Terry Schumacher

The following email was sent to us by Shirley Martin McGrath, Class of 62.  A lovely tribute to Dan.

Dear Classmates, Dan Pollock was one of my best friends. We lived half a block from each other. All members of our family were friends with the Pollocks. Dan always called me the dreadful name Lirsh, which his Dad had given me. I guess it was some sort of weird combination of Shirl. We did many things together. The Pollock house was the go-to place for kids to gather. We would always go there and play HORSE because they had a basketball hoop. They had a player piano and believe it or not, someone would pump and friends would gather round and sing! We did this often. Wonderful times! Every night in the summer my sister and I (and later my brother too) would ride our bikes down to their house and there would be a gaggle of kids just hanging out. I remember one night we were on our bikes and somehow we heard Bill Haley and the Comets sing Rock Around the Clock for the first time! Often we would all go home and get our sleeping bags and go to someone's backyard for a sleepover. We would also go clam digging at Long Beach with the Pollocks and the Halls. (John was also a dear friend, and my parents were good friends with his parents.) The adults would dig for the clams, the kids would clean them and the women would make the clam chowder. In 4th (or was it 6th) grade Lynne moved to our neighborhood and the Hughes family started joining these gatherings. After I left to go to college, and subsequently the Peace Corps, and living in California since then I lost touch with Dan. His wife Linda and my Mom were both members of the Masters Synchro program at the MAC. So many memories....Please give my sincere condolences to Dee, Denny and Linda. The fourth brother Joe has passed away. Shirley Martin McGrath Class of '62