# Happy father’s day 2018, dads!



## JustJoel (Jun 17, 2018)

To you fathers out there, happy Father’s Day!

A word about my own Dad, who passed away in 2012.
My father was a quiet man wholly devoted to his family. He was wise and humble. He would do anything for my mom, and was always thinking of her, her comfort and her happiness, and the only thing that could make him angry at us kids was if we mistreated or disrespected her. She was the love and light of his life for nearly 70 years. That said, he did like to watch shows on tv that displayed women’s “boobies,” as he used to call them. Mom was amused by this foible rather than angered, and he never watched actual porn, just shows like “Game of Thrones.”

Dad served in WWII, in the ETO. He never saw combat, but did see its effects, as he worked a radiology tech on a hospital ship that sailed between NYC and Paris. He never spoke much about his service, except for a few amusing stories about public toilets in France. He was very proud of his volunteer efforts on behalf of the USCG Auxiliary, of which he was a member for over 25 years, rising in the ranks to nat’l level. Dad was an avid boater. He loved to go fishing, but was really bad at it! Sorry, Dad! The only really notable catch he made was a huge tarpon in the Florida Keys. Typically, he credited my then 13 year old sister with the catch, but we all knew the truth!

Dad wasn’t much of a cook. He broiled steaks. The outside was burned, the inside bloody and nearly raw, which was how he liked them. He owned several grills over the years, but maybe used each one two or three times before they rusted out. He loved my cooking, as long as I kept anything even remotely spicy far away from the dishes I prepared. He thought bell peppers were spicy!

Some people may have been under the impression that Dad was stingy. He wasn’t. He grew up in the Great Depression, and was frugal, always looking for a way to save a penny or a dollar. Ironically, he would spend hundreds pursuing frugality, buying whole sides of beef at Costco and deep freezing them. They would languor in the freezer, sometimes for years, and inevitably get tossed. But he never ever let his family want for anything, and even while he was trying to instill a sense of thrift to us kids, he spoiled us rotten.

I hope and pray that you’re at peace, Dad. I know you were so very tired at the end of your stay on this earthly plain. I miss you very much, every day.

                                      REST IN PEACE
                            BENJAMIN HERBERT STRAUSS
                          25 JUNE 1923 - 08 AUGUST 2012
                                      “A Quiet Hero”


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## Andy M. (Jun 17, 2018)

My dad has been gone for over 50 years. I am the youngest and arrived, quite by accident, when dad was 44 years old.

He and my mom emigrated from "the old country" separately in the 1920s. By that time he had already served in the French Foreign Legion. 

Here in the US he learned cooking as a trade and worked as a line cook in diners. He ended up working as chef for an in-plant caterer managing a string of factory/office building cafeterias. There was a short stint in between when he owned a diner called "The Square Lunch".

I remember our listening to/watching the Friday Night Fights brought to you by Gillette.

As a young teen, I was dad's secretary. In the evening after dinner, he'd have me bring out the card table and portable Remington typewriter and type recipes he'd dictate onto 5"x7" three ring binder pages.

I guess I got my interest in food and cooking from him along with my mom who always cooked at home except for grilling.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jun 18, 2018)

I was also my Dad's "secretary", I kept his various filing systems in order.  I would also answer the phone for him, gave me something to do while he was working his work-study jobs on Campus. When he graduated, I went with him and kept things organized form him in his new job. Until I started my own jobs, I kept him in line.  He still asks for help now and then on his filing.


Dad sacrificed for his kids, we never went without and we still don't.  Just last week he helped me with getting new tires on my truck.  I can see him slowing down and I try to pick up the slack when I can.


He is and will always be, My Hero.


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