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Robert M. Faxon, Jr., 62, of Albuquerque, passed away Thursday, March 22, 2007 after an extra inning bout with brain cancer. Fax, as he was affectionately known, was an accomplished photographer, birder, backgammon opponent, and archeologist. He was a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, and was ecstatic when they won the World Series in 2004. "YES!!!!," the headline from the Boston Globe screamed in an email he sent to all of his life-long friends, who knew what coming back from an 0-3 deficit to the Yankees, then sweeping the Cardinals, meant to the native Bostonian. Fax graduated from Milton Academy in 1963 and Harvard College in 1967. He was an accomplished athlete. He played hockey at Milton, and rowed crew at Harvard. He was a VISTA volunteer in California and on the Navajo Nation in 1969 -1971. He taught at Rock Point Community School from 1972-1974, where he met Judie and made a host of life-long friends. 1976 was big. Fax earned a Master's in Elementary Education at UNM, married Judie, and returned to the Navajo Nation to teach for three years at Borrego Pass School. There, he and Judie made more life-long friends. Bob and Judie moved to Albuquerque in 1980. Fax toiled at UNM in a teacher education program for Pueblo students, at the Albuquerque public schools in an early childhood intervention program, in a study on mental health issues facing rural youth in New Mexico, and also completed research for the Public Service Company of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories. He returned to UNM in 1991, earned an M.A. in Training and Learning Technologies, and next served as a trainer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then Fax cut loose. He worked for himself. He and Judie hiked in Hawaii, bicycled in Bali, and biked and hiked all over the western U.S. Bob was a frequent competitor in the Iron Horse Classic bike race from Durango to Silverton, Colorado. Fax was pursuing graduate studies in Mesoamerican Art and Archeology at UNM, and had completed field studies in Copan, Honduras, when he was struck by cancer in 2005. He would have had great hopes for the upcoming baseball campaign, complained about the move of Papelbon from the starting rotation to the bullpen, and anticipated the return of the Rocket to Fenway before the All-Star break. And yes, Fax loved cats. He was devoted to Tommy, Knu Knu, Macarthur, Whitney, and Livingston. He is survived by his wife of thirty years, Judith Diehl-Faxon; sisters, Rebecca Knowles and Sarah Houlihan, both of Naples, FL; and nephew and niece, Christopher and Holly Sawtelle and their children, Egerton Sawtelle and Madeline Coughlin. He also leaves a brother-in-law, Michael L. Diehl of Edgewater, FL, and family. His parents and sister, Elizabeth Faxon, preceded him in death. A Memorial Service, in celebration of his life, will be held at the Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church at 1004 24th SE, Rio Rancho, NM, on April 2, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. A reception will follow in the church social hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The UNM Cancer Center, Development Office, MSC 08-4630, 1 University of NM, Albuquerque, NM 87131. Please indicate the donation is for research. French Mortuary 1111 University Blvd. NE (505) 843-6333 www.frenchmortuary.com
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