Wonder, Roman, A Who Done It and Lady Bird

Wonder (based on the R.J. Palacio novel) is a movie targeting tweens that follows a year in fifth grade with Auggie who was born with a genetic abnormality which required him to undergo surgeries and medical treatments. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson play the parents and the movie is saccharin sweet with too many tear jerking moments and spoon fed life lessons. Predictable and formulaic. Sheesh, even the family dog dies. In the end, we get a full school auditorium applauding the brave young Auggie. An emotional lift but maybe the world is not all that kind. 

 

Roman J. Israel, Esq.  is the kind of movie you expect to have redeeming value but it misses the mark. Denzel Washington chose this lifeless story as his follow-up to his Oscar-nominated performance in August Wilson’s Fences. Denzel is Roman, a lawyer in a two-man criminal defense law firm in Los Angeles when his partner, William Jackson is admitted to the hospital. Roman now is front man in criminal cases in the face of an uncertain future. And, oh yeah, he has well researched idea about a movement for landmark legal reform.    

Murder on the Orient Express is star studded production with Kenneth Branagh as the world-famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie’s novel. Branagh, the star and director behind the digitally-enhanced stab at bringing this ensemble vehicle back to life. Who done it? Well, everyone is guilty in this one.

Lady Bird is written and directed by Greta Gerwig and stars Saoirse Ronan as 17-year-old Christine, aka the self-proclaimed Lady Bird, who impatiently expresses her post-graduation intention to flee from her staid Sacramento and take off to the East Coast “where the culture is.” She derides her hometown as the “Midwest of California”. She lands her opportunity to go to college in NYC and only then does she fully appreciate her home town and her mom.

Yvonne Osei

The 2017 Kransberg Exhibition Series presents Tailored Landscapes at the Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center at Laumeier Sculpture Park. The opening on Saturday November 4, 2017 is a treat. The exhibition is installed in a way this space has yet to have experienced. Minutes before the doors opened the artist was cutting pieces of the large scale photography based installation on the ceiling in the entryway. But as people arrive there is a joy in the room that leverages Osei’s “Tailored Landscapes” that allow visitors to step into the work and engage. Families and art enthusiasts are challenged to see the textures of the sculpture park in new ways.

Yvyonne Osei was born in Germany of Ghanaian parentage. She got her MFA at Washington University in 2016. Her exhibition here cannot project fully what this artist will accomplish in her lifetime. But it is for certain that she is the sort of personality that helps us see the beauty in texture, patterns and repetition. The sort of critical eye that sees a sculpture park as a pallet that can be repurposed and applied to atmosphere and apparel.

I am planning to visit the Lambert Airport to see evidence of what this artist has to say in Africa Clothe Me Bare, Saint Louis IV 2017 which will be on view at the St. Louis Lambert Airport somewhere near the baggage claim while so many travelers will be looking to get somewhere for Thanksgiving. Thanks to Osei, some people will stop and see.

I was especially inspired by the impression Yvonne Osei had on young visitor to the exhibition who instinctively understood the art and iconic imagery and how we see ourselves and how we see the world around us.

     

Playground Bugs by Huck

Tom Huck has owned and operated Evil Prints since 1995. Huck (b. December 9, 1971 in Farmington, MO grew up in Potosi) received a BFA in drawing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993. He lives in St. Louis. He is best known for his large scale woodcuts. His imagery draws heavily upon the influence of Albrecht Durer, Jose Guadalupe Posada, R. Crumb and Honore Daumier. Huck’s woodcut prints are included in numerous public and private collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Spencer Museum of Art, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, St. Louis Art Museum. Milwaukee Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Fogg Art Museum and New York Public Library

So it makes all the sense in the world to commission Huck to make some playground equipment for Laumeier Sculpture Park – not a place known for swing sets and slides, right? Maybe not, but here sits three of Huck’s Bugs adjacent to the children’s pavilion and not more than a hundred yards from works by Donald Lipski, Fletcher Benton and Donald Judd.

http://www.evilprints.com/

Tacit Approval

Art in a contemporary sense can take on a different significance in the context of its location. Such is the case with the installations of Tony Tasset monumental works encountered in the setting of Laumeier Sculpture Park in the Saint Louis suburban community of Sunset Hills.

