We got the news on Friday, March 8, that former APhA Treasurer Tery Baskin had passed away peacefully after battling lymphoma for a year and a half.

In addition to serving as APhA Treasurer and Trustee, Tery was a past president and board member of the APhA Foundation. He was a man who took service seriously, whether by making sure he fulfilled his role as APhA Treasurer and setting the path for the Association’s future financial growth or by participating in medical mission trips to Haiti and Honduras. He and Mary mentored several African students who came to the U.S. never having lived with basics like toilets that flush—the Baskins helped prepare them for what have become remarkably successful academic and service-oriented lives. He found peace in his faith and his family.

We were so grateful to spend a memorable day with Tery and his wife Mary in Little Rock a week before he passed, along with a whole group of colleagues and friends, including presidential officers Nancy Alvarez, Nicki Hilliard, and Brad Tice; Trustee Dan Buffington; and staff members Joe Janela and Dan Zlott. Tery and Mary treated us to a good Southern breakfast at Tery's hospice facility, where he regaled us with stories of duck hunting, fishing, and business conquests that had us laughing. Mary shared details of their journey, and we talked about how to best navigate what lay ahead for them.

I think I can speak for our entire group in saying it was a weekend well spent. We were truly blessed by the experience.

It is with a heavy heart that the APhA family and I bid our great friend farewell. Even as we are grieving, Mary shared in her message to us with the news that she knew “Tery is discussing with Saint Peter where to build his duck blind.” True Tery Baskin humor to the core.

You can view Tery’s obituary here. At the request of Tery’s family, contributions in his memory can be made to the APhA Foundation Scholarship Fund or the World Gospel Outreach Ministry.