A Eulogy for My High School Friend
ALS Took Singer/Songwriter Joe Mersch, But He Left Us His Music
When a friend from high school passes away, it’s a shock to the psyche. “Oh, crap, someone my age is gone!” It’s difficult to process, but as with any loss, you accept it and move on while holding on to memories. Today, there’s a celebration of life for my classmate who succumbed to ALS last month at the age of 64. Sadly, I won’t be attending the event but another mutual friend will be and has agreed to read this eulogy on my behalf.
Joe Mersch and I met in 1974 when we were both sophomores in Advanced Drama class at Orange Glen High School. Joe was always very talented and whip-smart, but friendly too with a great sense of humor. Over the next three years, we acted in six or seven theatre productions, including Moliere’s The Miser, Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, and Lillian Hellman’s Another Part of the Forest.
Doing these classics was challenging and educational, but I think we and our classmates got the most joy out of creating our own art. Of course, Joe always had his guitar with him and we were fortunate to have such a gifted musician in our class to entertain us with songs, both popular ones as well as his originals.
Back in the day, Joe and I wrote a few songs together. I did the lyrics and Joe, of…