Master of the vernacular, mixed-media artist Tony Tasset sends-up Americana and the American dream in his sardonic, psychedelic sculptures, installations, films, and photographs, which he describes as “Pop Conceptual.” He generates works that he sends across the country and abroad - A giant Paul Bunyan with uncharacteristically drooping shoulders; trompe l’oeil snowmen and smashed jack-o-lanterns; abstract compositions on panel of colored blotches spilling from various consumer products and fast foods; and a grotesque, cartoonish figure composed of hotdogs. Citing Norman Rockwell and Walt Disney as influences, Tasset aims to tap into—and twist—iconic American imagery, asking: “Could I take something that's so banal, so quoted, that everybody has kind of made, and could I treat it like a Giacometti? Could I give it that pathos and existential angst?”

Tony Tasset (b. 1960, Cincinnati, Ohio, based in Chicago, Illinois) is proudly featured at Laumeier with his Eye (a favorite of visitors – especially kids) and recently added Deer 2015 which first caught the attention of sculpture park board members at Miami’s Art Basel celebration. Meanwhile in Chicago The Year of Public Art was kicked into gear this past summer on the Chicago Riverwalk with public art installations that included a most noticeable sculpture by Tony Tasset - a deer (between Franklin and Lake Streets) for a limited time. The giant lifelike deer gazed into the distance as boat tours and selfie-takers pass in front of it. At Laumeier a Tony Tasset deer seems so very at home for visitors to enjoy as it was introduced formally at the Big Dinner fundraising event in September 2017.

The Eye and the Deer can be seen, in this context, matter-of-factly and with a greater sense of permanence. It is, perhaps an important differentiator of what it means to have such works on view in our own backyard.  

Drawing by young girl who was visiting the park on Family Fun Day on 10-08-17

Big Dinner, Big Deer, Big Deal

September 23, 2017

Ramsey Maune, the president of the Board of Directors of Laumeier Sculpture Park welcomes supporters of the park and marked the milestone of its 40^th anniversary year with a unique celebration of a world class contemporary art on a beautiful evening. Dinner is served in the heart of the south lawn. It is a coming out for Tony Tasset’s monumental sculpture, Deer, 2015 which is positioned adjacent to Way Field. (Board members Mary Ann Srenco and Allison Ferring led the effort to acquire the Deer after becoming acquainted with is at Miami’s Art Basel.) On this night, the sculpture seems to enjoy the festivities complete with an agenda for the evening that includes the artist and a remarkable musical performance of Ten Thousand Birds by a troop of 20 musicians who challenged those in attendance to be in this moment in this fantastic setting and contemplate the natural surroundings among the sculptures. (Ten Thousand Birds was written by Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Luther Adams.)

Maune is happy about reflecting on the past but is, more importantly, looking to the future for Laumeier. Interim Director Stephanie Riven is pleased to note how the staffers, volunteers, and organizers of the night have unified in producing this memorable evening. She too is engaged in strategic process of projecting the direction for the future of this incredible institution. Naturally, the event includes calls for financial support and a collection of pledges. It is no secret that now we could entering the most important decade for this public-private partnership of art and nature in our region.

It is a private party in a public space. Those fortunate enough to enjoy this grand event are automatically bestowed with membership. It is a convenient way to assure this quality group of prospects will be invited back next year for continued support. In attendance too is Yvonne Osei, whose exhibition Tailored Landscapes will be on view beginning November 4 in the Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center supported by Nancy and Ken Kranzberg. Art needs champions and Laumeier enjoys some of the best. This planned exhibition and The Deer are indication of our going concern. And that is a big deal. Thank You. 

