Sir Dr. William Fendley Jr

This man deserves space on this blogspot more than anyone. This entry should have made its way here long back but sadly I have to write posthumous for him.

Sir Dr. William Fendley was Director of OIRA (Office of Insitutional Research and Assessment) at The University of Alabama. And, I would say I was lucky enough to get in touch with him. He was man of great character. So relaxed yet so responsible, so casual yet so punctual, so prodigious yet so down to earth. I was fortunate enough to have worked under him for more than 2 years.

I would be always thankful to him, to have picked me up as graduate assistant, for the reasons I still don't understand. I can still remember my first meeting with him, dressed casually, carrying measly resume, looking for on-campus job, I met him during lunch time at OIRA lunch room. I can still recall that moon shaped face with green eyes and streaks of gray hairs bouncing out of houndstooth hat, peeking at me through those half moon spectacles. At first meeting itself I was fan of his. And I feel out of words to describe his stature.

But I will always regret for not calling him up before his demise. I made courtesy call to Mike and ended up promising him that I will call up Dr. Fendley. I never called him up. And next thing is, I received call from my friend Priya, who now works at same office about how Dr. Fendley is fatally ill and has been hospitalized. I made call at office to inquire about him, but was told that he is in good health now and should return to office in couples of weeks.

But fate had something bad designed for him, and I receive another call from Priya. Even before picking up the call I could sense something bad coming at me. My blood froze and I was all numb. I was not at all ready for the news coming, and I was not sure how to react.

May his soul rest in peace. Amen!