September
6, 2006
The reason Lee Schoff
is on my mind is that minutes ago I was at his wake, which was at Trainor's.
Lee was 66, which, of course, is way too young to die.
It's always a shock to answer the phone and hear that someone has passed or
to open the newspaper and see their picture staring back at you from the
obit page. Lee hadn't been in the best of health for a long time, but still
you aren't ready for the bad news.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Lee Schoff are three
words: American Heart Association.
Lee was devoted to that cause. At the wake, they had dozens of pictures of
Lee. In many of them Lee was wearing something with the Heart Association
logo.
Lee walked in America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk for many years. A lot of
people in Lewis County and northern Oneida County pledged money to Lee and
he raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years.
But Lee would always say, "We can do better," and he had ideas on how to do
better.
When it came to the Heart Association, Lee was a man on a mission and it was
difficult to turn him down when he asked you to help him.
Years ago, Lee formed the Black River Generals, which won a variety of
Run/Walk awards. The Generals, I'm happy to report, changed its name in
2005, and is now called Team Lee.
In the years that his health permitted, you'd see Lee at all the Heart
Association events. And everywhere you saw Lee, you saw his wife Ruth, who
worked just as hard for the Heart Association as Lee did.
They were a great team. They'd always be together at Heart events such as
the advance registration at Carbone's in Boonville. Lee got a registration
site in Boonville so the North Country runners and walkers didn't have to g
o to Utica to turn in their money.
Lee has gotten more than one award from the Heart Association and just last
month the association gave Ruth a Leadership Award. She is recovering from a
stroke and wasn't able to be at the Harts Hill Inn awards dinner to accept
and Lee's health made it impossible for him to accept for her. So I did. The
award is still in my office.
The other thing that comes to mind when thinking of Lee is Santa Claus. For
years he played Santa at the Little Village Park in Boonville.
I was listening to people in my office talk earlier today. "He was such a
great Santa," said one of them. "He was the only Santa my son would go to."
Among the pictures on display at Trainor's were several of Lee dressed as
Santa. Not only did he look like Santa, he had Santa's giving spirit.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and
THE GRIFF.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and
THE GRIFF.