When had dinner with Peter Bragdon last Sunday at Gaetano's to discuss fund raising for an endowed chair at the Governor's Academy in Ed's name. We have been talking about this for the last four year's and now it looks as if it is actually going to happen. Ed loved what used to be GDA(Governor Dummer Academy) and is now the Governor's Academy. He had a wonderful experience there as an ABC (A Better Chance) student. He was involved in everything student council, sports, and of course drama. Over the years I heard so many wonderful stories about his time there and his friends Bill Martin, Larry Coles who is Eddie's godfather, Doug Pope, and Art whose last name escapes me right now. He talked about all the wonderful teacher's, the trouble he should have gotten into but didn't and of course he roles in the various plays that were done during his years there. Then he told me a story about how someone from school called his parents to see if anyone was coming to graduation and no one was because they couldn't afford it and they were told someone has to come but they wouldn't say why. Well his mother came and it is a good thing she did because her son was awarded the highest honor at graduation, the Morse Flag. My husband will always be contected to this school because his name is carved in the wall as the 1973 recipient of the Morse Flag. One of the reason's my husband wanted to be a headmaster was because of one of the former headmaster's at GDA Val Wilke. Hope I spelled the name right. As an adult my husband had the pleasure of working for both A Better Chance and the Governor's Academy. At A Better Chance he had many titles as he was promoted but the job he loved the most was the Assistant to the President. Judith Berry Griffin was the president of ABC at the time and they were a great team. Then in 1996 Peter Bragdon was kind enough and smart enough to hire Ed as the Assistant Headmaster at the Governor's Academy. Again he and Peter were a great team. While there my husband touched the lives of many students and most of the young people who are my friends on facebook are his former students. The first thing Ed did when he became a headmaster was to go out and buy a hat just like Peter Bragdon's hat. You see his example of what a great headmaster was was Peter and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. He always strove for excellence and was not satisfied with mediocre.
Well when Ed passed away in July of 2006 I wanted to do something to honor him and also to help students like him who were extremely intelligent but their families did not have the finances to send them to private schools. There is a scholarship in Ed's name at All Saint's but I wanted to have a scholarship at the Governor's Academy a place that he loved and had made him the man that he was. Therefore Peter, Eddie, Kristina, Aaliyah and I, and Ed's friends from GDA, Middlebury, and St Marks School of Texas will be forming a committee to start fund raising for an Edward Conway Young endowed chair at the Governor's Academy. Don't be surprised if you get a phone call or a letter from one of us asking you to contribute to our endeavor. He was an amazing man and the one way I know how to honor his life and the thing he loved the most is to help the students that he loved so dearly. Love and miss you Daddy and hope you and Streisand are having a blast in heaven. Your wife always and forever! Sheila
