Snappy Dresser

I always remember Dad being well turned out. Even when he was being casual, he dressed well. Now, he's not a clothes horse, but he had real good casual and business dress sense. And he knew how to tie a tie - something I have yet to master.

It's clear his snappy sense of fashion came early in life. After all, who wouldn't want to go strutting round the streets of South Buffalo looking like this?

From Debbie

Dad, Cousin Debbie (his niece) and Sheila

Happy 90th birthday Uncle Jimmy! I have so many wonderful memories of our times together in Marilla and family visits to NJ. You and Aunt Donnie were so kind to my brother Jim, offering him support while he was a student at Valley Forge Military Academy. My parents always looked forward to getting together with you both and after my dad passed, Mom enjoyed her visits with you and Aunt Donnie either in Buffalo or Maumee. Mom always shared the funny stories of your adventures which were always fueled by your humor and wit.  

Fast forward many years and Mark and I so enjoyed the family reunion in Troy a few years ago. So great to reconnect with you and the beautiful family you and Aunt Donnie created.

Mark and I send our very best wishes to you on this big day!

Lots of love,

Deb and Mark 

Gettin' Hitched

Mom & Dad were married on October 31st, 1953. That was also Mom's birthday. It took me a few years to figure out that October 31st is also Halloween. Thanks you guys for picking some easy-to-remember dates!

They were married in Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, NY. Again, more of this family connection thing. During the construction of the basilica about 30 years before their marriage my grandfather, Jimmy's dad, helped lay out the steel ribs of the basilica dome. It was one of the first jobs he got in America after emigrating from Scotland as a journeyman pattern maker. I'm sure he sat in the pew during the ceremony, looked up at the dome and after thanking God said to himself, "You've come a long way, laddie".

Hey you two, no foolin' around now!

Historian

Jimmy is one of the smartest people I've ever known. Yes, he was well educated (he holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Canisius College in Buffalo), but he's also just smart in ways you can't get out of a book. He had lots of practical smarts- lots of common sense. When his growing family needed a larger place to live he went out and built himself a house, out in Marilla, NY. Yes, he had help, but the fact that one day a city boy with no real carpentry experience just up and decided to go build a house (and it still stands - you can see it in Google Earth) is an amazing testament to his practical smarts and personal drive. It also says something about his personal commitment - how many say "My family needs a larger house so I'm going to go build one - with my own two hands"? But like so many things in his and Mom's life, there was a close family connection. The parcel he built on was bought from Mom's sister and brother-in-law, Dottie & Andy Harbison, who were our neighbors on one side. Our neighbors on the other side were Mom's parents, Mary and William Winterberg.

Dad seemed to know everything, and it amazed me. One day while we were driving to the Jersey shore we passed a long, low building I'd seen maybe a dozen times before on similar trips. The building always caught my eye. So on that particular trip I leaned over the front seat (these were the days before seat belts and child seats - we just bounced around in the back like a bunch of rubber balls) and asked, "Dad, what's that building over there used for". He gave a quick glance to the left and commented casually, "Oh, that's a chicken farm". Wow! I was amazed. I had the smartest dad in the world. He even knows what a chicken farm looks like!

What this all really means is that Jimmy has a natural drive and curiosity that is never satisfied. Everything interests him, from politics to physics. But one of Jimmy's true passions is history, and it's a passion he handed down to me. We are both absolutely fascinated with history and have spent many wonderful hours talking about this or that historical fact, deed or event. I think what helped is that we were often living in places that were just dripping with history. New Jersey and Philadelphia are the cradle of America, and you couldn't turn a corner or step through a door without being confronted with a historical plaque or marker. Even as odd a place as Maumee, Ohio played a significant role in the development of the post-Revolutionary War west. We were blessed to live in places that had a story to tell, and we both drank it in.

Dad reading some historical document, somewhere...

Visiting Ben Franklin's grave in Philly

Some Random Jimmy

Cooking in Sheila's condo in Philly

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Elizabeth and Grandpa having fun

I'm guessing there's rye in that drink

"Well Hi!"

With one of his best buddies - Rosie

Doing one of the things he loves best - reading

Cap'n Jim

Dad loves the water. It seems we couldn't pass a boat yard, marina or boat sales office without getting out to see just what was going on. While the family lived in New Jersey we were bracketed by water - the Delaware River to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. While Dad never owned a boat while we lived in New Jersey, he took every opportunity that came along to get out on the water. Or fish in it. Or swim in it.

When we moved to Ohio and, I'm sure, some of the financial burden of raising four kids started to lift, he was finally able to indulge his dream. And indulge it he did - by buying a sailboat and joining a local yacht club (the Jolly Roger Sailing Club in Point Place, Ohio), and eventually becoming Commodore!

Dad, receiving his Old Man of the River award from the Ohio DNR

Out on the water with Dad & Elizabeth and Aileen. I'm guessing Roberta was
the photographer. There's enough floatation strapped to the kids that if
they went overboard they'd become a hazard to navigation!

Dad - out after whatever happened to be swimming in
Lake Erie at the time

In The Beginning There Were... Knickers!

Why did parents put their kids in knickers - or shorts - in the winter? This is Buffalo - it starts snowing there in late August (or thereabouts). The headwear is pretty jaunty though!

Here's Jimmy with his Mother, the lovable and formidable Mary Imleda (who ended up being everybody's Grandma) and his older sister Maureen. Sometime in the early 30's, somewhere in Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo.