There's no obituary yet, but Diane (who has joined our posting, below!) sent me what was on the back of the memorial card.
In loving Memory of
Gerald S. Raimondi
February 5, 2007
God saw you were getting tired
And A cure was not to be,
So He put His arms around you
And whispered, "Come to Me."
With tearful eyes we watched you,
And saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands at rest.
All the pain and grief is over;
Every restless tossing passed:
I am now at peace forever.
54 comments:
What a great guy Uncle Jerry was. Who ended up going to NY? We just landed at Eppley last night at 11:45 after juggling delayed and cancelled flights in Atlanta all day. Strangely, our luggage which had ended up on another plane, landed at about the same time.
I remember Jerry lying on his living room floor with the twins jumping and climbing all over him. He was so nice.
When I went to NY for my teen years visit I stayed with each of the aunts for awhile.
One day the Raymondis made lobster. Uncle Jerry told me that they would scream when dumped in the boiling water! I made sure I was out of the house for that moment. He laughed and laughed that I would believe that!
My earliest memory of him is at our blue house on Elm Street when he came out to help build the picket fence with Dad. I liked the bubble in the level. I must have been about 3 then.
Hey all - I talked Don today, just to let him know the news. He told me he'll get out in June.
P
Hi Rob Z. Say hi to the rest of your family for us.
Does anyone know who was able to go to NY besides Jim?
The poem on the memorial card is very, very nice!
I REALLY wish I could have been there...I've checked EVERY posssible airline and discounter...but the rates are double what they were on Sunday! $450-500.
Hi Rob...it's great to hear from you, I bet my parents enjoy visiting with you!
It's nice you could be there.
Diane, how's Doris doing?
I just checked the weather in Oceanside this hour...it's going to be very cold at the cemetary...it's 15 but feels like 5 degrees,(and a chance of snow from the Alberta Clipper that's dumping upstate NY and Indiana, etc)....I hope they are all BUNDLED up!!
There are alot of Raimondi artist, artisans...google the name! Yes, he was a VERY nice guy!
Tom...are you working? Sorry to hear about the flu...Mike has been in bed for almost 3 days, too...I've been popping (drinking) that Airborne stuff, trying to avoid it!
Jerry always had the good word. Loved talking sports. Laughed a lot, no matter what the topic. Genuinely interested in you. Never heard him say a mean word. Searching my memory, I can't recall ever having known a nicer guy.
Talk about construction-I spent a holiday at Raimondis early 80's or so and saw Jerry, laughing all the way, construct a plateful of food that would have stopped Kobiyashi cold. It overlapped the plate all the way around and was at least 6 inches tall all the way across the top.
What a great, warm, generous, smart guy.
Hello Straub Cousins...
Thank you for sending Jim to represent you all, he was polite and courteous and didn't leave any wet towels on the floor. Emily, we let him stay in YOUR 'princess room' at my mom's. He did a great job seeking out each of his NY cousins & chatting. THEN I filled him in on all the gossip - so contact Jim to catch up. (kidding) ((not)). Sorry Jim, I know I kinda dumped you at LaGuardia... I saw the American terminal as I left - not too far off. I'll do better next time.
At the funeral home and church and cemetery and K of C hall (K of C, not K.F.C.) I saw and talked to many people I hadn't seen in years - Uncle Jerry certainly collected a lot of fans in his lifetime. We told stories and laughed and told more and laughed more. At the mass, in addition to Fr. Bob's wonderful tribute, Susan and Joe (Greg) and Jerry's nephew Jerry and Linda's BF Kenny said nice things about Uncle Jerry. Susan especially -- she reminded every one of the kindness, sincerity and unquestioned genius that is Uncle Jerry. He was unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit, and FOR SURE would have been my life line on who wants to be a millionaire.
I wish we all could have hung around & visited for more than just the day... someone get married or something - seems we need a happier reason to visit!
Anyhooo - I grabbed a few extra of the funeral cards - anyone want one? email me your address: Buzoogi@aol.com. ("buzoogi" is what Devon used to call the Gazebo Uncle Jerry built in my mom's yard before Susan's wedding. It became a household word, and my email address)
Thanks for letting me in your blog.
Diane
I don't know if Jim is worthy of the Princess room. Wait, I take it back, a princess room suits him perfectly.
Thanks for the update, Diane. And thanks for not embarrassing us, Jim. Seriously, I'm very glad you were able to go.
I must know the gossip.
Ok, good bye all. I leave for Florida - will meet Em in the Atlanta airport where we then fly on together, Ed in the Palm Beach airport to be picked up by Mom and Dad I assume.
P
Jim, you're almost worthy of the princess room. I assume Erin thinks you are precious. Aunt Ginny cleared it with me first. She is an elite secret agent of the precious squad. Don't tell Scooter Libby.
