Mendenhall's love of music, teaching remembered
By Lee Roberts

Seven months ago, Robert Mendenhall shared his thoughts about living with a disabling disease in a Journal Times article about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

On Aug. 22, his long struggle with the disease ended in death at his home in Jamaica Plain, Mass., outside of Boston.

Mendenhall died peacefully with his wife, Ginny Mazur, by his side. He was 45.

Having grown up in Racine, Mendenhall graduated from the Music Conservatory of San Francisco and went on to become a teacher and music director at the Waldorf School in Lexington, Mass. Teaching was not only something he loved, but a job he seemed to have a natural talent for, according to his life-long friend, the Rev. Betty Brenneman of Racine. Once a teacher at Knapp Elementary School, Brenneman said she remembers Mendenhall coming to her classroom and working with some of the boys who had trouble in school, stemming from bad experiences with violent adult males in their lives.

"He was so gentle, and kind and wonderful with those boys," she said. "When I remember Bob, I think of his gentleness and his steadfastness and his humor."

Mendenhall's death came one week after Brenneman and other friends of his here gathered at the Lakeview Community Center to pray, sing and dance for Bob - to celebrate his life and help ease his way from the pain and suffering. They chose the Lakeview location because he and his mother, Hazel Mendenhall Boyer, who died from ALS when Mendenhall was 18, both used to enjoy folk dancing there.

Dancing was one of many interests Mendenhall, who also sang and played cello, pursued during his life. Even after he was diagnosed with ALS, he continued to teach and do as many things as he possibly could - one of which was his writing. Throughout his battle with the disease, Mendenhall kept an on-line journal, called the Turtle Journal, in which he shared his thoughts about life, death and everything in between.

And in sharing those thoughts, he touched everyone around him, said Brenneman, who was Hazel Boyer's' best friend.

"Both he and Hazel had a chance, more than most people, to experience the process of letting go of this kind of life in a slower and much more major way," she said. "And I think they both grew through that process in a way I feel has enriched a lot of people."

In an e-mail she sent to friends here in Racine, Mendenhall's wife, Ginny, said she too feels grateful, not only for Bob's gifts and sharing, but for those from everyone around them.

"Though the illness itself was so terribly difficult to endure for Bob, the gifts were countless. They not only got us through this journey feeling constantly held and buoyed by love, but they have shown me the incredible power of generosity, kindness and true friendship that endured through all of our inner and outer struggles. My heart is split wide with love, loss and tears of thanks to all in Racine as Bob's spirit will soar and guide me, and many of us, through what I know will be a long process of learning, and growing from this, the most important and transforming time of my life."

Memorial services for Mendenhall are being planned in September. Information about them and other arrangements is contained in his obituary on page 2B.

To read more about Mendenhall and his journey with ALS, including his goodbye poem "The Journey Continues," visit the Web site at:

www.turtlejournal.org