Dean Songer's death

[indagator]

I saw on another forum that Dean Songer, long-time NY Bethel heavy, just passed away and was in his 90s. Does anyone have further info on this? Everyone saw hm as a truly spiritual, loving brother, approachable and sincere, something sometimes lacking at HQ.

[JW Insider]

1 hour ago, indagator said:

Everyone saw hm as a truly spiritual, loving brother, approachable and sincere, something sometimes lacking at HQ.

I really liked him. That's because back when I was just 21, he gave me an assignment to help set up the pre-press, typesetting, and "art" department at the branch in Athens in 1978. This was right in the middle of a vacation which I would spend traveling with a member of the GB and his family for the first few weeks through London, Paris, Barcelona, Nice, and Rome. Then this assignment in Athens (which I honestly didn't deserve) and the last few weeks traveling in 7 additional countries, staying with Witness families and at the Branches. I was born in California but grew up mostly in Missouri, so this was more than I could have hoped for. Because of the extra assignments, I ended up with a 6-week "vacation" after only earning a 3-week vacation.

Everyone said Songer was educated as an engineer, and I liked him for his sense of humor. (Most engineers have one as a prerequisite to getting along in their future jobs.) He reminded me of my father, an electrical engineer with a similar sense of humor. Good times!

[indagator]

JWI, thanks for the note. So are you in a position to find out about this death? I'd appreciate knowing how it happened, whether he had a place outside of Bethel among friends or died in the infirmary, and so on.

[JW Insider]

43 minutes ago, indagator said:

So are you in a position to find out about this death?

I'll make a call tomorrow (or at least later in the week) to another person, still at Bethel, who knew him well.

Can you tell me how you knew him?

[Amidstheroses]

On 7/23/2018 at 8:26 PM, JW Insider said:

I'll make a call tomorrow (or at least later in the week) to another person, still at Bethel, who knew him well.

Can you tell me how you knew him?

I knew Dean, remotely, when I was a single sister at Brooklyn Bethel in 1974-5 because I sat at a nearby table in Dining Rm 5 headed by his roommate, Charlie Ploeger. When I recently read that this ‘available after Armageddon’ brother, whom I always enjoyed and respected when I heard his Talks, had passed, I wondered about the circumstances. I hoped that he was kindly supported. Did you learn his Cause of Death?

[Amidstheroses]

On 7/23/2018 at 2:28 PM, JW Insider said:

I really liked him. That's because back when I was just 21, he gave me an assignment to help set up the pre-press, typesetting, and "art" department at the branch in Athens in 1978. This was right in the middle of a vacation which I would spend traveling with a member of the GB and his family for the first few weeks through London, Paris, Barcelona, Nice, and Rome. Then this assignment in Athens (which I honestly didn't deserve) and the last few weeks traveling in 7 additional countries, staying with Witness families and at the Branches. I was born in California but grew up mostly in Missouri, so this was more than I could have hoped for. Because of the extra assignments, I ended up with a 6-week "vacation" after only earning a 3-week vacation.

Everyone said Songer was educated as an engineer, and I liked him for his sense of humor. (Most engineers have one as a prerequisite to getting along in their future jobs.) He reminded me of my father, an electrical engineer with a similar sense of humor. Good times!

I remember, when I first arrived at Brooklyn Bethel in 1974 and was assigned to sit at a table near the one headed by Dean, that a brother at my table  directed me to a WT (AW?) article that gave a brief reference to Dean’s background prior to coming into the Truth. Since Dean’s roommate (Charlie Ploeger) was my Table Head and both Charlie and Dean were in the Writing Department, at the time, I understood that Charlie had told his table that this article was about Dean. Although it did not give his name, it told that he went to college at St. Louis University and worked as an engineer of some sort in producing aerospace weaponry. Upon learning the Truth, he “beat his swords Into plowshares”so to speak. Does anyone know which article this would be?