Alone Amongst Them

To better see the sky

The people thronged into the street

I stood amongst them

Gazing at my feet

The light shone down upon them

And basking in its grace

Thousands danced to the singing of a million lips

I stood along amongst them

Gazing at my finger tips

So while led onto while

And I stood among them so

Their faces yearning toward the light

My head still hanging low

And then one day the light went out

The crush of people died

Raising my eyes to the heavens I wept

The ground firmly beneath my feet

For I along amongst them

Could stand upon the street

© 1977 by David P Drimer and published in Ibis Yearbook

Photo: In front of the Ashe Administration Building at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL --- left to right unknown student (background), Wes Morgan and Dave Drimer 

Marketing Marketing

The premiere organization in Saint Louis for advancing the study and practice of marketing as a professional discipline is the American Marketing Association. Membership in the Saint Louis chapter is a powerful way to join forces in thought leadership and get connected with more than 30,000 individuals who work, teach and study marketing.

This is an age of dramatic shifts in the professional practice of what used to be summarized in broad terms as managing the 4Ps (Product, Promotion, Price and Place) with Madison Avenue advertising guiding post-war industrial age manufacturers. The goal was to convince mass market consumers with a unique selling proposition. The battle often was among brands seeking to differentiate and win market share. Advertising legend David Ogilvy once said: “The consumer isn’t a moron, she is your wife”.

       

Marketers today must be digital savvy, read metrics and have a comfort level with big data. Today’s marketer must be entrepreneurial in a region that is now much less about being home to Fortune 500 headquarters and more about being tech incubator for ventures that are likely to radically reinvent business segments. And they will need to be successful swimming in a sea of social media turbulence.

Change is good. But it is happening faster than ever. You need to be plugged in. Here’s how:

Programming – a moveable feast of topics that serve up take-away nuggets that will serve you and your company in everything from insights to practical applications. Programs range from monthly topical luncheons to special interest groups to networking opportunities. Be a part of the conversation.

Thought Leadership – AMA is proud of its place as the world’s largest association of marketers. AMA.ORG is a gateway to a wealth of information. The resource is even more powerful if you are member. AMA hosts annual conferences that are outstanding opportunities for professional development.  It takes effort to be the smartest in the room.

Marketing Leadership – Wisdom doesn’t live exclusively in major metropolitan areas, ivy league classrooms or in giant corporate boardrooms. Declare yourself a marketing leader by participating in AMA Saint Louis chapter programs and events. (Visit ama-stl.org for details). Join AMA and connect with 30,000 marketers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and around the world. (See details at ama.org)

Punchline

So, Saint Peter says: there are no lawyers in heaven!

Most seasoned lawyers recognize this as the punchline of any number of jokes about their profession. They typically change the subject and move on to some other conversation suitable to a cocktail gathering. It is likely the lawyer doesn’t like to be the butt of such humor but they know it is an occupational hazard. 

The skeleton didn’t go to the prom because … He had no body to dance with! The bartender says to the horse: Why the long face? The bartender, upon seeing a priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into the bar says: What is this some kind of joke?   

A joke is only as good as its punchline. It’s torture listening to a yarn that takes way too long to get there. Some people just don’t have the dramatic or wordsmithing skills to make that journey worthwhile. The payoff ends up being more a grown than the desired smile.  This is an age of social media and tweets with no time to savor the journey. It's tougher than ever to hold attention with details of a story. The would-be impromptu comedian might not want to venture the risk of dying once they have taken the stage. You can avoid performance anxiety and still get a chuckle while keeping come classic comedy alive by simply keeping the punchlines in your pocket.

So the economist looks at the canned stew and tells his colleges (of two other professions): First, assume a can opener… 

Wow, for a fat girl, you sure don’t sweat much.

When she sits around the house… She sits around the house.

The blond saw a sign that read - Airport left… so she went home.

Read the directions on the box (How you make Elephant Jello). Time to get a new fence. (What time is it when an Elephant sits on your fence?) You don’t get down from an elephant, you get down from a duck.

