Ben Athay

Ben Athay, a loving father and law student, died of a brain hemorrhage on Friday, Aug. 31. His funeral was Friday in Corvallis.

It's hard to accept the death of someone who was so vibrant and had great plans for his life. I met Ben at the 1L family picnic before school last year. His gorgeous wife Alison was pregnant, and Ben was excited both about fatherhood and about starting law school. Alison gave birth in the middle of his first year, and Ben was thrilled with little Oliver. He must have had some long nights, but when I saw Ben he was always cheerful and eager to stop to chat. I ran into him toward the end of the year and asked him to be a board member of PALS and he instantly agreed. At PALS, Ben was thoughtful and funny. He asked that PALS try to be more available to students on a regular basis, because he tended to hear from the group only once or twice a quarter. He felt parents need more support. We created this blog partly to respond to Ben's request for a more frequent, visible form of support for parents. We'll be looking for other ways to respond to his request throughout the year.

PALS sent a bouquet of roses to Ben's funeral. We are looking for other ways to honor Ben and help Alison tell Oliver about his father. Please add your thoughts and suggestions as comments below.

Lisa