Don't Go Down The Hole" with an impish grin.
My plan was to sit with him tonight at the Press Room. Guess I will sit at his table anyway and raise a glass to a friend gone.
Mary

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Big Mick
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 12:28 PM

God be good to him. Good contributor to these parts. My sympathies on the loss of a good friend.

Mick

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:57 AM

What a shock. I didn't know he'd been struggling.

Thanks for being here, Dave. You will be missed.

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:56 AM

Really sorry to hear this, Tom and Linn, but thanks for posting this.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:38 AM

Gosh, sympathies to his nearest and dearest Tom, sorry to hear the news.
Another good Mudcatter gone, we need them here!

Peace Dave

Giok

Subject: RE: Obit: NH Dave
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:30 AM

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! Thanks so much for letting us all know.

~Susan

Subject: Obit: NH Dave
From: curmudgeon
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:25 AM

NH Dave Loomis succumbed to his struggle with cancer this week. As well as being a contributing Mudcatter, Dave was a regular at the Press Room sessions for nigh on twenty years.

Although Dave was not a musician per se, he would from time to time offer up a short song, a verse or fragment, usually unknown to the rest of us. Over the past several months he had become a regular at Sinsull's monthly song circles and events.

While in the U.S. Air Force, his interest and love of traditional song and folklore was sparked by his being stationed in England in the midst of the revival of the 60s.

He was a kind, friendly man who will be missed by those who knew him -- Tom & Linn