He threw the alarm clock out the window because he wanted to see time fly.  A newspaper…is black & white and red all over (Does anybody even know what a newspaper is anymore?) The snail knocks on the door and says: What did you do that for? (Snail is referring to being kicked to the curb two weeks prior.) So the golfer in the lightning storm says: Even God can’t hit a 2-iron.

Your momma is so ugly that when she walks into a bank, they turn off the security cameras

She is so ugly, she walked into a haunted house and came out with a paycheck

Ansel Elgort is Baby Driver

Actor Ansel Elgort is the title character in the action thriller Baby Driver(2017) which was directed and written by Edgar Wright. My brother thinks this actor is going to be a big star. He was star in  The Fault in Our Stars (2014). In this movie, Elgort’s character, because of a longstanding debt to
criminal named Doc played by Kevin Spacey, has one last heist to complete. He wants “to head west… in a car I can’t afford with a plan I don’t have” with a love interest/waitress, Debora played by Lily James. Heist mates Buddy, Darling and Bats played by Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzales and Jamie Foxx (respectively) are not going to make that easy. Edgar Wright stitches together wildly inventive scenes with a soundtrack that seems to be one of the obsessive hero deejaying his own life. Baby Driver is a Sony Pictures release of a TriStar Pictures, MRC presentation of a Working Title, Big Talk Pictures production.

Son of famed fashion photographer Arthur Elgort and Grethe Barrett Holby, an opera director. His siblings are photographer Sophie Elgort and filmmaker Warren Elgort. Ansel's paternal grandfather, Harry Elgort, was a Russian Jewish immigrant, while Ansel's paternal grandmother, Sophie Didimamoff, was born in New York, to parents from Russia. Ansel's maternal grandfather, Warren Barrett Holby, was a prominent Westchester real estate developer, and had English, Scots Irish/Northern Irish, and German ancestry. Ansel's maternal grandmother, Aase Grethe, was Norwegian; during World War II, she served in the Resistance for the Norwegian Government in exile, and helped save Jews in Norway from the Holocaust. Because of these activities, Aase Grethe was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis (from 1943 to 1944).

“I got into movies watching old films my dad had, the old Elia Kazan movies. It was those old movies, actually, that really got me started. Marlon Brando, Paul Newman - straight-up legends” says the 23 year old Actor, Ansel Elgort.

Solar Eclipse 2017

On Monday, August 21, 2017, the U.S. will be treated to a total eclipse of the sun. The eclipse will be visible -- weather permitting -- across all of North America. The entire continent will experience a partial eclipse lasting two to three hours. Anyone within a 70-milewide path that stretches through 14 states from Oregon to South Carolina will experience a total eclipse. During those brief moments -- when the moon completely blocks the sun’s bright face for about two minutes -- day will turn into night, making visible the otherwise hidden solar corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere. Bright stars and planets will become visible as well. Birds will fly to their nighttime roosts. Nocturnal insects such as cicadas and crickets will buzz and chirp. This is truly one of nature’s most wondrous experiences.

The only safe way to look directly at an uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. An alternative method for safe viewing of the partially eclipsed sun is pinhole projection (e.g. cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other. Do not look at your hands, but at the shadow of your hands on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images, showing the sun as a crescent during the partial phases of the eclipse).

• The last total eclipse in the United States occurred on February 26, 1979. The last total eclipse that crossed the entire continent occurred on June 8, 1918.The last time a total solar eclipse occurred exclusively in the U.S. was in 1778.

• Experiencing a total solar eclipse where you live happens on average about once in 375 years.

• 12.2 million Americans live in the path of the total eclipse. Of course, with visitors, that number will be much higher on August 21!

• About 200 million people (a little less than 2⁄3 the nation's population) live within one day's drive of the path of this total eclipse. In addition, millions of Americans will be able to view a partial eclipse, weather permitting.

