Passages

A couple weeks ago Billy Lang from Gallinger/Realty USA in Marcellus passed away.  As it said in the paper, he had run his mother's real estate firm (Verna Lang) for 40 years.  A friend said he had either "birthed 'em or buried 'em" and sometimes both over the course of his time.  His office walls were lined with the heads of animals he had hunted.  His hair was long and spoke volumes about who he was.  You could always tell when someone was on the phone with Billy - the listener made a lot of agreeing noises, but rarely got a chance to speak.  I can still hear his voice.  When I heard he was sick, a couple years ago, it was hard to believe because he was so active, so energized all the time.  But he was, and will be missed.

On Saturday evening Janet Tardiff from Williams Realty in Skaneateles also passed away.  I hadn't heard she had been sick, and thankfully she wasn't for long.  I had wondered in passing why she didn't go look at Ten Mile Point when her client asked about it, but she wasn't the first.  She was a great reader of this blog - my "JT" - and always wanted to have me print the median price of sold and closed properties, not the mean.  She was the owner, with Grace Snook, of Williams Realty until just recently. Pat Snyder, an agent in the company, told wonderful stories yesterday when I spoke with her from my open house at 50 West Genesee.  Days when there were no copiers or fax machines at the office (in the building across from RE/MAX, where Paris Flea is now).  Days when the listings were sent out by mail to be included in the office's master book.  Just like Billy, I can still hear Janet's voice, sort of a drawl with a question mixed in...I liked coming in to the office and seeing her at her desk in the far corner.   I will miss her terribly.