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People we remember
Biographies are where we share about family & friends to connect with others who remember them.
Stephen Sardi:
"A few weeks ago, I was in Milford on an errand and decided to take a look at the house that I grew up in on Loomis St. After our parents passed, the house was sold and is now owned by someone outside the family.
In front of the house there is a small plot of land, and by the sidewalk next to the street there is a hedge that forms a waist-high fence. There is an opening in the hedges that allows someone to walk to the front of the house to knock on the front door.
As children, our mother would not allow us to handle the sharp tools used to maintain the yard, hedge-clippers among them. So, Paul and I used to watch our mother doing the yard work, wondering when we would be able to use the equipment. None of it was motorized, so there was quite a bit of manual labor to finish any yard job.
One year, when he was still quite young, Paul decided he was tired of watching and wanted to get in on the action. When our mother went out there to start trimming, Paul followed shortly after and told her that he was ready to take on care of the hedges as 'his' chore. Our mother was not sure -- but decided to let him try it to see if he would do it safely, and what kind of job he might do.
It took him a long time -- much longer than it would have taken my mother. But he stuck with it, and did a fantastic job. That was it -- it was his chore from then on.
He never asked if he should do the chore -- he simply grabbed the trimmers and did it when it was needed. And always -- a great job.
I saw those hedges during my drive-by of the house. As back then, they are still standing -- waiting for a caring hand to form them to perfection."
Stephen Sardi:
Dreams - My brother and I would share our dreams, especially if they seemed funny, or if something unusual happened in them. But mostly, they were wishful thinking on our part about what our futures held, things we eventually hoped we would own, or places we might visit that we had learned about in school.
We learned about the Caribbean, the deep blue waters, the white sands -- and the pirate's treasure we were sure we would find if only we could get there. Our interest was heightened when we learned that Charles Island, off the coast of Milford, CT, had been a stopping point for Captain Kidd and that he may have buried treasure there, according to local legend.
My brother had a dream about how one day, when he got older, he would buy Charles Island -- and he and I would go out there and find the treasure we were sure was hidden there. In his dream, he told me, the evidence was there because he found a sand dollar seashell at Silver Sands, the nearby beach. I was so caught up in his dream that I felt sure he HAD to be right, and I looked forward to it eventually happening.
Of course, that could not happen. The legends were real, but we didn't stand a chance of finding anything, not even the sand dollar shell that are native to tropical waters.
Charles Island has an interesting feature -- at low tide, there is a tombolo (sandbar) that allows people to walk over to the island and stay for a short while until the tide starts coming in again. We knew about this, but it's hard to be an explorer when your life is tied up in school and work. Although I've walked there in recent years, Paul and I never did, so the best he could do was admire the island from afar -- and settle for dreams of pirate gold.
I don't know if we perceive when our last days and nights are upon us. I can only hope that the night before he died, my brother had a dream where his wishes came true -- where he found the buried treasure, and enjoyed the rest of his life knowing he had achieved a great accomplishment.
As an adult, I've been to where he and I dreamed of going -- it is as beautiful as we both imagined. The palm trees, the white sand, the blue water -- all there. I hope his dreams that night -- April 24, 1981 -- matched the reality of the beautiful things he missed out on.
During one of my trips there, I found his sand dollar on the beach -- and thought of him. Wherever he is, I hope his dreams come true.
Kathy Pinna:
Born on November 4th, 1921 in Muskegon County, Michigan to Frank Raymond Arnold (1880 - 1921) and Blanche E. Winston (1904 - 1974), Lorraine Frances (Arnold) Fountain had eight half-siblings: Harry "Doc", Charles, Lynn, Robert, Carl Jr., Geraldine, James and Larry.
Lorraine was married a few times: to Alexander Franklen Bowers (married in 1940, divorced in 1947), who was the father of her two children; and to Walter Junis Harrison, who she married in 1951; and to Robert Fountain.
According to family, Lorraine had two biological children but also raised Kevin Ray Baty, a child born and abducted after birth in Chicago. An article about the abduction is located at Baby stolen from Chicago hospital in 1964 is found living in Michigan.
Matt Von Striver:
Beverly Norene Von Striver was a daughter, sister, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. She left this world suddenly on May 13, 2022 at the age of eighty six.
Beverly was born on February 11, 1936 to Alexander and Esther Montague. Immediately upon her high school graduation, at age 17, she married Ronald Von Striver. Together, they had four children: Mark (1954-2016), Beth (Michael), Wayde (Elizabeth) and Bradley.
She delighted in each of her grandchildren (Justin, Alison, Alex, Taylor, Jenna and Matthew) and was very proud of her great-grandchildren (Nicholas, Bodhi, Maximus, Hazel, Adelind and Ridley). Beverly also leaves behind extended family and numerous dear friends.
In her early years, Beverly was primarily a stay at home parent. She did, however, work as a representative for Avon and Tupperware, and thoroughly enjoyed the imbedded social opportunities.
Beverly would later work for Laurel Hills Development Center, and San Juan Unified School District. In both positions, she fully and wholeheartedly supported individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.