• Carbondale, Illinois will experience the longest eclipse duration, clocking in at two minutes, 43 seconds, beginning at 1:20 p.m. CDT.

Eclipse Seeker glasses can be purchased via http://eclipseseeker.com/buy-big.html

AMA GOLF 2017

Golfers with golf towels from Sneller Creative featuring AMA logo are Ted Ruzicka, Derek Sauer, Brian Barnett, John W, Probst, Tim Nenninger, John Fortner, Mark Bretz, Dave Cox, Bob Mogley, Wes Morgan, Randy Niederer, Bob Mogley,Tom Shaughnessy,  Perry Drake, John Grizzell   

I started organizing the annual golf outing for the American Marketing Association twenty years ago when the chapter president at the time told me it was just too much trouble to successfully run such an event. Well, she was right (at first). That first year, I had a handful of friends and associates show up at my chosen venue – the 9-hole municipal facility in Creve Coeur. We had two foursomes. The second year was kind of hard to measure as the weather prevented all except my group (which was a threesome by the time the weather cleared enough to finish).

Over the years, we gained some traction with as many as 40+ golfers. We had cash and in-kind sponsorships from the likes of Geile-Leon Marketing Communications, Creatives on Call, iDream Solutions, MarketVolt, Xtreme Exhibits, Bender Graphics, Kent Precision Foods, DiCom Media, Sandbox Creative, Group 360, Kolbeco and Anheuser-Busch. We had teams comprised of personnel from Enterprise-rent-a-car, Sante Fitness, The St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Thermadyne, Adamson Advertising, Wamhoff Financial & Accounting and The University of Missouri/Saint Louis.

We created a traveling trophy for the low-net score winner. The winners of that prestigious award included some pretty fine golfers such as Tom Shaughnessy, Dave Cox, Mike Malloy, Marco Tocco, Steve Pona, Tim Nenninger, and Creve Coeur city councilman Ted Ruzicka (this year’s winner). Some players made cameos and others made multiple appearances like Perry Drake, Pat Hawn, Bob Mastis, Bob Mogley, Dan Diveley, Jeff Kirtley, Rowdy Jones, Bethany Kellogg, John Grizzell, John Lewington, Annie McBride, Michelle Yates, Tony Tatar, Mark Bretz, Randy Neiderer, Jim Stewart, Mary Sawyer, Jon Fulmer, Doug Walters, Jim Nagel, DeVere Shoop, Wes Morgan (naturally) and many others.

This year we lowered the cost and relied on word-of-mouth communication almost exclusively. Tim Brinks at Creve Coeur Golf Course treated us well with a package that included cart, greens fees, lunch and attendance prizes (all for $25.00 per person). Despite weather projections for a high probability of rain on our Monday date, the skies were clear and the course was looking better than ever.

Congratulations to our low-net winner Ted Ruzicka, our long-drive champion John W. Probst, closest to the pin on hole #9 Randy Niederer. Special thanks to Jeff Snell and Sneller Creative for the golf towels, UMSL for the swag-bags and eclipseeker.com for the Eclipse Viewing glasses. We will be looking skyward as we anticipate a total eclipse of the sun in our region on August 21. Marketing (Sheesh).   

   

 

Laumeier Sculpture Park - 100 Years in the Making

Tour Strategy June, 2017

In 2017, we celebrate 40 years since the beginning of Laumeier Sculpture Park. Four decades are really a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. This place has been influenced by events and circumstances of more than one hundred years. It was one hundred years ago that Roland L. Kahle, department manager of the Rigen Stove Co, built the estate house here in Sunset Hills. Meanwhile, Ernest Hemmingway was about to graduate from High School in a Chicago suburb and he was about to begin his career as a writer in Kansas City. The artist, Ernest Trova wouldn’t be born for ten years. Babe Ruth was playing baseball for the Boston Red Sox. Marcel Duchamp submitted his now famous readymade (a porcelain urinal) as a work of art in New York while Picasso and Braque were laying the foundation for Cubism in France. 100 years influenced movements/styles such as Futurism, Dada, Constructivism, Minimalism and Conceptualism.  Along the way artists and writers shaped the conversations about what is and what is not art. The United States became the center of the post WWII art world as critics like Clement Greenberg described Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock took center stage.

