Laurie Skophammer Skophammer

Rob (Beany or Vion) was one of my long-time friends that I was fortunate to be in touch with for most of our lives, with some gaps here and there. After high school he worked at Music 5 on Market at Powell, eventually opening a plant shop on Ninth Avenue before moving to Marin, where he handled landscaping projects etc for private clients. As everyone who knew him will tell you, he loved music of all kinds and knew who recorded what on which label in what year and who sang background and who was the songwriter and engineer, too. That was kind of our bond, driving around in his car groovin with the radio, going to shows at the Fillmore, Ike and Tina breakfast show, Ella Fitzgerald at Concord Pavilion, etc, passing time at Tower Records. In fact, the last time I saw him he wanted to go to a block party on outer Balboa where they had a record store where a high school jazz band came and played. They were great! Rob was not doing well physically by then, but he wanted to come out here (from Nashville one more time, see his Mom, and he loved music, how into it the kids were. He had come out for the 40th reunion with a friend from Nashville, and we also went with his former girlfriend Europa (Kate) who now lives in LA and Masa Holle (Maureen, also a younger Lowellite), who lives in Colorado. Anyway, he passed in 2016 and worked right up until the end really. I'm really kind of taken aback how many people from our class have passed on. Our high school years, as we all remember, were very turbulent, and being friends with Rob really helped me get through them. It's hard to explain what they were like to people who weren't there, or who didn't grow up in the city. Anyway, I'm glad to know other people remember him, too. Have a wonderful reunion. Am not going to make it to the dinner, but am going to try and do the campus tour.