Losing a family friend
My mom called me with some very sad news this morning. One of our former neighbors died yesterday morning. Bob and his family were some of our first neighbors when we moved to our house in 1972. I remember the great sound of Bob playing his organ. I could hear it when I was outside playing or on the way over to my grandparents' house. He was the organist for our local hockey team for many years. I spent many hours playing with his 2 sons, Kevin and Greg.
After he moved across town, he became our County Legistlator. He had a few unsucessful bids for Congress back in the 1990's. He was a greatly respected business owner too. My grandfather worked for him in his semi-retirement years.
His parents, who both lived into their 90's, were my granparents' best friends. They had been neighbors for about 50 years. My grandparents moved into their house in 1954, when my mom was 8. We moved into our house across the street in 1972. I can't believe it's been almost 40 years since we moved into that cute little cape cod house.
It was a wonderful neighborhood to grow up in. As I mentioned in a previous entry, there were plenty of kids to play with. We also visited with many of our adult neighbors too. Sadly most of them are now gone, including my grandparents. Some are still living but are in poor health. I found out recently that one of my best neighborhood friends, who is only a year younger than me, is currently fighting cancer. It's so sad to me to see our neighborhood slowly dying off or sick.
It's been 15 years since I lived at home. It's times like this that makes me think back on many of the wonderful memories that I made all through my growing up years.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Moppert family.
I found this article written in 2000 during one of his congress runs. It sums up his life and our little town. Sadly, his son Greg died in 2005. His mom died at the age of 90 and his dad died when he was 98. Bob was just shy of his 70th birthday.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001017/NEWS/310179998
After he moved across town, he became our County Legistlator. He had a few unsucessful bids for Congress back in the 1990's. He was a greatly respected business owner too. My grandfather worked for him in his semi-retirement years.
His parents, who both lived into their 90's, were my granparents' best friends. They had been neighbors for about 50 years. My grandparents moved into their house in 1954, when my mom was 8. We moved into our house across the street in 1972. I can't believe it's been almost 40 years since we moved into that cute little cape cod house.
It was a wonderful neighborhood to grow up in. As I mentioned in a previous entry, there were plenty of kids to play with. We also visited with many of our adult neighbors too. Sadly most of them are now gone, including my grandparents. Some are still living but are in poor health. I found out recently that one of my best neighborhood friends, who is only a year younger than me, is currently fighting cancer. It's so sad to me to see our neighborhood slowly dying off or sick.
It's been 15 years since I lived at home. It's times like this that makes me think back on many of the wonderful memories that I made all through my growing up years.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Moppert family.
I found this article written in 2000 during one of his congress runs. It sums up his life and our little town. Sadly, his son Greg died in 2005. His mom died at the age of 90 and his dad died when he was 98. Bob was just shy of his 70th birthday.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001017/NEWS/310179998
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