Sometimes one just has to get away.

In light of my stepdad passing away nearly a month ago, last Thursday and Friday was that time for me to take to spend with my mom (Jeanne Johnson) while the transfer from fall sports to winter sports takes place.

Prior to me leaving Owensville last Thursday morning, the trip took a bit of a somber turn when I found out early last week that my long-time bus driver Joe Stevenson had passed away in Springfield, Mo.

Holding back a lot of tears while standing in the visitation line to pay my respects to his surviving family members, I glanced and saw my one of my former Culver-Stockton College (C-SC) professors Dr. Robert Paige also standing in line.

These two gentlemen were very helpful in feeding my passion for sports growing up in the small northeast Missouri town of Canton.

Riding the bus to and from school 11 miles one way alone, me and Mr. Stevenson would talk plenty of baseball as he was a die hard Boston Red Sox fan.

He and his wife Waneta also attended numerous Canton High School sporting events where we would all visit before and after my team statistician duties with both the Canton Tiger and Lady Tiger basketball teams.

Shifting back to Dr. Paige, along with having him in several classes during my four-year run on the hill at C-SC, me and him also frequently talked sports with him being a die hard fan of all of the major Detroit sports teams in the Tigers (baseball), Red Wings (hockey), Pistons (basketball) and Lions (football).

After the visitation, I was able to journey up to my home for four years to visit people at C-SC that I had not seen in several years.

One of those just graduated Owensville High School (OHS) last May.

Now a freshman member of the women’s basketball team, Camryn Caldwell walked into the Herrick Center while I was sitting at a table waiting for a former high school teacher turned professor to finish with one of her students.

Visiting with the former Dutchgirl, Caldwell will get to see one of her former high school teammates on Thursday, Dec. 11 when the Columbia College (CC) women’s basketball team comes to Canton for a non-conference match up inside the Joe Charles Fieldhouse on the C-SC campus.

That Thursday night, me and my mom watched C-SC’s men’s reserve basketball squad take on reserves from Quincy University (QU).

Reserves are the college equivalent to a high school junior-varsity team.

After lunch Friday across the river in Quincy, it was time to return home to see Fatima Comet soccer take on Veritas Christian Academy out of O’Fallon in what turned out to be the final fall sporting event for Warden Publishing.

As it turned out, another sports-related death occurred back in Owensville while I was spending much-needed time with my mother.

Former Republican sportswriter Butch Uffmann passed away peacefully at the age of 90 last Thursday night.

Covering sports for Warden Publishing from 1968-1980, one of the big highlights for Mr. Uffmann was covering the 1974 Dutchmen state championship basketball team coached by Jerry Buescher.

The Republican sends their condolences to the Uffmann family.