Eulogy delivered by Mark

This past week has allowed so much reflection, and incredible input from family, friends, colleagues world-wide. It is clear to me that my father’s life has touched countless many, from his foster family in the Philippines, to friends from Florida to New York, family in Sweden, Mississippi, Missouri, Wisconsin and this Garden State. I must say, it feels strange but wholly justified to share our grief with others over the most modern methods including Facebook, Skype, SMS, Cellphones, Websites, Blogs in addition to higher touch methods including the nearly fifty people that visited us in the ICU this week.
I would be remiss if I did not share the incredible compassion shown by Bradley Beach’s residents, lifeguards, first responders and police in addition to the more amazing ability to share the end of my father’s life while at Jersey Shore Medical Center. My father’s more than 20 years of volunteer fire department service seemed to have garnered an incredible repayment this week.

My father has been so many things to me…and I have so much because of him. This apple definitely didn’t fall far from the tree. My love for the outdoors has definitely been learned from Dad through lifetime experiences shared along the Jersey Shore, in campgrounds across the USA, on bike trails and hiking trails. I call myself a gardener because of Dad, and have shared in the incredible bounty of his mastery of the art. Gardening is soil and humus, seed and flower, vegetables, fruits and berries and crops to learn from including cotton, tobacco, Jerusalem Artichokes and the obscure Paw Paw tree.

While my degrees came from Universities, all of my applied knowledge came from working for more than a decade for my dad, from age 12. Starting from testing tubes, and building maintenance and moving on to service calls and finally to diagnostics and repair, these skills live on in my career. My father taught me the value of process, the importance of customer service and the art of diagnostic method. I have resolved issues in TV’s, Satellite Payloads and Advanced Fiber Optic Communications systems using divide and conquer methods. I also have a skilled hand with soldering irons and attribute my skilled application of the dual-iron microchip removal technique to my days at Center Television.

My father taught me to appreciate classical music, a love I retain to this day. He also exposed us to classics from the 40’s, OK not everything stuck with me.

Finally, my father has given me a strong sense of spiritual centering. Raised Catholic while honoring and respecting Jewish traditions, and then allowed to explore my spiritual path, my parents have supported their children each step of the way. In retrospect, this may have been the chief source of comfort during this very difficult week.

One can not die unless you have lived…or as my father would frequently remind me “many come to the feast, but few partake of the bounty.” My father’s wanderlust was just a symptom of his desire to live life to the fullest.

His travels brought him several times to walk in the footsteps of ancient Judaism and Christianity. In as much it is fitting to journey there as a place to reflect upon his life. I conclude as one does during the Passover Seder by saying:
L'Shana HaBa'ah Ba'Y'israel
Next Year in Israel!