Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Farewell, Dear Jim: Strong and warm and deep are the wonderful memories that your family and friends will forever have of you. You always had an unforgettable presence and a giant size loving and generous heart all wrapped up with a sharp wit. You had an overwhelming curiosity for learning all that was worth knowing. You had an unmatched zest and energy for living that inspired all who crossed your path. You savored your short time on this earth to the fullest. You inspired us; you humored us; you tolerated us; you challenged us; you set an example for us as human beings especially in the service you gave to your family and your country. Your encouragement and your courage softened the pain and frustrations of your long illness.Someone wrote a beautiful thought on the death of Robert Kennedy that expresses our feelings about you:"And when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little starsand he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship of the garish sun."Now, Jim, you have left for greener pastures; a spiritual place where you will inspire, cajole and rattle the cages of the angels and the loved ones who have passed on before. And, you, with your wonderful sense of humor will make those angels smile and laugh with your wry witticisms and stories, as you did to and for your family and your friends here on earth. We know, too, of your love of football and that you were cheering for the Steelers in the super bowl. We know God does not have favorites among us humans, but the way Pittsburgh won the game convinces us that there must have been some divine intervention from where you were watching the game from your seat on the fifty yard line in heaven. “ Farewell noble knight – you will be missed,life will not be the same without you here,you treated everyone with great respect.You were a man of principle,You were a man of god,Farewell gentle knight, until we meet again.”Joe Gerace
