Family Stars

The recent fraught times reminded me that Barbara and I have a number of people on both sides of our families that have always been on the right side of history. This does not mean at all that there are not many many others who rate a mention in this blog but to keep it simple I will mention just a few. A lot are not blood relatives but they are family just the same.

Dorothy Anne Juby (nee Flemons), Barbara’s aunt, wife of Rev. Leonard Ward Juby went to Sierra Leone to minister to the needs of this poor west African nation, died of Dengue Fever, their children, Wendy and Paul, dear friends of ours.

Jerry Steering, lawyer, married to Barbara’s niece Ruth, has spent a lifetime fighting in the courts, successfully, for the legal rights of persons abused by police brutality.

Norman Stamper, husband of my cousin Dorothy Stamper (nee Bates), Asst Chief of Police of San Diego, Chief of Police of Seattle, wrote a book, “Breaking Ranks.” that exposed the corruption and brutality of members of the San Diego Police Department. Was a factor in bringing police reform to the fore in the public’s perception.

Robin Dever, and her partner drove from Santa Fe to Gallup NM to spend the day making 1000 sanitizers for the Navajo Nation, drove back to Santa Fe, then the next day marched in the George Floyd protest in Albuquerque.

Elizabeth Steering, daughter of Jerry and Ruth, spent over a year in Thailand with the Peace Corps, has a degree in social services and is in Louisville, Kentucky while her partner Trevor studying for the law.

Donald Sidney Flemons, a pharmacist, expat Englishman, and my father-in-law, never had any money, eventually owned his own small drug store in South Chicago. It was in an African American neighborhood. He was known as ‘Doc’ among the locals. If they couldn't pay for their medicines he just gave them to them.

I am inordinately proud of these people and glad I am part of the family. Damn, if I wasn't so blasted old I would be out marching with them.