Memories that Matter
for families, friends, family history and fans.
Stephen Sardi:
"When we were in our early teens, Paul and I would ride our bikes to the movie theatre located at the Connecticut Post Mall. At the time, it was a single screen white building located on the very edge of the mall as a separate location. In those days, movies tended to come out and stay out -- for long periods of time. In 1974, late one summer, we decided to go see 'The Sting'.
We rode our bikes from our home to the theatre, but along the way -- we passed the King's Highway Cemetery. Paul would stop there and wait for me to catch up. He would point to the cemetery and ask me: 'Do you know why there's a fence around the cemetery?'. Of course, I knew it HAD to be a joke, so I played along and said I didn't. He laughed and replied: 'Because people are dying to get in!'.
At the time, I thought it was a morbid joke -- not very funny. But with his sense of humor, he couldn't help it.
We went to the movie and as it turned out -- we were the only two people in the entire showing. We got big boxes of popcorn and completely enjoyed our personalized event.
About 7 years later, Paul would be buried approximately 200 feet from where we shared his little joke. Any time I go visit him there, I think about the joke and how he would never have imagined the eventual outcome. I used to be sad in thinking about the irony of his laughter, but I now realize he lived his life the way he wanted and having a laugh at mortality, even potentially his own, was just the way he was."
Judas Chappell:
Charles Konieckzi was an amazing man. He was a great father, husband, and even grandfather. Charles had two children named Charles and Tony, twins, both going on to have multiple kids. Charles wouldn’t meet his great grandchildren, but they honor him anyway, keeping him close in their hearts. Charles was a happy man with an average life. He argued with his wife and loved his boys dearly. Charles was the funniest man you could have met.
Kathy Pinna:
Peter Pacotti was born in Illinois on March 30th, 1927 to Michele Pietro "Mike" Pacotti (1890 - 1953) and Mary Louise Griffone (1883 - 1943) and he had siblings Dominic, Maria "Catherine", Angelina, Walter, Maria "Mary", Margherita "Margaret", Marion and Giovanni "John".
Peter Pacotti married Violet E. (1922 - 1996) in about 1948 in Illinois.
Anthiony Gentile:
My spiritual sister - I got to know Mirella when I was 16 (1961).
As an only child for 15 years I had always wanted a sister. Mirella to me was the perfect sister. we lost touch over many years an caught later in life when I travelled through the US and visited Mirella and Paul.
A wonderful memory was when the three of us went to an amusement park in San Francisco. Mirella and Paul as I was were unafraid of whatever ride we went on.
I visited Mirella and Paul a number of times over the years and was witness to her illness.
She will always remain in my memory as the sister that I wished I had. Paul, looked after her to the end, and for that he has my eternal gratitude.
Tony Gentile
Jack Day:
I was thinking about you today - I met Tom in Minneapolis in 1986. He was one of the first people I met and he took me under his arm as a little brother. We bowled and played softball together and at one point lived in the same apartment. We would have brunch almost every Saturday. He’d say I’ll bring the toast you bring the eggs and bacon. Think I got the short end of the deal, but it was all worth it. When Tom got sick he never told me. I spoke with his best friend Mike Burby around thanksgiving 1990 who said he would be away and would I want to have thanksgiving dinner with Tom. I jumped on that opportunity. I called Tom and asked if he wanted to spend thanksgiving with me. He said of course. “You’ll be bringing the turkey and fixings” he asked. Of course I said. He said he provided the peas I think. lol. We had dinner and that’s when he told me he had AIDS. I said I knew and then we talked about our past and our friendship over the years. That was the last time I saw Tom. I miss him very much to this day. He was the big brother I never had. I am now 64 and can’t believe he didn’t have an obituary. Tom was tall, smart, worked for Principle Financial Group, played softball, bowled, played cards at the Gay 90’s upstairs and would give you the shirt off his back. He was the most together person I’ve ever known. I’m sorry his passing was kept a secret by his family. They should have been proud of him. I was he kept me safe and I’m negative today because he acted as my big brother.