Around 1968, Wayne Kennedy, the Director of St. Louis County Parks and Recreation, convinced the widow Matilda Laumeier to bequeath her property in Sunset Hills. (Kennedy died in 2017 at age 93). Trova’s gift of 40 works of sculpture to the County put the real estate gift on a course to becoming an historic celebration of monumental contemporary art. (Trova died in 2009 at age 82). We’ve come a long way in four decades but we’ve only managed to capture the slightest essence of why we keep coming back. These unassuming 105 park-like acres in the St. Louis Region are home to between 60 – 80 works on view at any given time. There are art camps, tours, art fairs, food trucks, picnics and dogs to walk (they come and go). But as all that is happening, the feeling of stability remains. It is a familiar place in the middle of the U.S. It is a celebration of world class art in our own backyard.   

I have been a docent tour guide at Laumeier for five years. I estimate that I have conducted 100 or more tours of the place. On this Sunday June 4, 2017 I led a tour of 22 people. The group included family groups, young and old art fans, local visitors and out-of-towners. 90 minutes into the tour I was convinced, more than ever, that our sculpture park is a treasure. It is ever changing and evolving. It has something to offer everyone who comes to visit. It rewards me personally over and over again. 

U ME UM by Terry Allen, 1998 (neon light/fiberglass)

Eye by Tony Tasset, 2007 (fiberglass, resin, oil, paint, steel)

Man with a Briefcase by Jonathon Barofsky at #2968443, 1986

(in foreground) and The Way by Alexander Liberman, 1972-1980 (18 salvaged steel oil tanks)  

     

Sibling Reflection after a Wedding

Morgan-Cooper Wedding 
Oklahoma City, OK March 11, 2017 
photo by Dan Morgan (c) 2017

Wow. So much fun being a part of the celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Cooper. Tara was stunning as the bride. (Beautiful naturally...but also going the distance from smiles at the Petroleum Club rehearsal dinner to the alter at Christ the King to the charming exit from the country club reception in a vintage car.) A fantastic wedding. God is smiling on those dragons from Southlake and it makes Rob show us his soft side with emotion that is palpable. 

Sundance you were there as I could not resist sharing a story with the groomsmen at Cooper's male bonding over burgers, brats and beer. The brother who managed to get himself kicked out of Georgetown twice. I know...I may never have the facts fully accurate in my accounts. But as they say in the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - "when legend become fact, print the legend"

Lynn (Zsa Zsa) you were there too. I know I'm a bit of a smart ass when I note "Six Morgans - eleven weddings" but you are an inspiration in your resilience.  Everyone deserves a shot at happily every after. Your weddings were among the most memorable. This one looks like it might stick. (Tara's middle name is Lynne. Huh.) 

Greg - It is always easier for me to get around town with Uber Dad in the mix. Wes (the lesser) and Matt - Those boys are so much fun. In your hotel suite it kinda felt like the U - Mahoney Hall #234. 

Dan - thanks for convincing Netti to travel with you to OKC. She puts your moral entrepreneurship in perspective with humor and grace. You have an uncanny knack for staging things for the optimal digital splash. 

Rob - You did good. But that is to be expected from the BEST. You know, of course, that Joy keeps you humble and always rallies that awesome family of yours. Thanks for sharing your family! 

Parker Milsap - your rendition of Butterfly Kisses was a surprise and a treat. I love it that you photo-bombed your way into the hearts and minds of Morgans everywhere.

photos below by Gregory Morgan (c) 2017  

 

Tara and Adam Cooper

Adam and Tara are tying the knot;

Standing still we watch and celebrate.

Sooners together forming a bond on the spot;

Circumstances perfect - The moment great.

