Beloved South Medford High School photographer Tom Lavine remembered

He additionally was an ‘icon’ on the Medford Police Department; his favourite sideline chair will likely be quietly positioned for commencement ceremony Thursday evening

South Medford High School graduating seniors will stroll throughout the stage at Spiegelberg Stadium Thursday evening with the notable absence of one in all their largest followers.

Retired Medford police lieutenant and devoted SMHS Panthers photographer Tom Lavine, who died in late March, will likely be remembered by the inserting of his acquainted silver chair for what will likely be his first missed graduation ceremony in numerous years.

Lavine gifted the households of SMHS greater than 25 years as their devoted professional bono photographer, capturing college students’ most memorable achievements and even the only on a regular basis moments.

Longtime pals keep in mind Lavine as a devoted mentor to generations of law enforcement officials and as a gifted photographer who spent his retirement persevering with to mentor others and managing to shoot any and all actions at SMHS till simply earlier than his 81st birthday.

Retired Medford police Chief Tim George counted Lavine as a mentor and buddy for 5 many years, starting when George was a Southern Oregon University criminology scholar and Lavine — then a newly minted sergeant — spoke throughout one in all George’s courses in 1977.

“I don’t think anyone in my police career had as much of an impact on me as a mentor as he did. I knew him for 49 years,” George stated. “He was a fixture at MPD. He was the man that understood neighborhood policing earlier than it turned a factor.

“Tom Lavine was an icon of MPD. He mentored me from the day I met him until the day he walked out the door,” George stated.

George stated Lavine’s attain on the police division — the place he and George each spent their complete careers — was immeasurable, from having a knack for working polygraphs and serving to lead S.W.A.T. to conducting trainings and offering crime scene pictures. Lavine attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va, in 1993 and shared the knowledge discovered there when he returned residence to the Rogue Valley.

Lavine reportedly spoke of aspirations of being a photographer earlier than enlisting within the Army previous to his regulation enforcement profession. After serving as a navy police officer, the New York native would in the end get to deal with each policing and photographer after shifting to Oregon to affix the Medford Police Department.

“The photography became a focus because if you’re going to be successful as a detective, you need to learn how to take good photos,” George stated. “He would say most people didn’t know the difference between a lens opening and Broadway opening.”

Many of Lavine’s pals posted to social media following his demise, sharing tales of getting the beloved forensics photographer shoot their weddings or household recollections or college students.

Lavine, an avid animal lover, cherished to seize images displaying canines and their human counterparts who seemed like each other, George recalled. He additionally cherished capturing surroundings throughout journeys as each an completed sailor and bike fanatic, even contracting with Motorcycle USA Magazine, which despatched him across the U.S. and to different international locations to shoot and write about bike matters.

Retired Medford Deputy Police Chief Don Livingood met Lavine within the early Seventies when each males have been assigned to patrol. Livingood referred to as Lavine one in all his most trusted lieutenants and dearest pals.

“Whenever Tom did something, it was always first-class. He went out and bought himself a brand-new BMW motorcycle I had a used BMW handed down from my father-in-law and we started taking rides on these bikes,” Livingood informed the Times.

“(Motorcycle USA eventually sent him to do a write up on an Edelweiss Motorcycle Tour Company in Europe, so I got to do the ‘Best of Europe’ Edelweiss motorcycle trip with Tom, touring Germany. France and Switzerland,” Livingood stated. “Tom by no means did something midway; he was all the time jumped in full throttle.

“One of his favorite sayings about life was, ‘This ain’t no dress rehearsal!’ I had the benefit of this philosophy as he had many places to go and things he wanted to do. He planned them all out and I got to tag along,” Livingood stated.

Lavine’s dedication to documenting South Medford High sports activities and different occasions started within the early 2000s, shortly earlier than retiring from the Medford Police Department in November 1999. Snapping images for a couple of college students developed into group images, artistic posters and a whole bunch of printed images — on his personal dime — taped to locker room partitions every season for college kids to take residence at season’s finish.

SMHS faculty and profession coordinator Stacy Carle, whose husband Scott is an assistant coach for Panther baseball, stated numerous SMHS households have “Tom Lavine photos” adorning the partitions of their residence.

“In addition to all the sports photography, any time he heard of a senior who could not find a way to get senior pictures done, he would come to the school and take their pictures and make them feel special, and he did it free of charge,” Stacy Carle stated.

“He just really cared about the kids. Knowing that he just showed up for everything until he just physically wasn’t able to,” she stated. “He was fully committed to all things South. There wasn’t a sport he didn’t cover. Being a baseball family, we always had a special place in our heart for Tom.”

Stacy Carle stated Lavine’s sideline chair, because it turned tougher for him to take images, turned a part of pregame setups. As he acquired nearer to turning 80, coaches ensured Lavine knew he was welcome at video games, to take images or to easily benefit from the video games.

“Even as he slowed down, we made sure he could still be there,” Stacy Carle stated. “Just like he’d always been there for all our kids at South.”

Following Lavine’s demise, Stacy Carle put the now-empty chair in its regular spot for a remaining Panthers baseball sport and wrote a small tribute on-line, admittedly shedding a couple of tears at his absence.

Leah Singler, director of the SMHS Panther Spirit Shop and honorary assistant soccer coach, marveled on the many years throughout which Lavine “captured all the great moments in the lives of all these kids.”

“On one hand, it’s sad to think he’s gone, but in a way he’s not really, totally gone because his pictures are still here and still cherished by all of the students he took pictures for,” Singler stated.

“Everybody still has those amazing images he gifted them, some of the best moments of their lives that he captured for them,” she stated. “They’ll always have those. … Tom left quite a legacy.”

Lavine was buried on the Eagle Point National Cemetery on March 31, his 81st birthday.

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.