WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
OBITUARY
Illness didn't get Wells down
By LIZ NARTOWICZ
lnartowicz@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
After friends delivered a commemorative scrapbook to Lyndon Wells' mother at his funeral, she noticed something similar about all the photos.
"He was always smiling," Wendy Wells said.
Lyndon "Lyndy" Hubbell Wells, 20, died Friday, May 20 at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
Wells, who was a Chesterfield, Mo., sophomore, suffered from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and was undergoing surgery for the illness at the center. He died from complications following the surgery.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a vascular illness that lowers the collagen levels in tissues and complicates a body's natural healing process. Wells was diagnosed with the illness at 14 years of age when his physician first noticed a heart murmur. The heart murmur, caused by an aortic aneurysm, led to a biopsy that detected the illness.
His mother said she was surprised he died so young because the average life expectancy for
people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome rangesbetween 40 and 60 years of age. Andrew Martin Wells, Lydon's twin brother who died at 3 weeks old was also
Wells
diagnosed with the illness.
Born into a legacy of Jayhawks on Aug. 16, 1984, Wells realized he wanted to be a Jayhawk when he was 6 years old. He was a third-generation Jayhawk. Both of his parents and his paternal grandparents attended the University. Lyndon even decorated his childhood room with KU wallpaper. He sought a degree in education and wanted to become a high school history teacher after graduation.
A 2003 graduate of Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, Mo., a suburb outside of St. Louis, Wells spent much of his free time working on his 1992 Honda "No catastrophe held him back," said Jonathan Kealing, high school classmate and Kansan spring associate sports editor."He didn't let anything stop him."
Kealing said Wells always had health problems, but managed to keep a positive outlook. Described by friends and family as hilarious, laid back and always smiling, Wells was an active member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. He enjoyed camping, paintball, cars and golfing with his father, His father moved to Lawrence about a year and a half ago in case of emergency.
"Lyndy went out the way he came in," Gordon Wells, Lyndon's father, said. "Quietly and with dignity."
Additional survivors include a sister, Molly Wells, Denver; paternal grandmother, Mary Wells, Wichita; maternal grandparents Donald and Shirley Martin, Peoria, Ariz.; and a large extended family. He would have served as the best man in his sister's wedding on July 23.
Services for Wells were held Monday, May 23 at Danforth Chapel on the KU campus. The family asks that memorials to Make-A-Wish Foundation or other charity donations be sent in care of Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, 120 E. Broadway, Newton, Kan. 67114.
— Edited by Erin M. Droste
Golf tournament honors deceased law graduate
Prairie Highlands Golf Course in Olathe will host the Andrew Keenan Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday, Sept. 16.
The tournament will benefit brain cancer research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and honor Andrew Keenan, 2005 graduate
Keenan was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) during his second year at the University of Kansas School of Law.
The World Health Organization rates GBM as the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor.GBM patients are given an average survival time of less than one year. Keenan fought GBM for 22 months before he died Jan. 31, three days after receiving his Juris Doctorate.
The tournament will begin at 8 a.m. and the entry fee is $135 per person. Prizes for longest drive, putt and closest to the pin will be awarded.
For more information on the tournament visit www.andrewkeanan.com.
Watermain work restricts traffic
Downtown traffic will be a little slower during the next three summers.
Lawrence utilities will repair water mains throughout Massachusetts and other surrounding streets, said Bob Skinner, field operations manager for the water division of Lawrence utilities.
Utility crews began construction of the mains in mid-April and will continue to work through August, Skinner said.
Crews will reduce traffic on Massachusetts Street and other surrounding streets to one lane, but pedestrians and motorists will still be able to use the streets.
— Liz Nartowicz
Skinner said when this round of construction ends, Lawrence residents can expect the same type and length of construction in 2006 and 2007 as the utility crews work their way south on Massachusetts Street.
Adam Land