| Graduation Year | Class of 1962 |
| Date of Passing | Mar 21, 2014 |
| About | March 23, 2014 I received the very sad news yesterday from his wife, Susan, that Gary Faust died around noon. He had been hospitalized for the last two (2) weeks with multiple complications. Susan simply said that he had too many mountains to climb. I am frankly stunned by this news. I had had a long (even by my standards) conversation with him two months ago in which we reviewed our mutual experiences in France and Italy, among other topics. It was a very pleasant digression from the realities which Gary was facing, namely dealing with the fact that he was not healthy enough to get back on the waiting list for a kidney transplant after having had prostrate cancer. His heart (and arteries) simply could not stand the strain induced by the transplantation operation. It was a sad reality, but Gary dealt with it like a real trooper. In high school, Gary was one of our great additions from Fairview, and I can't tell you how close the Faust, Sundberg, Meyer, Hinkeldey and Soderquist group became (only room for five (5) in Donny's '55 Chevy). Many others, most notably, Dave Warren, were regularly included in this group, but this was the hard core group who came up with an almost infinite number of frivolous activities to pass the time in high school. It was Gary who called me within minutes to let me know that Ray Hinkeldey had passed, another sad day for us all. I kept in close touch with Gary when he was at first at Drake and after he went to Vietnam. He returned from VN to enter college at UNI where he graduated in 1970. He received his J.D. in 1973 from Drake. He has been a partner at the Stuart Tinley law firm in Council Bluffs for many years. In 2012, Gary, a member of the Iowa Western Board of Trustees, was honored with the coveted Heritage Award for Education by Alegent Health Mercy Hospital. Faust has served on their Board of Trustees for more than two decades. In recent years, we have connected fairly regularly. I visited Susan and Gary several times in Council Bluffs since my sister-in-law and her husband lived south of Omaha. Susan is a great person and she kept me up-to-date with heads-ups before I talked with Gary on the phone. Gary had many friends, and it was really great that we all got together for our 45th and 50th reunions. I stayed with Susan and Gary before the 45th and they took me to dinner at a fine steakhouse. He paid the bill. The next day, at the reunion I offered to buy him his martini. A big smile came to his face and he said, "Yes you can, in fact, let's start a tab" (He liked Beefeaters while I prefer Tanqueray gin). We shared many martinis. At the 50th, I was leaving my room when he appeared holding a martini in each hand. Looking at each a bit perplexed, he said, " John, it would be a lot easier for me if you liked Beefeaters. I forgot which one is yours!" He was great on his feet; a master of irony and paraprosdokian humor. Paraphrasing one of his latest: "I don't discuss health issues; it just makes me sick." I will never forget seeing Gary in the congregation at my father's funeral twenty (20) years ago. He told me that he had driven up to pay his respects to my dad. He said that we had spent so much quality time at "Sody's Gas Station" that he had to be there. He was always there for me when I needed him. I will dearly miss my friend Faust. I My thoughts and yes, my prayers, go out to Susan and their son, Craig, in their time of great sorrow with their huge loss of such a wonderful person and friend to us all. It is a very, very sad time indeed. John A. Soderquist, |
