2025 Year in Review: In Memoriam. . . .
Later tonight, we’ll all be singing along to “Auld Lang Syne” and asking, “Should old acquaintance be forgot?”
Of course not!
At Emerging Civil War, we’re in the remembering business: remembering the stories of the people who sacrificed and suffered during the Civil War and its aftermath so that we could all have a new birth of freedom. It is our duty—indeed, our privilege—to be able to remember.
We want to take this opportunity to remember those “old acquaintances” whom we lost this year—members of the ECW community and a few important folks from the larger Civil War community who we were lucky enough to know and work with.
ECW contributor Dwight Hughes, who passed away on April 15, 2025. Read our April 17, 2025, memorial here.
ECW alum Eric Wittenberg, who passed away on August 2, 2025. Read our August 3, 2025, memorial here.
Historian Don Pfanz, a friend and mentor to several of ECW’s “old guard,” who passed away on September 2, 2025. Read our series of September 6, 2025 testimonials here.
Preservationist Nick Picerno, who passed away on October 2, 2025. Read Brian Swartz’s eloquent October 15, 2025, memorial here.
Civil War Roundtable Congress founding board member Wally Rueckel, who passed away on November 24, 2025. Read our November 25, 2025 memorial here.
Since we are in the business of remembering, may we all have plenty of good memories of those we knew who have now passed into history.
“If we fall, God strengthen the bereaved.” — Capt. Sewell Gray, 6th Maine
Plenty of good memories indeed. I had the honor of knowing Don Pfanz in the early 1980s when I was a protection Ranger at FRSP assigned to the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Don was a great National Park Ranger, a great historian, a great interpreter and a great preservationist. We know that without Don’s efforts, the Battlefield Trust might not exist. Don was exceptional in so many ways. I will remember him for all of the above, but most especially I will remember him as a good friend and one of the nicest guys I will ever know. We moved away from FRSP and pretty much lost touch with Don, save for a visit or two back to FRSP over the years. My wife reminded me of a wonderful time we had when Don joined us for Thanksgiving dinner at our quarters in the Chatham caretaker’s cottage (1981? 1982?). We marveled at how as time passed, and we aged, Don seemed to look just as youthful as when we first met. I bought Don’s Ewell book and looked forward to having him sign it for me when next we could visit. But that never happened. The unsigned book sitting on my shelf will remind me that I need to do a better job of cherishing and keeping in touch with some of the great people I have been privileged to know as friends. This “old acquaintance” will never be forgot.
Thanks for sharing some wonderful memories, John.