RIP pkr2

**Joshua** · #1 12-22-2007, 02:11 PM

Just wanted to let you all know

He dropped more wisdom in Setup & Repair than most of the rest of us put together, and he will be sorely missed.

RIP friend...

Mike N · #2 12-22-2007, 04:32 PM

RIP, pkr2.

Brad Maestas · #3 12-22-2007, 04:35 PM

You got that right, Joshua. RIP, man. 'Tsa damn shame!

Metal Mitch · #4 12-23-2007, 05:15 AM

Wow. I learned so much from him here on this forum. He was THE goto guy if I ever had any doubts or varying opinions/methods about what to do with a problem. His contributions here were greatly appreciated by many of us. I'll miss him.

RIP pkr2.

202dy · #5 12-23-2007, 06:32 AM

pkr2 was one of the few pros on the Setup and Repair forum. His advice, borne on many years of experience, was spot on. His knowledge and support was welcome and needed in the occasional noise. Most of all, he was a gentleman. If he played half as well as he wrote and reasoned then the world's loss is all the more.

Our deepest sympathy for your loss.

Stuggi · #6 12-23-2007, 09:40 AM

RIP pkr2.

**HeavyDuty** · #7 12-23-2007, 11:07 AM

Sad - rest in peace...

pkr2 · #8 12-30-2007, 09:13 AM

This is PKR2's sister and I apologise for posting under Frog's user name, but I haven't quite figured out how to create one of my own and there's really no need to since I'm not a picker and I'm just here to thank all for your condolences.

Frog went very quickly, much too quickly. He was hospitilized in a small hospital near his home shortly after Thanksgiving. It was there that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He wanted to come home for treatment, home being Greensboro, N.C. Our older brother and I had him transfered to a hospital here and he was fortunate enough to have the best Oncology specialist available but it was too late. After tests we were told that his cancer had spread and there was nothing that could be done except comfort care.

I asked Frog to come to my house and he was very happy to do that. He was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 9th. I called in Hospice before he was discharged so we had everything set up for him when I got him home. He had a pretty rough time of it for the next few days but never did I hear him complain. On Friday the 14th, he was very agitated and I had the idea of putting on a CD of some bluegrass gospel music. It seemed to calm him down immediately. I spent the afternoon sitting in bed with him, listening to some of the old favorites that we had grown up with and singing along. Even in his confusion due to the pain meds he would still try to sing along. Once I happened to look down at his hands and he was playing 'air' bass. Suddenly in the late afternoon he seemed to rally around. We sang, we talked and he made me laugh really hard at some of his comments. We shared some very special moments together that I wouldn't have missed for anything in the world.

At around 8:00 that night he began to slip away. His Hospice nurse and one of his best friends, Shawn, was here and we gathered around his bed. When I saw that the end was near I leaned over to him and kissed him goodbye and told him that it was time to go. It was then that I started singing Wayfaring Stranger. Now, I'm not a singer. I can carry a tune when I need to but I should never quit my day job. But, something happened that night. Suddenly I couldn't hit a wrong note. I sang my heart out for my brother. I've never sang like that before and I will probably never sing like that again. I sang my brother home.

Frog did one last thing that will make anyone who knew him proud to call him a friend. He donated his body to Duke Medical School. What a gift he has given to people that he never knew.

Frog was a unique individual. Anyone who ever met him never forgot him. He marched to own drummer and lived his life the way he wanted. He was a simple man who never wanted or needed a lot of material things. He loved fishing, he loved the ocean and the rivers but most of all he loved his music. He was one of the most talented bass players I've every heard. He was self taught but he was a genius on the bass. He was a brilliant man who could do most anything he set his mind to doing. He loved a challange and met it head on. He could have been a very rich man had he so chosen. God knows he had the ability, but he chose a simple life. He had what he needed and he was happy with that. Fine houses, cars and clothes meant nothing to him. In retrospect, he was indeed a very rich man.

He told me during his last days that he wasn't afraid of dying, that he had done most everything he had wanted to do. He just didn't want to suffer. I made him a promise then that I would see to it that he didn't. Thanks to Hospice I can truthfully say that he didn't. He died with true dignity and my heart is bruised from his loss. Frog and I had spent many years apart with no contact. We reconnected last year and we picked up exactly where we left off. I'm so grateful for that last year, the many emails and the visits and I'm mostly grateful for the honor and privilege of helping him with his transition home.

I've read all your posts and I want to thank you for all of the kind words about my brother. I just wish each and every one of you could have met him in person and experience what a wonderfully special person he was. I know he would have been proud to sit and pick with any one of you.

Thank you,
Sarah ( Frog's little sis)

**Joshua** · #9 12-30-2007, 11:35 AM

Sarah - thank you so much for posting that, and sharing with us more of what made pkr2 so special.

Believe you me, he was well respected 'round these parts, and helped more of us than we could count with his wit and wisdom.

We were lucky to have him here as long as we did, and he will be missed greatly.

Condolences again on yours (and our) loss...

Josh

Webtroll · #10 12-30-2007, 02:40 PM

He had someone to help make his last days comfortable; I hope we're all as lucky when our time comes.

Juniorkimbrough · #11 01-10-2008, 09:39 AM

agreed with Josh, thanks for sharing!

that's exactly the way I would want to go when it's my time!

**Joshua** · #12 12-14-2008, 07:15 PM

S&R's favorite son is never forgotten. Miss ya bro...

202dy · #13 12-15-2008, 06:07 AM

A year has passed since his bright light was extinguished. We miss his logic and sanity. This board is poorer for his loss.

Turnaround · #14 12-15-2008, 07:48 AM

He was certainly well-respected around here. I'm sorry I didn't get to know him personally. We surely would have been great friends.

**Joshua** · #15 12-22-2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua

S&R's favorite son is never forgotten. Miss ya bro...

RIP pkr2.

202dy · #16 12-23-2009, 07:40 AM

pkr2.

GlennW · #17 12-23-2009, 08:46 AM

He always struck me as a guy with a good spirit. The world could use more like him.

**john turner** · #18 12-23-2009, 08:48 AM

man, i miss this guy. he was one of the original guys on talkbass, from the beginning, even before the ubb boards.

Bruce Lindfield · #19 12-23-2009, 08:58 AM

Yes I remember having many conversations with him over the years and he was one of the most interesting people to talk to round here - we did disagree about things, but I always think that to have any kind of argument, you have to be fundamentally on the same page and we shared many of the same views about bass playing, especially.

Still missed as one of those "originals" who made TB a real community in the virtual world - one of the elder statesmen of the bass-playing community!

nutso42 · #20 12-26-2009, 11:50 AM

This is before my time here, but he sounds like he was a great guy and a huge help.