Beverly was a woman of faith who deeply loved her family and friends, the ocean, robust conversations, singing, word games, quality food, and being the center of attention. Most recently, she renewed her love of reading and enjoyed watching tv; specifically Pit Bulls and Parolees, The Curse of Oak Island and Survivor.
Her sense of humor stands out as a predominant trait, as well as her generosity, candidness, honesty and integrity.
Stanley Buzzelle II:
Ralph was my best friend for many years and sadly he passed recently - On our summer vacation before our senior year in high school, Ralph and I went on a cross-country trip, driving from California to Norfolk Virginia where my older sister and her husband were living. We were supposed to be camping for the summer on the property my parents owned in Arizona mountains. We did send some post cards to our parents and headed east across country to visit my sister and my brother-in-law. We obviously couldn't use the gas cards our parents gave to us and decided that we would siphon gas from government vehicles after those offices closed. It was successful enterprise, and we never took gas from anyone except local government vehicles after those offices were closed for the night.
When we got to my sister's house, my brother-in-law called our parents and advised that he and my sister would watch over us and then send us home. We could now use the gas cards because our parents now knew where we were. after a nice visit, we successfully made our way back to Ventura Calif.
Ralph and I were very best friends for many years after our trip, and I miss him a very, very much and I always will.
Jon Wilson:
Nextdoor neighbor - He was a good man I wish I was a better neighbor to his family, and helped him with his yard work .
I found out after his passing he was a WW2 vet I bet he could tell me about life back then
The only thing I can do for him now is to visit his and his wifes grave put an American flag and flowers on there head stone and say a prayer for them and how much I miss there presence as neighbors.
I love them both very much
Jon Phillip Wilson
821 Brower St
F Stover:
What Emily was like - Emily was born at home in Carmichael, CA like her older sister Kira. She liked cats a lot and had a wild imagination. She could be excitable and very playful at times and she had a couple close female friends. Emily liked hiking around Trinidad beach and the redwoods with her sisters. She wanted to own love birds, so she saved up some money and bought two beautiful birds which she cherished. Her last school was Sunny Brae Middle School in Arcata, CA.
John Reed:
chuck(him) / chucky(me) - charles is my biological father. dna thru ancestry,myheritage, 23 and me, and familysearch.com directed me to my bio mom - eleanor c lund - contact with my 1/2 sibs - the skiba's led me to a trove in eleanor's cedar chest - with original birth certificate and pics clearly identifying lindy as my dad without any doubt. i was adopted at age 4 by the reed's and it took 75 years to find my bio mom and dad. i have had personal contact with all of eleanors other kids ( 8 total) and have met them all and their families - about 50 total. A real Mountain Top Experience. Thank You Lord !!!
Ramon Garcia:
Happy Mother’s Day!!! - Kanella was like a grandmother to me. She would pick me up after school, take care of me while my parents were working. I will never forget her being there at every single life event, even when my own biological grandparents couldn’t be there.
She would help with my homework as much as she could. If not she would have her daughter Lorraine assist with the day’s assignment.
One thing I will always remember her by will be by her cooking and how she would make me help her in the kitchen. It was so much fun and therapeutic.
You see this is not something that I could share with my own biological grandmothers, so I treasure to this day those special moments. She was to me, what you call in the Italian-American culture, my nonna.
Although my life had a different path in store for me, there has always been a passion for the kitchen and the art of creating a meal from scratch no matter how many dishes nor utensils are involved in the process. Cooking with passion and for the reward of a potpourri of rich aromas seeping out of her 2nd story apartment and into the hallway and stairs of the 5 story tenement building in Washington Heights.
Thank you for all the great memories.
Your favorite kerata (colloquial Greek term loosely meaning ‘rascal’),
Ramon L Garcia
Heather Grimshaw:
Robert Grimshaw was my father - Bob Grimshaw was my father. I was the youngest of his 3 children and the only girl. We lost my Mom when I was 9 years old. My dad never recovered from that loss. He didn't know how to proceed in life without her, how to raise a daughter and made a conscious decision to retreat from society. I know now that he had no resources, like we do today. I also know he did the best he could. He was kind, generous, pleasant, well mannered and spoke highly of most everyone he knew. He never swore, rarely raised his voice and had a wealth of information that I was never able to elicit from him.
He met his grandson, Tyler Lee on one occasion but was not cognizant enough to appreciate the importance of who was on his lap.
My Mom was his source of happiness, his compass and reason for getting up in the morning. He passed 2 days before his 3rd grandchild Bronson James Makana Lee was born. I miss him dearly.
Thelma Timinski:
Calvin “Ted” Wedge was my Uncle by marriage to my mom’s sister “Kaye” - “Uncle Ted” was my favorite uncle for specific reasons…he was funny and he was a friend to everyone he met. Uncle Ted, whenever I slept over at Aunt Kaye and Uncle Ted’s house, would wake me up, calling “Morning Glory”. And he and Aunt Kaye would take me dancing at the Aragon Ballroom on occasion, and Uncle Ted would dance with me at those times. He was a jokester, saying things like “Spell ‘wow’ backwards.” And when I was baptized, even though he was quite ill at the time, he and Aunt Kaye came from some distance to be in attendance and support. He was a good man and I loved him. I miss him too.