Love you and miss you Tom…Jack Day
Thomas H. Esperson:
June Hull Esperson was born July 7, 1929 in Ipswich, Massachusetts to Ann Buffett Hull and State Street Bank and Trust officer Stanley Adams Hull, who went on to build the family printing business (Hull Printing - Bradford & Bigelow).
June had three beloved siblings; Amy (Carter) born 1923; Stanley Adams Hull Jr born 1925; and Anne (Benedix) born 1933 all in Ipswich.
They were a politically active family whose ancestors served in the American Revolution; the Civil War (Lt. Edward Hull); and the War of 1812 (Capt. Issac Hull). They were children and grandchildren of Massachusetts State Senators Charles Gilbert Hull and Poet - Politican Edward Gilbert Hull, who represented Ipswich and Essex County in the Massachusetts House sporadically from the 1880's to 1922.
From early childhood June loved the beach and swimming. She spent summers at Little Neck in Ipswich where she became a strong swimmer. Until her passing June was a daily swimmer with an abiding love of the ocean.
In 1947, she married her childhood boyfriend Donald Lindbergh Bugden, an accomplished sailor and airline pilot. The marriage did not endure. In 1950 she married a second time to Harold (Harry) Eliot Esperson Jr of Hamilton, MA.
June and Harry spent most of the next decade on different continents. Harry joined the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (OSI) which took him to Japan, South Korea, and the Philippine Islands for extended periods. June remained in Ipswich where she designed and built a home on the Ipswich River.
In 1960, June gave birth to son Tom and in 1963 to daughter Jackie. Tom graduated from Bentley College and Harvard Business School and embarked on an eventful business career.
Jackie married Thomas Anderson in 1985, and gave birth to Katelyn in 1986 who became her Grandmother’s “pride and joy." Kristopher followed in 1989, and T.J. was born shortly thereafter.
How does one summarize a life as meaningful as June's in one paragraph?
She was a loving Mother and a courageous, sincere, intelligent woman of striking beauty. She is remembered for her “crooked smile” and spontaneous wit, and love of Siamese cats, especially her beloved cat Heidi who lived to age 25.
June is interned at Southside Cemetery in Ipswich. Her black granite stone shines brightly on the landscape., .
LEONE TURNER:
Always there - Osias, the name given at birth but always called BUDDY! My big Brother who was always there for me. I have so many memories of him - one being I was hanging out on the corner with friends and he came over to me and told me to go upstairs as he heard that a gang was coming into the neighborhood. I do not remember if I listened to him or not. I always looked up to him and how I wish he was still here! Love ya so much & miss you!!
Kristin Dahl:
Great aunt Ruth Skari - Ruthie was my grandmother's sister, and when the two were widowed they shared a home above the funeral home that Ruth owned. I grew up in Iowa visiting Baldwin frequently and considered that my second home. It was not unusual for me to go downstairs to the funeral home parlors and help Ruthie 'say goodnight' and close the caskets in each parlor for the night, turning off the lights. We would also make food runs with Ruthie, delivering bags of food for those who had hard times, or were ill, infirm, or couldn't get to town.
Justin Johnson:
Grandmother - I’m a one of Lillian’s grandchildren. I have only very few memories of my grandma. But I do remember being under her everyday. Always wanting some of her coffee, touching the gas stove. We ate pecans all the time from the tree in the backyard. I wish she was here for me to talk to sometimes. To watch me grow to become a father myself.
James Pannozzi:
Walter B. Suesman was a prominent Rhode Islander Chess player, a Master - Walter B. Suesman attained a rating of Master of Chess after participating in several U.S. Open tournaments in the late 1930's and into the 1940's. He was often at the Providence Chess Club in the 2d floor of an old building on Aborn St. in Providence, long since demolished, and he also ran a Chess column with news, games and Chess problems in the Wednesday Providence Journal Evening Bulletin for over 40 years.
