Richard Hyatt: Looking back at loss during the year

When we look back at the year that was we realize how many interesting people we lost.

Reporter Mark Rice reminded us in a superb wrap-up on New Year's Eve. Maybe it's just me, but this year's eclectic list of notable deaths was particularly intriguing.

The list ranged from Bo Callaway, whose parents nourished beautiful flowers, to Tippy Kirven, whose family sold dry goods to generations of customers, to Carolyn Gates, a teacher who helped addicts find recovery, to the Rev. William Howell, a preacher who never stopped pushing, to Tim Wilson, a hillbilly homeboy who made people laugh, to Bill Mason, a whimsical lawyer and part-time barkeeper who never stopped believing in the system, and to Paul Garner, a homeless man whose friends never forgot.

Their collective memory touched me.

I remember sitting in Callaway's office at the gardens his family planted and hearing how late in life he found a friend in Jimmy Carter, a lifelong rival. I remember seeing this former secretary of the Army pushing a cart through Publix, and I remember how kind he was to a 4-year-old who was fascinated by his wheelchair.

I remember Kirven allowing me to spend the day in his family's store at Columbus Square Mall as he painfully shut down an establishment that meant so much to the history of Columbus.

I remember seeing Gates in a sandwich shop. She was ravaged by cancer, but instead of being down she made me laugh.

I remember how the Rev. Howell used to drop by the paper and announce Jesse Jackson was coming to town. We'd send a reporter to cover the event but Jesse wouldn't show. Then on a weekend we didn't assign someone -- you guessed it -- Jackson came.

I remember a baffling conversation with Wilson in which the standup comedian claimed serial killer Ted Bundy was the real Stocking Strangler.

I remember Mason running for council. We asked candidates where they would be on election night. Most planned big parties. Mason said he'd be at home in his underwear watching the returns.

I remember shivering at Parkhill Cemetery with Garner's friends from Baker High School and realizing that because of them, this homeless man was laid to rest on a beautiful hillside.

And connections such as these make me fear who we'll see on this list in 2015.

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Looking back at loss during the year."