Greg Long, 1942-2001
Larry Statham: Greg was a handsome, confident, brash kid when I met him at Robinson in 9th grade. A natural athlete, but not a T
immons fanatic about training. Still he was able to perform well in football and track. We kept in touch after high school only occasionally, but when I was assigned to Denver with FAA Air Traffic Control, we again got together. He was divorced by then, and we shared our regrets about our not having established the ideal father-daughter relationship. He was living in Denver in the mountains and was working on a ski patrol. He was still healthy, but still smoking. Karma, unkind as it can be, he was taken by tongue/throat cancer. The rest of the story is that a close friend of mine from Texas over 25 years revealed in a conversation we were having about backgrounds and cities, that her youngest son had married Greg’s ex-wife. The daughter with whom Greg had wanted a closer relationship was her granddaughter Jody. Fortunately, before his death, I shared with Greg that his daughter was a beautiful, happy, healthy and athletic young woman (volleyball scholarship at KU). Rest in peace, Greg.
Greg at the map in his East High Geography class.
John Gregory Long, “Greg,” 59, ski instructor for the handicapped, died Saturday, April 21, 2001. Memorial service 10 a.m. Thursday, Mission Chapel Mausoleum.
Survivors: sons, Jeff of Burke, Va., Scott Emerson of Kansas City, Mo.; daughter, Jody Adams of Dallas; brother, Dudley of Wichita; sisters, Janice Caire of Wichita, Beverly Thompson of West Point, Miss.; six grandchildren. Old Mission Mortuary.
– Wichita Eagle, April 24, 2001
