It Was Forty Years Ago Today...

It was 40 years ago today that my dad died. I am really sorry that I never got to know him as adult-to-adult. I was in college then and technically grown up, but still very much a teen at heart. In typical teen fashion I didn't appreciate what a terrific guy he was, and how much he truly cared for me.


This is the way I remember him best. He loved his gardens and all things natural. He was an environmentalist before that was even a word. He always wore a suit except on Saturdays when he indulged his wood-working hobby.


This is his high school graduation photo. He was a 3 years older than the other students because at one time he had to drop out and work to support his family of younger siblings when his own dad had some health issues.


Dad got his BA in Physics, summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, all kinds of prizes. He was a brilliant guy! Super at math; he could multiply 3-digit numbers in his head really fast. 784 x 959 = would take him only a few seconds to compute. He had a full scholarship to MIT to study physics but only completed one year before he had to drop out again and support his large extended family. He was his family's most capable & responsible person, and they did not fail to take advantage of him. This photo is from a summer teaching job he held at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, where he met my mom. He really, really wanted to be a college professor and spend his life doing theoretical physics research but he never got the chance.


This is my mom & dad as a young married couple. Dad was a brilliant physicist but worked for most of his life as an engineer. There were few jobs for theoretical physicists during the Great Depression, but there were a few for engineers. In one summer dad took and passed the Professional Board Examinations for Physical, Structural, Civil and Chemical Engineering. He always said being certified as a professional in so many engineering fields was not that hard for a physicist. He just had to memorize a bunch of area specific formulas--he could always do the math!--and as a physicist he knew how everything worked just about as well as anyone could.


This is dad and I with a telescope he gave me for Christmas. Dad was a huge astronomy buff and some of my best memories of him involve the night sky, and his fabulous informal lessons in the structure of the universe. He was a natural-born teacher, and brilliant--I mentioned that, right? He always had time for me. Like all great teachers, when you were with him he was totally engaged in that teahcable moment.

I wish I had known him when I was an adult. I wish my kids could have known him as a grandfather. He died way too young of heart disease. It seems all wrong that someone with such a huge heart should die of heart problems, but there you go.

I'm going to go be sad for a while now...