Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Mike, Margy, and Rob,
It’s hard to express the impact your Mom and Dad had on our family and me. As Patti-Kay said, your Dad was our rock, and 20 White Oak afforded all of us salvation, and for many, was our “Happy Place,” to steal a line from Happy Gilmore. I know today will be challenging, and our prayers will be with you, but hopefully, you can find contentment in all the lives your parents touched in a positive way that few can match. When I was a kid, we played hockey in your backyard rink, and from time to time, your Dad would take Rob & me down the street to the big rink at St Anne’s. My daughter Shelby learned to make noodles with your Mom in your kitchen, and your Dad gave my son Shawn many of the pucks he gathered through the years. I’m so blessed to have been able to know your parents, and our hearts are with you today.
A few Peteism’s to close out:
Uncle Pete always told us 1929 was a great year because that was the year he was born, and then he followed up, saying 29 was also the start of the depression.
If you found a hockey puck in the snow, you had Eagle eyes.
Keep your head up when the puck is on your stick.
Apparently, there were only two house addresses in the Soo, 284 Albert and 20 White Oak.
Uncle Pete had great stories from his time working on the freighters, and you would think he was on the lake for 10 yrs, but I believe the actual time was more like one or two summers.
Uncle Pete had great clothes as my Dad and Uncle Pat would always borrow them by pulling the back off the locked cabinet, or so I’ve been told.
Uncle Pete taught Phil Esposito how to play hockey. I think Uncle Pete told over a campfire that he helped Phil to improve his stickhandling. When Shawn was doing a book report in grades 5 & 6, he had one of Esposito’s early hockey books from the ’70s, and in the acknowledgments, he thanked PJ Heaney.
According to Uncle Pete, Ford made the best car. I recall Green Ford Custom and the Aerostar Minivan. I may have to disagree with him on this particular fact.
Frank, Diane, Shawn, Shelby & Ian
