Our loving friend and classmate Billy Rover has passed away. He suffered oral cancer three years ago and was doing better until recently.
Caryl-Rose Poscher, wife of Billy Rover has asked me to relay the following information to you:
Billy was the Chief of Dental Services at the Bedford Veterans Administration Hospital at the time of his death. He was also a second year law student at Concord University. Caryl-Rose said the Billy “Was having a blast” with his newly-found interest in school.
Caryl-Rose and Billy were living at 132 Grover Road Extension, Medford Mass. 02155. They were partially moved into their new home in Amherst.
Billy leaves his son Brett and two grandchildren, Brittany, and Justice. He also leaves brothers Ross, and Frank and sister Audrey.
The men of D73 extend our love, prayers and good thoughts for our brother Billy to Caryl-Rose. He touched us all with his humor, generosity, and companionship.
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It is with great sadness I hear of the passing of Bill. Please forward my sympathy to his family.
Paul Epstein
Billy and I had been very good friends thru the years, altho we hadn't gotten together in recent years. Our respective apartments were very close to one another while in school, so we'd subway into school together frequently. We also shared a room at a Holiday Inn in San Antonio for a month after graduation as we both entered the Army Dental Corp at the same time. I had nothing but respect and admiration for Billy. A friend commited to helping people, always learning more, and a terrific sense of humor. We were there for each other good times and bad on more than one occassion. I'm gonna miss him alot. He and Caryl-Rose did marry about a year ago. They recently purchased a retirement home in Amherst, which they hadn't yet moved into.
Gregg Pappas
My Heartfelt condolences to Billy's family and friends
We all were lulled into thinking that Billy was doing so well. I will miss his great smile, and happy way of thinking. My deepest condolences are sent to his family, and all his friends. He will be missed greatly by everyone. He was a great and happy man. We were very fortunate to have him in our lives.
My memories of Billy Rover in dental school and contact with him over these years will continue to impress me of his awesome outlook. His loss is large for all who knew him. Caryl-Rose had a great and loving husband and friend. My reunion memories of his son, Brett are strong.
Billy's family have my sincerest sympathy. Peter Delli Colli
Peter Hart
Billy Rover
Gary Stern
We will all remember Billy's big smile and cheerful disposition. Please send my condolences to his family and friends.
Most sincerely, Bruce Wyman
Brian McSweeney
Len, thanks so much for your mail about billy's passing. i was not close to him, but remember a big smile and a can do attitude always- a good man
my most basic feeling is--- why him-not me?
best to you and all the guys
cal
What a shock. I was not aware of Billy’s fight with oral CA. I am sure a feeling of deep sadness pervades us all. I will always picture that great Rover smile and remember the famous Bunsen burner incident in lab. We will miss you Billy. I send my condolences to Billy’s family. Sincerely, Jeffrey Stevens
Hi there, campers. D’73 was well-represented at the Yankee last week-end. I was left with two main impressions about our class. One, is that our class is extremely satisfied with dentistry. A large number of our children are entering dental school. I could not see our sons and daughters wanting to pick up a hand piece unless we were enthusiastic about the field. Mark and Sharon Levy’s daughter, Candace recently graduated UConn dental. Harvey Cohen’s daughter is going to Harvard Dental. Robert Harlick’s son was accepted to Tufts and Buffalo, among others. My daughter was accepted to a number of schools and decided to start Buffalo Dental in September. The list goes on. I met John Ficarelli at the Yankee. His son will start dental school a year from Sept. I told him of my daughter’s research into dental school costs. Tufts is $75,000 per year, including living expenses. When I left him I think he was crying. Our D73 brothers that I met at the Yankee seem healthy (Steve Zonies looks really trim and fit), happy (Peter DelliColli was wearing his permanent smile), and definitely younger than our 58 or so years. Peter Cohen was sporting a particularly sexy beard. We’re in good shape.
Another impression I was left with is the juxtaposition of our counter-culture, anti-establishment, long haired class back in the 70s with what we are today. We ARE the establishment. We ARE the culture. We are very much the MAN IN CHARGE that we were protesting more than thirty years ago. I had lunch with Steve Zonies at the Yankee and he quoted the famous, “I would never join a club that would have me as a member.”
We have a number of men in top leadership positions. We’re all proud of Howard Lieb who is THE MAN IN CHARGE of the New York meeting. That’s old news. Have you heard the latest about Mark Feldman? There is a very good chance that he will be the next president of the ADA !! I told him that we would all like to support him in his campaign. He said that there really is no formal campaign and that there are regulations about the type of publicity allowed. At this point, he is the only person running and is likely to be inducted as president in 07 in San Francisco. I told him we have a campaign ready. We have hired scantily clad dental assistants with “Mark’s our Man” embroidered on their derrières and that I would streak across the convention floor handing out campaign flyers. Mark mumbled something about bad taste and if I really wanted to help, I should have nothing to do with his campaign. In all seriousness, Mark will let us know if there is anything we can do. Some of us were talking about going to the 07 meeting to support Mark but he said the induction will take place after the convention and that it would be quite boring for observers. He did say that he will like to see us at the 35th reunion. He’ll hopefully still be president then. I will keep our class informed if Mark feels that there is anything else we can do to support his candidacy.
PS: I just heard that Josh Rolnick, David Rolnick's son is at Buffalo Dental. Howard Lieb recently greeted grandchild Sarah to the world. She can be seen here.
Dear Len,
Thanks for the great report. I am sorry that I had to miss the Yankee Meeting this year but last Friday evening Joyce and I became Grandparents. Sarah arrived ten days late but is a grand 8 lbs. 8 oz and 21"
I now have another female in my life! Also this weekend, on Saturday night, the Richmond County Dental Society awarded me their Lifetime Achievement Award at their annual Installation Dinner Dance. So, I had to miss the Yankee but for good reasons. I hope to see everyone there next January.
Howard Lieb
Let me know if you will be cheering Mark at the annual meeting in October. I know the following will be there:
