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CONvergence Memorials

Professor, Connie and the other robots looking at the stars. Text: You were, and are, one of us. Now and forever. You are missed dearly and loved beyond words.

Convention Committee

  • Robert “Roadkill” Aiken 9/17/1964 – 2/26/2008 (Decor)
  • Ginger Bock 10/11/1962 - 9/2/2010 (Registration, Art Show)
    Wendy Star Geyer, born on October 11, 1962 in Mankato, MN. Second of four siblings. Steffie, her older sister. Matt and Damien, her younger brothers. Ginger obtained a degree in Communications at Minnesota State University (Mankato). She was active in mentoring gay and queer teens estranged or distant from their birth parents, and was called “Mom” by many who had no other parental figure to look up to. In 2007 Ginger designed the documentation system for the first PFLAG conference in the organization’s Northern Plains division which incorporates the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Ginger was a fixture in the Volunteers Department of CONvergence from 2002 to 2009. Ginger’s health was already in serious decline in 2010 when she went to showing of “Toy Story 3”–the last film in a movie theater she was able to attend. When warned that the film addressed serious themes of mortality, she responded with her usual plain-spoken candor and invincible positive attitude: “Why should that bother me?” Wendy “Ginger” Star Geyer-Bock passed away from complications due to kidney failure on September 3, 2010.
  • Carly Buchanan 8/10/1988 – 6/4/2019 (Guests)
  • Christen “Tish” Cassidy 3/30/1972 – 7/6/2014 (Parties)
  • Lauri Deatherage 7/13/1973 – 6/18/2021 (Hotel)
  • Tom Gaasch 10/8/1960 – 6/5/2024 (Operations)
  • Rachel MacAulay 3/11/1970 – 2/26/2006 (Guests)
  • John “John John” Mathern 9/4/1967 – 3/29/2024 (Consuite)
  • Erik McInroy 3/18/1968 – 7/12/2022 (Dock, Art Show, Sandbox)
  • Mary McKinley 2/8/1956 – 11/30/2020 (Dealers, Artists Alley)
  • Christopher Sherman Pasquarette aka Christo Foro Pallavincino 11/6/1967 – 4/11/2021 (Publications)
  • David Peck 8/2/1942 – 10/30/2024 (Volunteers, Vol Den, Operations)
  • David Potter (Operations)
  • George Richard 9/14/1953 – 10/26/2024 (Publications Advertising)
  • Baron Dave Romm 7/5/1937 – 9/15/2017 (Photography)
  • Robert Schug 7/21/1963 – 8/25/2014 (Parties)
  • TJ Starbuck 3/22/1962 - 9/2/2010 (Parties)
    From the CONvergence 2012 Souvenir Program Book:
    We have lost several notables in the course of the past year, and one that hits particularly close to home is the passing of Tia Jeane’ (TJ, or Teej) Starbuck. TJ served as the second president to the Minnesota Society For Interest In Science Fiction & Fantasy, aka MISFITS, now known as Geek Partnership Society (GPS). The founders of CONvergence convention had wanted not just to deliver a good convention year after year, but to also serve the community. MISFITS was created to do just that, and TJ stepped forward to help establish a solid foundation for the organization by serving as president. TJ also headed one of the earliest entertainment offerings during the first years of CONvergence, a quasi-gambling establishment called Phule’s Club. TJ delved into her love for things Egyptian and helped fashioned the Egyptian themed hang-out. She worked for many years at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival as merchant class street character, and she achieved her long-time dream of becoming a published author. Her first book was self published, and she had just recently found an editor to represent her second offering. The publishing of this book, largely finished and in the process of final polishing, will be TJ’s final legacy as on April 29, 2012, just a little over one month past her 50th birthday, she lost a three-year battle with cancer. She passed peacefully at the home she shared with long-time friend and sister Kat Pepmiller and her husband, Jay “Rusty” Curry. A ceremony for her life was held the day she passed, one which TJ herself had helped to plan. Many friends and family gathered to tell stories, to support one another, and to celebrate the friend and family member that TJ had always been to many.
  • Kathleen Taylor 4/23/1945 – 4/19/2024 (Guests, Merch)
  • Bob Wagner 1971 – 2019 (Gaming)
  • Cathy Wappel 10/29/1970 – 05/13/2023 (Art Show)

Guests of Honor

If you know of someone who is missing from this list that has passed away, or if there is incorrect information listed above, please Contact Memorials.

Connie reclining