Obits 2018

From BACDS Dancer No. 113 Q2 2018

In Memoriam: Lydee Scudder By Chris Folger

Like many, many others in the BACDS community, I was deeply saddened to hear that Lydee Scudder passed away on February 12. Lydee was a vibrant, forceful presence on the dance floor, at dance camps, and behind the scenes at BACDS throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. She worked hard to make the dance experience warm and fun for all participants, especially new dancers. I was one such newbie who stumbled onto the dance scene some 30 years ago, and Lydee was among the very first people to make this shy guy feel welcome and accepted into the social milieu as quickly as it takes to box the gnat. For years thereafter, up until the time she relocated to Southern California, Lydee was always among the first persons I looked for when I arrived at a dance, and I can still see her exuberant face as she was dancing up a storm.

I missed her when she left the Bay Area, and I will always remember her.

From BACDS Country Dancer No. 116 Q1 2019

Irv Kestin: 1919-2018 By Laura West

Irv Kestin, a longtime dancer, passed on November 18.

All are welcome to attend his celebration of life, which as of this writing is still in the planning stage. The tentative date is January 7, 2019, most likely at the Albany Community Center.

Please contact Laura West, his granddaughter, for information about Irv’s celebration or if you would like to make a contribution to the tribute she is writing for him. 

MORE:

Published Obituary

From BACDS Country Dancer No 101 March 2015 and No 103 Sept 2015

What Happened To Irv? Part 1 by Laura West

You may not know his name, but once you met him, you'd probably not forget him, or his sense of fun and enjoyment while dancing, or the interesting ways he accommodated his dancing with his arthritic shoulder.

He's my grandfather, and may have been the oldest dancer in the Bay Area. Between Berkeley Folk Dances, Contra and English dancing, he had until recently been stepping out 3-5 times a week.

But he was regularly scraping the sides of cars with his car, beginning to lose his balance and having periodic falls. We, (his family and friends) were worried. Last summer he was forced to stop driving. (Big thank-yous to his dance friends who gave him rides.) In early December he had the worst fall, (no broken bones though). Then on Christmas Eve he was admitted to Kaiser Emergency, unable to get out of bed due to cellulitis in his leg. He was hospitalized, then was admitted to a care center, where he stayed until about 10 days ago. While the infection had healed, because of his extreme age he could no longer get around or care for himself without lots of support (caregivers, walkers, etc.).

My wonderful Cousin Julie had his home renovated and still supervises other care so he could move back to the Orinda horse ranch where he'd lived for many years.

Of course he'd rather be dancing.

I'll be putting together a tribute article for the next issue of the Dancer, and would like to invite anyone who has a great story, comment or photo I can add, please contact me. I'd be happy to pass on any cards as well.

How is Irv doing? (part 2) by Laura West (his granddaughter)

These days Irv’s caregiver Joe or his "daughter in law", Rosemarie, takes him to the North Berkeley Senior Center most Tuesdays, where I can bike over and meet him. We have lunch with his old radical Berkeley friends, and he plays pool. Just like at dances, most folks there appreciate him and sort of watch out for him. Irv usually gets out at least two other days a week, with Julie, (his other granddaughter) to help him with medical and other affairs, plus visits. Len (his nephew) takes him out for more pool at the Senior Center. A few times dancers Karen or Anita have brought me up to the horse ranch in Orinda (where Irv has lived since the 1991 Oakland Firestorm burned down my grandparents’ house). They've persuaded him to get out his poetry, and we've had some great visits.

Still, it has been a challenge for him (and us) to make life interesting without dancing. He only likes limited sedentary activities: no computer, no reading (except the NY Times) little TV (just the ARTS channel) and music (classical only). It's the visiting and physical activity that makes him come alive. But the reason he is a pretty healthy, mid-90-year-old is being active all his life -- exactly what all the scientific studies are confirming.

He and I used to do swing dancing at the Oakland Dance Center, and he reminded me that he danced swing when it first came out. Like doing ECD, his sense of fun always came out when he and I danced.

Back in the early 1950s, he met my grandmother at international folk dances, and moved in when my mom was 13. (He now lives with Mom's brother, Peter Rich.) Around that time, they'd all go dancing together. He and my grandmother would go on long hikes around Mt. Tamalpais, followed by dances in Mill Valley.

In the 1960s, I remember watching them dance, and trying to copy their buzz step. By age 12 I was dancing in Girl Scouts, so I was very delighted when they took me to the Mill Valley dance. Irv would help me on the dance floor – just as I and so many of you helped him when he forgot the moves during the dances of the last few years. (Thank you all!)

By the time my grandparents stopped dancing, (in the early 1970s, because of grandma's arthritis), they were living on the peak above the Claremont Hotel. Irv had been doing weight lifting (free weights) at the YMCA since the 1950s (he only stopped going to the Y last December). They also had up to four biggish dogs, and so from the 1970s to the 1991 firestorm, Irv did two to four dog walks per day in the hills.

After the firestorm, my grandparents moved to my Uncle Peter's horse ranch in Orinda. My grandmother died in 1998, and that was when Irv restarted his dancing career. He did Berkeley Folk Dancers, Contra, English and Swing. So up to about a year and a half ago, Irv was aver- aging three to four dances per week.

May we all also keep dancing just as long as we can!