Veteran Field First Sgt WW2, tough hombres, mean "mf's" he trained troops stateside, with 125 men under his command. These were the guys who landed at Normandy. My dad was part of the "greatest generation" Joseph J. Stone jr.
Like Joseph senior he served his country in the military. Joseph J Stone senior served in world war 1, and was wounded in battle.
My dad married my mom: Catherine M. Cain, and had five children: Myself (Gary) Greg, Joanne, Janice and Karen.
He was a hard worker, and I never remember him missing a day of work due to illness. He worked at Van Kuren in Watertown, Mass. for many years as a machinist, and in 1970, with a co-partner started a business of his own; like many of his generation- he a contributed to the manufaturing base - the back bone of the US economy.
Accumet Engineering makes substrates for the micro electronics industry. These "substrates" are heat resistant platforms that protect adjacent electronic circuitry from the heat generated. The substrates were made of metal oxides which had to be fitted to the form of the circuits. Accumet grinds, slices and dices, polishes them to very precise tolerances. Accumet became the premier "lapping house" in the US, servicing giants like Digital and Raytheon. The growth of Accumet was in tandem to the computer industry...Accumet's parts are in everything from grocery store scanners to aero space satellites and Rockets.
My dad's emotional life, in his later years, had been challenged by the early deaths of two of his children: Janice and Greg. My mother and he were divorced in 1985, but my father dutifully supported her, and visited often. In 2007 my mom broke her hip. And was developing noticeable dementia. My father moved back in the family home and took care of her. She fell again and broke another hip and her shoulder, and though my father examined every option to avoid placement, he finally relented and placed her in a good nursing home.
He visited 6 days a week. With advancing dementia, my mothers only anchor to a familiar world was familiar faces, and I went with my dad two days a week to visit, and my sisters drove my dad the other 4 days.
My father hoped my mother would go before he did and I am sure among his last concerns was: 'who would carry the torch?' He can rest easy, we will do it. If my father was about anything else, he was about "being there" when needed - and about responsibility. When I was young - he was a hero, and he will forever remain a hero.
On Thursday, April 16.. my father didn't answer his phone - and he didnt show at my mothers house for me to drive him to the nursing home.The police did a "wellness check." He was found on the floor in a comfortable position with a blanket neath his head. His face was peaceful. He died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm. (It is possible my father actually died on his birthday April 15.)
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His generation was the greatest generation, and they don't make them like they used to. God be with you Joseph J Stone. We wont let you down. When my mother asks where you are we will say, you had to go to work. The Toylanders stand on the shoulders of a giant. I dedicate this song (above) to him.
dedicated to my father, forever.
The server for songplanet is being
moved - the song is a free download here.