wow I met buzz at the 86 fiesta last year, and he was certainly a great guy to speak to. i'm really sad to hear that he's passed.

Rest in Peace.

Here is a silly video of us at Great America..... + @Rollan

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZgS5EXT2oqQ"]Miss you Buzz - YouTube[/ame]

RIP .....my sincere condolences goes out to his friends and family......................:(

"only the good die young"........................

Thanks @BRZkitty for that video. Awesome to see a recorded Buzz!

http://86drive.com/wp-content/upload...m-1024x682.jpg

Buzz was a great deal of things to many people. He was a loving husband, a highly intelligent engineer, a wildly creative designer and animator. He previously worked for NASA, gave live science demonstrations, built robots for competition, appeared on TV shows, and taught classes in computer animation. He was incredibly approachable and friendly at the car meets and at the racetrack. So many stories have surfaced about what a caring and helpful guy he was and how he has personally touched so many of us. He tried valiantly to get many of us to join him in playing so many of the card and board games that he loved. On a personal note, I loved talking with him at some of the meets and dinners about building trebuchets, catapults, and driving simulators. I regret never getting the chance to play a round of Cards Against Humanity (a game he often mentioned) with him. But I heard from several other club members that they had a hilarious night playing it together at one of the South Bay meets that I missed out on.

I've made a short in memoriam page on 86DRIVE for our lost friend Buzz. At the end of that are further links to some of Buzz's personal projects pages if you would like to delve more into the amazing things that he has accomplished.
http://86drive.com/2014/08/09/in-mem...t-buzz-dawson/

It also links back to this thread, please continue to share here any stories you have about Buzz.

The memorial drive will take place on Sept 20th 2014 on highway 9 to skyline. I have already updated the 86 Drive Calendar, more details to come.

Here is a message from Alexia (Buzz's wife):


Some great comments on the forums!
Hwy 9 to 35 would be ideal. He some times complained 9 was crap with some rough spots. He loved it for the view. 35 was the smoother I think.
The united day will probably be around September 20. Jacksonville, LA, San Francisco, Saratoga, Orlando are all going to be planning, but some don't even know yet. If you guys want to do it earlier, please do, just take a lot of pictures to post when we put together the memorial website. The point is to show how many people from all over cared about him. I'll let you know when plans come together.
Thanks for spreading the word.
It does feel wrong to post messages to him on his Facebook page. He won't be reading them, so better to put the positive energy into doing something good for someone else.
There is an earth orbit space trip for a "pet's" ashes for $995. Buzz wanted his ashes to be sent to the moon, but that is $12,000+. If we can raise the money $995 between all the cities that would be great. Spreading some of the ashes during a group drive is just as important. I will have 24 test tubes of ashes at least to pass out. Let me know what plans you come up with. I will not be attending, but want to know that you are celebrating him.
Keep telling each other funny stories. He would want us to laugh and have fun together.


I think it would be amazing to be able to send Buzz to the moon or earth's orbit. I will update you guys on the donation information when I hear more.

I just happened upon this thread. The sympathetic outpouring just from this community is indicative of how special this man is. This is beyond sad...hearing about all the joy and good this man brought wherever he traveled...and now to hear that he has passed.

To his wife, or anyone close to him reading this...he IS an amazing man, and I am truly sorry...

Can we start a FundMe account?

I will wait for Alexia's response on how she might want to do it and propose your great idea. Thanks Rachel :)

Does anyone know what happened?

.ck

+1

I did not know Buzz but he sounds like a standup guy. Oddly enough, I believe he lived down the street from me for the past year. I often saw his LOLPWR white FR-S parked on the street at a nearby city park. Wish I could have said hello.

My condolences to his family and friends.

I hate to be that guy, but what happened? I met Buzz at one of our meets a couple months back-he's a very intelligent and humorous gentleman.

Per Alexia,

"If you wanted to take donations and just send me a final check that would be great. If I did something like indigogo those services take a percentage of money raised, which would feel wrong in this situation."


I would be happy to collect all donations and log in a book with names and amount and then send her a final check and book if everyone feels comfortable with this.