Richard P.

Laskey

Richard Laskey 1935-2019 On the surface, he lived the American Dream. He attended four years of college consisting of wild parties and cramming for tests. Then he was off to a military stint as a Coast Guard Pilot, including some hair-raising rescues in Alaska. While stationed in San Diego, he married and eventually became the doting father of two daughters and one son. However, below the surface lurked a family history of Type One Diabetes. It struck when he was 25 years old. Now he confronted a daily maelstrom of injections and fluctuating, potentially lethal sugar levels. He soldiered on. Weekdays he was a manager at Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Weekends he tended a huge vegetable garden and did carpentry and metalwork. Before losing sight in one eye due to diabetes, his favorite hobby was hunting – even traveling to Canada to hunt wild beasts with a bow and arrow. After engaging in mortal combat with his disease for some 58 years, the disease won. But it was a well fought battle.