Robert Leslie

Hi Troy!

I'll be in touch regarding treasurer duties for our reuninion. Enoy your special day, which shall remain nameless until the 25th. One of my superstitions.

Russ Kurpis was one of the most funpeple to hang out with, especially after smoking a jiont or two. We laughed until we cried so many times. It would be so great to see Russ again, if only...

I believe he passed a while ago but have no clue about the circumstances, where he lived or what he was doing at the time. If memory serves, he went to SUNY, New Paltz. Please contribute to this page if you have fond memories and/or information about Russel.  

David Leslie was my cousin and the William Leslies lived at 345 Pondfield Rd, between Siwanoy and my house on Hamilton Ave. We were the same age and very close. There was always something special about David--he was kind, had a wry sense of humor, a bit mischievous, and it was always fun to be with him. He attended Bronxville School from kindergarten through 8th grade, when he was shipped off to Cheshire Academy in CT for 9^th-12^th grades. He grew to like it very much and went to Humboldt U in California, where he took many geology and planning courses.

His first job was with the Santa Cruz County planning department. David had a strong sense of responsibility and started one week before a very bad and newsworthy storm. He toured the impacted area the next morning and had to determine which houses could remain and which were unsafe. That was the beginning of a very successful planning career. He married and adopted a son while he was in Santa Cruz.

David loved the great outdoors and moved to Bend, Oregon sometime in the mid to late 80s to join their planning department. Bend was and probably still is a "boom town" and David was involved with land planning, zoning and negotiations with developers to assure Bend's unique environment remained intact. Bend is about as good as it gets for outdoors enthusiasts like David and he loved skiing, hiking and white water rafting, all of which are a short drive from Downtown Bend. He was a long-term volunteer member of the Mt. Bachelor Ski Patrol and led hiking trips during warmer months. He grew into more senior positions and married Kathy in the mid to late 90s. They built a beautiful home and enjoyed a wonderful life in Bend.

David was diagnosed with Melanoma in 2000. He hung on through many months of radiation therapy and returned to work for a few months. About 20 of his coworkers gave him a surprise party on his first day back and all of them had shaved their heads to support him. His funeral in the summer of 2001 was one of the saddest events I’ve experienced. The church was overflowing and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.

Many of classmates emailed him while he was in hospice care and Kathy told me how much that lifted his spirits. David departed this world way too soon.

Posted on: Aug 30, 2021 at 12:06 PM

Hi George. It's great to see so many classmates joining this app. I live in Brooklyn, NY and still work for a living at my small architecture firm. Not that I'm complaining as I love what I do.