06/21/2024
This picture was taken in 1981 on my dad’s 30th birthday. Yesterday he passed away.
Most of you didn’t know my dad. My family moved back to Pittsburgh in late 2019, and the combination of COVID restrictions and his progressing illness made it hard for him to get out to many things (trivia nights included). So here’s a little bit about him.
He loved The Wizard of Oz, dogs, model trains, the Steelers and the Pirates, World War II history, tinkering at his workbench, The Beatles, photography, cooking Reuben sandwiches on Christmas Eve, Broadway shows, his alma mater (he wore his Pitt class ring every day of his life), HGTV, and a good cheeseburger.
He was thrifty. We always joked about his casual relationship with expiration dates, and he kept cars running until they crumbled (one of his great regrets was a Honda Civic that conked out just miles before hitting 300,000). He was quiet. Even long before his illness made it a struggle for him to talk, he preferred to say more with less. He wasn’t bothered by silence. He had a fierce work ethic, the kind forged by a childhood spent in a Western Pennsylvania steel town. He worked a lot when we were kids, but still always found time to support me and my sister’s many interests, whether driving to bowling tournaments or attending the high school musical (camcorder in hand, of course).
And he was brave. I never knew how brave he was until I watched him navigate the illness that slowly took away pieces of his life. First he couldn’t climb stairs, then he couldn’t walk or stand. Then more was taken: driving, eating, and eventually breathing. He dealt with each new reality as it came, quietly adjusting his routines so he could spend a little more time here with us.
I never thought I looked much like my dad until I saw this picture. I love that I look like him, and I hope I can be like him too. Kind, courageous, gentle, curious, hard-working, and loving. I’ll miss him.