A March day may never be forgotten,

Forces of nature - a wonderful fate.

Friends and lovers out of the gate;

Fantastic dragon, chocolate cake;

A lawyer ready to litigate;

Equal partners mate to mate;

A teacher looks to illuminate. 

Pack your bags – don’t be late;

Soon you’ll moving to the lone star state.

Over a glass of wine you made a pact;

Projecting a future of family ties;

Learn something every day as a matter of fact;

No time for compromise.

Years from now you will look back;

And see just how precious time is and how quickly it flies.

Petroleum; natural gas fracking;

Together you face life one day at a time;

Rob and Joy will provide emotional backing;                                                              

Little things are big things - you just might find.

You’ll be Sharing your lives – but who’s tracking?

“Which toothbrush is yours - which is mine?”

All of us are hopeful. We want to be kind.

This union you seal with a kiss;

Be keeping us in mind;

As we wish you marital bliss;

We want you to have everything you want 

...in super duper Cooper time;

It seems- you cannot miss.

We show support and will be present,

But we will return to our respective lives.

We will bring some sort of present,

But we look to you to show us how it is done.

You must go and live your lives;

Live. Love. Laugh. Be a team of one. 

Oklahoma City (OK) - Wedding Day photo by Dan Morgan March 11, 2017 at Christ the King 

Remembering Ed

Ed Regelean was among the first people I met socially at HBE in 1998. Rick Schaefer had an extra ticket to a hockey game and he invited me (the new guy) to go to the Blues game. Ed met us downtown. I remember how Ed graciously credited HBE and its founder Fred S. Kummer for building hospitals in America where there might never have been such facilities. I was still learning about the culture and legend of being part of the company and FSK. Fast forward a dozen years or so and I came to know Ed as part of a regular posse of golfers who annually travel to Florida and behave like fraternity brothers indulging in camaraderie, golf, Crown Royal and living together in close quarters for a week at a time.

On December 28, 2016, Ed Regelean, died after a long battle with cancer. His son Dan (who spent a bit of time in Human Resources in the Big House on Olive) reports that Ed always spoke highly of his friends at HBE. On behalf of the family he thanked us all for our friendship with his dad over the years. Services were held at Incarnate Word Parish in Chesterfield, MO on Monday, January 2, 2017 starting at 10 am followed by Mass at 11 am and a luncheon downstairs from the church. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the Catholic Renewal Center.

Funeral services are always cloaked in sadness but there is great irony in the happiness too: The faith that Ed is in a better place; The joy of a family coming together to celebrate the life and times of a human being however flawed; The simple pleasure of connecting and showing support for friends and colleagues. Ed’s son David choked up and was holding back tears in the sacristy but composed himself as did each of Ed’s children at different points in the services. Sweet empathy.    

Arguably, at times, FSK was evil incarnate and here we are at mass at a place called Incarnate Word. Colleagues are quick to point out that our benevolent leader was never all bad or all good. He is a shared reference point, but this is not about Fred, it is about Ed. Nevertheless a large chunk of the stories we shared with Ed, Charlie, George, Frank, Brad, Bob, Jack, Mitch, Wayne, Wes and assorted others were accounts that made us laugh out loud. Such stories cement a bond. Guys on a golf course are often inarticulate and stoic. After a warm day in the sun and 18 or 36 holes we are not fretting costly sand shots and poor reads of the greens. Instead, as often as not, we recall holding court with FSK enduring harsh reprimands, lectures about change orders, or navigating errors and omissions with a hospital administrators or the follies of travel via Spirit Airport.

Among those in attendance, in the arms of Ed’s youngest boy is a baby not six months old. It is in the eyes of adorable baby Mae we see the circle of life. Ed was good enough to leave many prayers behind. In spite of the invoice for $1.82* charged for the birth of baby Edward in 1942, his was a Wonderful Life and one of great value. Thanks Ed. You will be missed.    

 

*Ed’s brother Jim reported that Ed would say “Well I guess you get what you pay for…”