Dad's Three Lives
It's difficult at best to stand before you and attempt to honor my father in words. It's never an easy task to capture someone in a speech, as words often fail to capture a person's true spirit, and this is especially true about my dad. Words fall so below the mark that I almost believe it's futile to try, but my dad didn't raise me to give up so I'm going to try anyway.
My dad had three lives. His first life was before he was married -- it was the crucible that shaped him. He was born in the roaring twenties in a Pennsylvania coal mining town. But it wasn't the roaring twenties for them. They moved to Cleveland and he was the only male in the family because his dad was gone. He grew up in Cleveland, in Little Italy, and even at a young age he worked to help support the family. Then, when he was 19, WWII came and he didn't get drafted. He checked with the draft board and discovered that his mother had gotten him an exemption because he was the only male in the family and she claimed he was the breadwinner. He asked the draft board to put him on the active duty list anyway and a year later, he was drafted, trained, and ended up in a B24 bomber stationed in England. He was a communications guy and tail gunner. He flew 13 missions and on the 13th mission they bombed Berlin. On the way back the plane was hit and caught on fire. Because he was the tail gunner he wasn't aware the plane was on fire -- it lost power and that's when he discovered that his gun didn't work. He worked the gun manually, shooting at a German fighter that was on their tail. The German fighter pilot shot back and hit the turret, causing the turret to go berserk and wounding Dad in the leg. He managed to flip himself out into the body of the plane and found it on fire. His parachute was also on fire. Luckily, he had had a feeling about this 13th mission and he had requested an extra parachute for that flight, which he used to parachute out of the plane. He was captured and held for 11 months in a POW camp. He would describe this experience in letters home, but was always sure to let his family know he was ok. He came back from all this so traumatized that he became very shy. Eventually though, he courted Mom and got married and so began his second life.
Mom believed in him. She was his biggest fan and confidant. With her help, he settled into this new life as a family man and a plumber. First he worked for someone, and then he built his own business. And this is how he came to know many of you. With Mom as his partner, he had four children and raised a family. Though he was active in the Knights of Columbus, he focused on raising and providing for his family. Dad always said that he and Mom's kids were their investments and their grandkids were their dividends.
In his sixties, he retired. And Dad came out of his cocoon. His kids were grown and self-reliant and so began his third life with his friends. He got active in volunteering with the Knights of Columbus, the University Lodge (ISDA), Little Italy Retirees, American Legion, and the VFW. He also enjoyed bowling and bocce. This became his life for nearly thirty years and this is where he got to know many of you so well.
Dad never did give up. He always believed he lived a charmed life, and he in turn, charmed all our lives. Thank you for joining us today; we are so grateful you are all here to celebrate our Dad's life with us. We love you Dad.
As read by his son, Frank J. Donia.