In memory of Carl Schneider, Mark Edwards, Len Miller, and Russell Farrow.
Some friendships began at school, others at summer camp or in a kayak shop. Over the years we worked together, talked about fishing and paddling, and made plans. These are a few memories of friends I miss and want remembered.
Carl Schneider · Mark Edwards · Len Miller · Russell Farrow
Carl William Schneider
March 28, 1975 to October 1, 2010
I met Carl in 1990 on the summer camp staff at Heritage Reservation’s Camp Liberty. He was a Life Scout, and I was an Eagle Scout. We also served together on an Order of the Arrow ceremony team. Carl had a great love for life and a wonderful sense of humor. He could joke with his friends, then give the ceremony his full attention when it mattered.
Years later, we had kayaking in common too. Carl became a certified kayak instructor and river guide with Wilderness Voyageurs in Ohiopyle. We talked about getting on the water together. We both thought there was plenty of time to make it happen.
Carl died in a kayaking accident on the Blackwater River on October 1, 2010. Knowing how seriously he took safety made the news especially hard to accept. I still miss the opportunity we never took to paddle together.
I wrote “A friend died Friday” shortly after his death. That original remembrance holds the feelings of those first days, photographs, and comments from others whose lives he touched.
Mark Edwards
April 25, 1975 to May 29, 2017
Mark and I met in elementary school. We were school friends, and he graduated from Peters Township High School in 1993. College, work, and family eventually took our attention elsewhere. Years later, he saw on Facebook that I was living in Florida, and we connected again.
We chatted frequently about fishing, especially fly fishing in Pennsylvania’s freshwater and how different it was from fishing along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to go fishing together.
Mark also offered advice after I injured my feet during my December 31, 2012, outing on the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle. A broken paddle and a swim were followed by a difficult portage through snow and cold. I wrote about the experience in “Epic Icy Whitewater Relived” and “Epic Icy Whitewater Portage.” What belongs here is my gratitude for a friend who cared enough to help.
Mark loved his children. He had a great heart and was a caring medical professional. I remember him as a man who was at peace when he was fishing. He died while fishing on May 29, 2017, at the age of 42.
Mark’s funeral home memorial · Legacy obituary · Mark’s Facebook profile
Leonard D. “Len” Miller
Passed away July 16, 2021, at age 52
I met Len in 1990, during my first summer on the Camp Liberty staff at Heritage Reservation. He was the program director. I was a new staff member in Scout Craft, teaching Pioneering merit badge. I remember him as a born mentor and leader.
Len started the Heritage Reservation alumni association, using a Facebook group to help former summer camp staff stay in touch and organize reunions. He continued bringing camp people together long after their summers on staff were over.
His kindness reached into my family’s life too. He supported Tyler’s Scout popcorn sales and school fundraisers. For Christmas in 2019, he gave Tyler a first aid kit and a wooden marble run to build. In April 2020, during COVID, he sent a wooden rover kit. He sent care packages to our family during that time.
I first knew Len as my program director. Decades later, he was still there, encouraging my son and thinking of our family. That is how I remember his generosity.
His obituary, published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on July 22, 2021, records that he died suddenly from heart failure. It remembers his warmth, generosity, and humor among family and friends from Shady Side Academy, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Scouting, and Highmark. Those qualities fit the Len I knew, whose kindness continued long after our summers at camp.
Read Leonard D. Miller’s obituary in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. · Len’s Facebook profile
Russell Allen Farrow
September 26, 1959 to May 7, 2022
Russell was a resident of St. Petersburg, Florida, and was 62 when he passed away. His obituary is preserved by Dignity Memorial through Blount & Curry Funeral Home.
I met Russell in the late 1990s at his kayak shop. I was working for Osprey Bay Outdoors and went to him as a customer looking for kayaking gear. Our friendship grew through talking about kayaking and getting out on the water.
Russell lent Sean Fitzgibbon and me two Greenlander Pro kayaks for our Great Calusa Blueway expedition. I also enjoyed teaching Greenland rolling classes for him. Those are parts of my paddling life that I will always associate with Russell and Sweetwater Kayaks.
We worked together at the Extremity Games in Orlando, where one rescue gave us a story that still makes me smile. A retired Colonel had capsized and asked Russell to hold her hand. He reached out, and her hand closed around his in what felt like a normal handshake. Then she detached the prosthetic hand from her residual limb.
Russell was so startled that he made a sound I can only describe as nonhuman and dropped the hand into the lake. Some retired Navy SEALs went swimming and recovered it from the bottom. Afterward, the Colonel and Russell laughed together.
What I miss most is his knowledge and the way he lifted and inspired people. Russell was generous with his time and with what he knew. I valued the conversations as much as the kayaking.
Read Russell Allen Farrow’s obituary at Dignity Memorial. · Read Russell’s Sweetwater Kayaks biography.
Keeping their memory
When you next go onto the water, walk into camp, or gather with old friends, please take a moment to remember these men and the families and friends who miss them. Say their names. Tell a story while there is someone there to hear it.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Jeff Fabiszewski
These remembrances draw on my own memories, family photographs, and the records linked above. Carl’s section uses 1990, correcting the year I gave in my original 2010 account. Facebook profiles may require a login.