He played in club matches and was an inspiration to the younger players like myself in the early 1960's when I was in high school. Later on I would run into him during the lunch hours catching some sun near the Turk's Head building in downtown Providence in the early 1970's where he had a day job doing accounting work and I was working over at the nearby Providence Washington Insurance company as a computer programmer.
He was a friend of Al Martin, another master of chess who had also played in U.S. Open tournaments. It was Martin who payed the rent that allowed the chess club to exist. On a hot summer night in the mid 1960's we would be playing chess with the windows open for air, fans going, and music from the wild Pirate's Den bar across the street would come in. A newsletter written by a Mr. Dwyer, the Providence Chess Club bulletin, produced monthly, has descriptions of the environment, the people and tournaments if you can find a copy. Other top players at the club were Henry Sonnenschein, Herman Rose, G.M. Irwin, William Parberry, Gary L. John, and Warren Chamandy and Robert Barry.
Michelle Roan:
My Gram - This was my grandmother (Gram) and was one of my most favorite people in the world. She had 8 children but she used to call me her 9th! I'm the 2nd oldest grandchild and spent more time at my grandparent's house than I did my own. They conveniently lived down the block.
She had 2 sisters (Dolores & Marge) and 4 brothers (Vincent, Joseph, Gerard, and William). When she got together with her sisters to play cards they laughed until they cried. I laughed too but I had no idea what I was laughing about lol. She was the kind of grandmother that let you hang out when she had card night with her sisters and she'd take me to practice old 1940s type dancing with her and her sisters and sisters in law. Why would a 9 or 10 year old girl want to do all of those things with her grandmother? Because she made it fun and I genuinely loved being around her.
We were a very working class Irish Catholic family. But, every Christmas my Gram and I would go and buy gifts for those in our neighborhood we knew were struggling. We didn't tell anyone and my grandmother made it clear that the people we were leaving the gifts for could never find that it was us. She said, "This isn't about glorifying what we are doing, it's not to brag. It's to do something nice even when you get nothing in return". Our parish had "shut-ins" which were the elderly that had difficulty cooking meals or doing chores. My grandmother would say to me, "let's go, we're visiting Mrs. Kelly today". Off we'd go and I knew what it meant. We WOULD visit Mrs. Kelly but we'd take turns sitting and talking to her while the other was washing the dishes or vacuuming or doing the laundry or heating up soup.
My grandmother left such a mark on me that I ended up getting a master's degree in social work. To be honest, I learned more from her than I did ever did in college. I named my daughter after her except I cheated a little and named my daughter Victoria Mary instead of Mary Victory (because I didn't want to put my kid through that...I mean, c'mon that's a weird name, Victory!).
Anyway, the day we lost her my mom just showed up at my work. I was like "What are you doing here?" It was like seeing your teacher at the supermarket. Work was work and my mom was...well, different than my work.
She said she didn't want to tell me over the phone but, "Gram died".
I had heard the term "primal scream" before but never thought I'd experience it. Well, I did. I don't remember it because I just kind of blacked out for a bit. She died of a pulmonary embolism at 72...2 days before her birthday. Then in 2014, my mom died at 62 of a pulmonary embolism. I had a blood clot (DVT) about 9 years ago in my upper arm (weird place to have one, I know). I'm on blood thinners now that the entire family has taken tests to see what was going on. I'm 51 now. Gram at 72, mom at 62...I tell my husband he better spoil me now bc we've only got a year left. I'm kidding (I think!). He doesn't think it's funny, but I got that dark sense of humor from my Grandpop (her husband).
Mary V. was one of a kind and I miss her (and my mom) every single day. I wish everyone was blessed with a Gram like her.
Steve Mcmahel:
Pappaw - My grandfather -Pappaw- was such a good man. He loved the Lord and served in his church regularly. He loved shuffle board and working with tools. He taught me to be a man and showed me how to sharpen knives and work on cars and enjoy life. You are missed and remembered this 25th anniversary of your going to heaven.
See you soon Pappaw. Give my love to Mammaw and Mom and Dad and Jon and so many others in Glory.