Melinda with Matthew Ryan Pheanis Preston.
Matthew Ryan Pheanis Preston, son of Melinda Preston of the MHS Class of 1967, tragically lost his life on October 3, 2001 in Tucson, Arizona when the bike on which he was riding was hit by a truck.
The 23-year-old University of Arizona graduate was a bright, talented young man who seemingly had a brilliant future. He planned to get his doctorate in genetics and then pursue a career in medicine until the accident ended his life.
His family and friends have erected a shrine at the accident site, but Melinda has an idea for a more permanent memorial for her son. The details are provided below in an e-mail Melinda sent to Ron Coffey. Read on, visit the hyperlink below for photos and more information, and contact Melinda if you would like to help. Her e-mail address is provided below.
Hi
Friends and Family:
I am calling on you to help, I am trying to raise money to purchase the house
on the corner where Matthew was killed. It's in foreclosure and there is
a wonderful realtor, Dorina (who also lost her daughter in a vehicle accident)
helping me figure out a way to get this property. Jean, another woman in
Tucson who lost her son on a bicycle is also helping out. I am getting
as much of my own funds together as I can (about $92,000 so far), but really
need your help. I will be establishing a tax free foundation in
Matthew's name and your donations will be tax deductible.
My dream is to make it a home for graduate students in genetics and medical
students while they attend the University of Arizona. I feel it would be
a fitting tribute to Matthew since one if his biggest worries during
undergraduate school was where he could live. The house is in need of a
lot of work since it's been abandoned for a while and they didn't take very
good care of it. But many of Matthew's friends will hopefully be helping
with the repair and clean up. One is an electrician, another a carpenter
and lots of other woman and man power.
But with help from you, I can make this home for at least 5 students without
even doing major renovation. Changing the garage to another two bedrooms
would make it house 7 students. There is plenty of parking available
behind the house, all paved. It's a living space of almost 2800 square
feet and each student would have privacy while still sharing a large common
area.
We aren't sure if we can get it for the price of the foreclosure note of
$184,000, but are hopeful, the selling price on it back in 1998 was $247,000.
It needs appliances, new carpeting, new paint and some other things,
plus I would like to furnish it so they can live without the headaches of
trying to get things into the house. The students often leave their
tenure at school owing over $60,000 because of loans for school and life
expenses.
I hope to be able to provide a less expensive or perhaps free place for them
to live and accomplish the things that my son Matthew won't be here to do.
It would be a living tribute to Matthew. I want it to be a candle
to spread light, to give students with great potential what they need to
achieve, to live in a safe and healthy environment.
Here's a website from a recent article about it in the Tucson Citizen:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/12_30_02memorial.html
Please let me know if you can help...... Email me with any questions
Tinkerbell137@aol.com
Thanks...... Melinda
UPDATE 5/27/2007 FROM MELINDA:
Hi Ron, was just looking at the website
for our class and realized that the email address you have
on the "you can help Ml Preston"
won't work now that I've left Mayo Clinic. On the
off chance that someone would want to help, can you change
it to Tinkerbell137@aol.com?
If you want an update, we have two houses, Matthew's Manor
and The Preston Place and have housed 13 students thus
far. Matthew's Manor has 4 bedrooms and 4 baths and
now is full with four young men attending medical school.
Luke and Kyle are first year students, Wyatt is a third
year student, and James is a third year and starting
his fourth year in the house in July. He is going to
be a neurosurgeon. It's wonderful to be able to help
these students and I hope to be able to continue it
forever with my son David taking over when I can't take
care of it any longer. Hopefully by then it won't be
losing money each month. I still have taxes and a
mortgage to pay for it. I am going to have to spend
some money this summer to get the ceilings insulated.
I have been paying $375 in the summer for electricity
to cool the larger house. That's just too much.
I put two new heating/cooling systems on that house two
years ago at a cost of $13,000, but it's not decreased the
bills much, just my bank account. I
seem to be heating and cooling
Melinda