Seattle Sam
05-12-2003, 04:35 PM
My wife's son and my stepson, Dan, passed away quietly at home, at 2:13 Saturday morning, after a 20-month long battle with cancer. His family was with him around the clock, since he came home from the hospital Monday evening. Dan was 35 years, two months, and five days old.
Dan was born and raised in Seattle. He was the first child of Bob and Sue Dickson. After graduating high school, Dan joined the US Army, where he was assigned to graves registration. He served in Panama and was also deployed in Germany during the first Gulf war. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1991, Dan attended Pima Medical Institute in Seattle, where he achieved his degree in radiological technology. He interned at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA, and was subsequently employed by them. Dan went to Evergreen for his cancer care, and it was obvious that he was well-known and loved by staff throughout the hospital. Many told me that Dan was one of the kindest and most gentle people they knew. He always had a smile for everyone, and was unfailingly polite and considerate to all, especially his patients.
Dan married the great love of his life, Julie Yielding, in July of 2001. They did not have time to have any children before he was diagnosed with cancer. But they did have a beautiful relationship during the short time they were given together.
Dan was a great sports fan, his favorite sport being soccer. He played both as a child and as an adult, and he volunteered as a referee for youth soccer. He was a family man, always spending time with both his Mom and his Dad as well as his brothers.
Thank God his suffering has ended. He will be sorely missed by all his family and friends. All of our lives are richer for having known him.
-Sam
Oh! I've slipped the surly bond of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wing;
Sunward I climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
my eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew
And, while the silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Dan was born and raised in Seattle. He was the first child of Bob and Sue Dickson. After graduating high school, Dan joined the US Army, where he was assigned to graves registration. He served in Panama and was also deployed in Germany during the first Gulf war. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1991, Dan attended Pima Medical Institute in Seattle, where he achieved his degree in radiological technology. He interned at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA, and was subsequently employed by them. Dan went to Evergreen for his cancer care, and it was obvious that he was well-known and loved by staff throughout the hospital. Many told me that Dan was one of the kindest and most gentle people they knew. He always had a smile for everyone, and was unfailingly polite and considerate to all, especially his patients.
Dan married the great love of his life, Julie Yielding, in July of 2001. They did not have time to have any children before he was diagnosed with cancer. But they did have a beautiful relationship during the short time they were given together.
Dan was a great sports fan, his favorite sport being soccer. He played both as a child and as an adult, and he volunteered as a referee for youth soccer. He was a family man, always spending time with both his Mom and his Dad as well as his brothers.
Thank God his suffering has ended. He will be sorely missed by all his family and friends. All of our lives are richer for having known him.
-Sam
Oh! I've slipped the surly bond of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wing;
Sunward I climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
my eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew
And, while the silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.