September of 1953. Beginning of Robert College’s Preparatory Year. Our first meeting
with Dear Urcun. Our classrooms, our dormitories… We are both boarding students
spending all our days in the same building. Lessons, recesses, after-class sports
activities. We are together all the time. Urcun goes home for the weekends, returning
each Sunday evening with new and interesting stories.
His special talent in languages was even exceeded by his perfect abilities in all fields of
sports. Our memories start with football and basketball games.
These, whenever the opportunity arose, were followed by Kadıköy Community Center Gym,
training sessions of Fenerbahçe Star Basketball Team. He must have received his first sportsmen’s’ license in1957. He later on continued his successful achievements at the Fenerbahçe Junior Team following an intelligent, agile and talented line of continuously improving success.
He attended the Political Science Faculty for two years after high school. After leaving, he spent
nearly a year in Paris learning French. When he returned to Istanbul in 1966, he passed the
Counseling and Guidance Exams, a different field in which he was engaged for a few years.
Meanwhile, he continued his ambitious search for the meaning of life! India, Kathmandu,
the Gurus… a different philosophy. Marriage and divorce. Peace and close friends
and acquaintances sought and found in Bodrum and Gümüşlük…We used to spend
hours of chats to catch up with each other before going to Bodrum in summers. When I
called him this year I was told that he was at the hospital. Later on, I had the chance to visit him
at his home. A short visit… recalling some memories and enjoying old photographs…
When I wanted to visit him again three days later on 10 August, I was confronted with
the inconsolable news.
An extraordinary personality…. A very special person… He is now undoubtedly Resting
in Peace ……
Contributed by Kemal Noyan RA61/RC65
