Tuesday, February 2, 2016
As the librarian for AiW-Dulles, it was my privilege to know and work with Greg Deming. He was an artist, a teacher, a family man, and a wonderfully pugnacious, deeply honorable Noo Yawker. I worked with him for five years in a variety of capacities whether it was setting up a workshop on Marcel Duchamp, proctoring makeup exams for his students, giving an info lit talk on library resources, or just having a conversation about our families. The last real conversation that I had with Greg, just a couple of weeks before he died, we talked about our holiday breaks and how much we enjoyed them. Specifically, he said “Well, I had all my kids under one roof for the holidays so that was nice.” I wouldn’t presume to call him friend but we were certainly friendly and there was no one here who was more supportive of their coworkers or their students. In five years, I never heard him say an unkind word about a student. He always believed in his students as much as he believed in the transcendent beauty of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes or Duchamp’s masterpiece, Nude Descending a Staircase.
Greg always had time for his co-workers and even though his five years with Dulles was just a blip on his estimable resume, he was without fail a stand-up guy to me. Once, during a particularly bad day for everyone on campus, Greg spent 45 minutes of his own time just talking to me in my office about my own fears and concerns. Here was a man of vastly greater life experience than me being far kinder and more expansive than he needed to be – listening to my worries about family, bills, career, et al. He gave good advice, gently rolled his eyes with me over some of our mutual frustrations at this campus, and was just the absolute best person to me that day. He took everyone seriously, gave everyone respect and he never, ever lost his passion for art and education. He “died with his boots on” as a man who was still working, still vital all the way until the moment he died. We should all be so lucky.
My sincere condolences to the family of Greg Deming. He was a wonderful person and he will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him.
Sincerely,
Zayne Reeves