Roland Sykes passed on Monday morning March 10th, after a long battle with cancer and other health issues. If ever there was an ADAPT warrior moving on to Valhalla, it is Roland! His strong, unwavering support for disability rights from the way back days to today was one of the mainstays of our movement.
He moved us forward with his promotion of the Internet, DIMENET, virtual CILs and more. His humor, passion for disability rights and persistence were wonderful additions to our discussions all through the disability community. His behind the scenes support for ADAPT helped build and strengthen our network in countless ways.
The Big White Cloud (the bus) will remain a symbol of his mission and his ministry, and he will live on in those who loved him so well.
A photo gallery with images of Roland in action has been created and will be expanded as we obtain and are sent it images.
Roland Sykes Image GalleryArticle written by Roland in May 2001 in its unedited original form
Document in Plain Text FormRoland took up the battle with UPMC system of 19 hospitals in western Pennsylvania. He was profoundly disgusted at the total lack of accessible hospital rooms and the fostering of dependence inside the hospital system. He demanded to talk to the UPMC board of directors and was granted 8 minutes to talk to the full board during June 18, 2007.
Click on link below for the captioned speech (WMV Format ~5.5mb's)
Video Link: UPMC.wmvOne of Roland's heros is the nobleman of the disability movement, Fred Fay. Roland spent several months in 2006 shooting video with the intention of putting an hour long video about Fred and his wisdom. To date, only one video is available to share...
Click on link below for the captioned video (WMV Format ~4.2mb's)
Video Link: DIMENET Shorts - Dr. Frederick FayOver the years, Roland has sent a number of Philosophical messages and teachings that have been collected by many. Below is a link to a page with an ever growing collection of them as sent in by the people who knew him.
Quotes and Philosophical musings from RolandYou can submit your own comments, experiences, images and things you would like to share by sending an email to the following address.
Email Submissions to: memorial@dimenet.comImages will be added to the gallery and stories, and comments will be added and displayed below.
Please Note: When sending images in, please include in your message who the people in the images are, and a time frame of when the picture was taken if possible.
