My dad was born on December 20, 1928, and he passed on April 23, 2023, in his 94th year. He was a remarkable man. He was both tough and kind.
He was the son of a sheet metal worker who said he lost his father before he turned 10 years old; a statement that turned out not to be true when I found out through ancestry research that my grandfather listed his father as next of kin on his World War I draft card. Why my grandfather said that to his children is probably something that will always remain a mystery.
My father, like his father before him, worked almost all of his life in the Washington, D.C., area. Both were successful through hard work and determination. My father admired his father greatly, and though my grandfather (the person I was named after) died when I was young, I could see why. My father was very thankful for what his father was able to teach him and for the love he showed. My father was not the kind of father that told you he loved you, probably because he wanted his boys to be as tough and hard working as his father. I must say, I am very grateful for what both my parents did for me. My mother passed away in 2016, before I started this website and I would not be the person that I am without the cooperative parenting style that they used to raise their children.
My father was the last of his generation in our family. He was a good man, who will be missed. The photo above was taken by my mother’s cousin, MaryKay, back in the days before most people hired their own wedding photographers, and my mother made the dress she is wearing walking down the aisle.