Louie was the best father-in-law a girl could ask for. He was kind and patient with me when I was a feisty young woman. He teased me about being Irish and didn’t make me eat meat sauce. In fact, he always roasted a potato just for me during those otherwise Italian dinners.
Louie loved to garden, always devising new ways to guide the beans up the poles, or scratch a spot for a sliver of scarce sun to shine on his zucchini. Deep in the damp basement he grew the best oregano I’ve ever had. He saved every nail, screw, coffee can and lid, and oodles of other stuff most of us would call junk. He was known to hide a few rolls of $100 bills in a cigar box too.
A favorite memory – Louie, whistling a tune, sweeping out the garage with a clenching a cigar between his teeth. For a long time he wasn’t allowed to smoke at all…then not in the house…and finally, in his last months at home he had free reign. Loraine forgot she didn’t want him to smoke inside.
He remembered sleeping on a cot, in Hawaii, during WWII. He walked to his Union Pacific RR job — all the way down Broadway Drive and back up again. He put coffee on his cereal. He liked ice cream and pie.
Louie was a great dad to my husband. He loved his wife, served his family, provided well, and set an example that Bob surely follows to this day. Just like his dad, Bob loves to grocery shop and likes a good deal…Bob often whistles a tune just like his dad.
Louie T Monaco left this world fairly peacefully this week. We’ll miss him.
What a wonderful tribute!