Rick Olney

[Ed Perry]

For those of us who cannot/will not be at the festivities this month, (I'm currently hunkering down for hurricane Dennis) will one of you good people please post an update on Rick's condition on the message board after the reunion?

[Laura Hill Cantrell]

Paula Olney sent a note to the class from her and Rick, a note I will take to the reunion to share with everyone there. For those of you who can't make the reunion (and you will be missed!), here is the text of the message:

"June 13, 2005
Dear Class of '65,
It is with heartfelt thanks that we write to you. Your generous support of the fund to honor Rick Olney is greatly appreciated. Hopefully, someday they will name the ALS Center at UCSF after Rick. There are only and handful of ALS Centers in the USA...the one Rick started is considered to be one of the best.

It won't happen in Rick's shortened lifetime, but our dream is that researchers will soon find a cause and a cure for this dreadful disease. When Rick could speak clearly, he made it his mission to educated the public about ALS. He has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and has been in numerous newspapers & journals.

We are sorry that we cannot attend the reunion this year. We send sincere thanks to the Class of '65 for your thoughtfulness and support.

We wish yu all a very happy 40th celebration.

Sincerely,
Paula & Rick Olney"

[Connie]

Thanks for sharing Laura. C U next week!

[Laura Hill Cantrell]

Thought you'd like to know, I had a message from Rick Olney this week. Many of our classmates have asked me for an update on how he's doing. Rick said he is "doing fine emotionally and spiritually, despite (his) continuing physical decline. " I told him he was our hero!

After the reunion, I also received feedback from the ALS Foundation that the Olneys were truly touched by the outpouring of love and support from the class. There was no deadline for contributions to the ALS Foundation to honor Rick but, shortly after the reunion, the class of '65 donated well over $2,000.