Deceased November 8, 2006
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In Memory
I am sorry to report to the class that Artie Shay died last fall. Artie transferred to Amherst from Morehouse College and spent two years with us. A number of us will remember his exuberant spirit, his generous nature and that infectious high-pitched laugh.
Below is information that was included in the obituary that was printed for his memorial service in New Jersey.
Arthur George Shay passed away on Nov. 8 at his home in Hawaiian Acres due to cardiopulmonary arrest. He was 55 years old. A graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts, Arthur was born on Oct. 4, 1951, in Tuskegee, Ala., the only son of Eldridge A. Shay, a veterinarian, and Lorraine Corrin Shay, an accountant and probation officer.
He grew up in Bastrop, La., and Orange, N.J., where he attended Essex Catholic High School. In 1986, he moved to Pahoa from Oakland, Calif., with his family and has been a part of the Big Island community ever since. Baba Sundar, as he was affectionately called, was well known as a healer, mentor and counselor to many children and youth on the mainland and on the Big Island. He trained as an acupuncturist under Angela Longo of Waimea, Hawaii. Later out of his deep commitment to children and youth, he helped to found Water of Life Public Charter School in Puna District: the first classes were held in his home in Hawaiian Acres. (Sundar is a Sanskrit word that means Beautiful. It was a name given to Arthur after meeting his teacher, Swami Muktananda, in 1976.)
He is survived by his ex-wife, Kathryn Crayton-Shay, of Pahoa, Hawaii; Marlene Regis of El Cerrito, Calif.; sons Eldridge Indra Shay, Dharma Shay, of Keaau; and daughters Emmanuelle Regis of Keaau, Hawaii, and Shani Shay of Berkeley, Calif.; as well as many Hanai children; his only sister, Michele Shay, of Los Angeles; as well as numerous cousins, nieces, aunts and uncles of Maryland, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York, who all loved him very much.
Richard Ammons ’74