I wish I could have gone to Uncle Jerry's funeral. He was, as others have said, so so nice. He seemed genuinely interested in people, not just making chit chat. That was my impression.
I'm off to Florida. I have never been away from Jude for more than 5 hours, so this will be interesting.
Later!
Emily, Pat and Ed suck.
I am really sick of winter.
Diane thank you for the update on the funeral. I wish I could have made it out there.
Monica, I'm pissed, too, let's just abbreviate their names and call them PEE! Have fun in Florida, PEE.
I think you could all learn from me. How to be irresponsible and spend money you don't have. Denial is a powerful tool.
p
Monica, you need a winter home, maybe in Florida.
(From previous blog),The kids are adjusting well. Gillian wanted to be in Apex. She made a poster, Apex the best place to live in the world. She misses her friends.
Nicholas and Mike just goes along with whats here.
PEE have a great vacation!!!
Erin
I wish I could see
the land visited by PEE.
m.e.
m.e. ~ There's 12 step programs for that.
I didn't really know Uncle Jerry. But from all the stories I've been hearing and reading, he sounded like a tremendously fun and kind person. The more people like him we have in this world, the better. My condolences to the Raimondis and everyone who was close to him.
Regards,
Lisa~ I emailed you a question. Thought I'd try you here. :-) I need to know if you want a men's medium or a men's large? I'm gathering my orders together. Thank you! :-)
You're a good salesman Tom!
You didn't mention the best restaurant in Northern Iowa!
Have you guys thought about live music every weekend in the bar? I know good bands who play for next to nothing$$$...good for bar crowds, after 9, I would guess?
Ed sent Mike a cell phone photo of Pat talking to me...on the beach in Jupiter with the ocean behind her! Wish I was there!
About Anna Nicole Smith's baby...
Desmond, when is your press conference? Did I hear correctly that you are the father? Please call!
Peter and I would move tomorrow. Ellen would hate me forever. Sean wouldn't like it but would do fine. Thomas would have a nervous breakdown.
Pat called and left a message on my phone. She and Emily were at the pool sunbathing while I was in a freeing cold Sports Complex watching no less than 6 basketball games on an ice cold metal bleacher. My butt is still cold. Sean was in a tournament. They won one of their games.
Sean is also in wrestling. They have a hard time finding kids small enough to wrestle him. Almost all are 10 to 15 pound heavier. Therefore he keeps losing. Plus, this is his first year out. Many have been wrestling for 5-6 years. I keep waiting for one of the kids to break a collarbone. They are painful to watch.
If anyone is interested in ordering a St.Patty Tee...today is the last day to do it. Tomorrow morning will be too late. Drop us an email if you want one. :-)
They are $12/per and come in Adult sizes XS-4X and Youth XS-XL. We will have them by February 23rd.
I, too, am beginning to wish I could see the land visited by PEE. That ain't right. :-<> Ha, ha.
Liam went to the Doctor yesterday. As all of us were mending he appeared to get sick again. I thought he may have Strep. The Doc. poo-poo'd that notion, but cultured him to make Mommy happy. Sure enough...he has Strep. Go me. The Doc. asked him if he wanted syrup, pill or a shot. Liam said, "I wanna shot!" And, that is what he got...right in the booty. No tears...what a trooper. Sometimes, I think he may grow up to be a stunt man. He is fearless. One time when he was riding his bike, in the street, he rode by my friend, Teresa, and his chain fell off and he went flying through the air over his handle bars. She was right there and said he had this HUGE smile on his face the entire time! After he hit the pavement...he stood up and said, "I'm okay!" :-)
I just made a cake with 1 1/2 lbs of butter and 5 eggs. It has to be good.
I am right now at the Palm Beach Airport waiting to get on my flight to go back to Chicago after a fun, sun and food filled weekend with mom and pop. It was great! Just seeing how blue the water is was worth the visit, but what I really wanted was some of the NY pizza and we had an extra large yesterday at Antonio's right behind mom and dad's place. It was GREAT. We meet Jimmy and Martin Straub and had a great time.
I am kinda worried that when I get back to the cold I won't want to be there.
Hi, Everyone---We just came back from the airport where we dropped off Pat, Ed and Emily. It was really good to see them. Good weather while they were here. We think they enjoyed it here. We know that we did. If anyone else wants to come, remember that we will be leaving here on March 15, tho it is possible for you to come when we are not here. Love, Mom and Dad
I can't wait to get there but must lose 10lbs by then.
Mom and Dad, It got above the single digits today. Mid 30's I believe. That was a long, long cold stretch. Didn't want to leave the house.
Hey everyone,
thought I wuold let you know that Uncle Jerry's funeral was very sad, of course. There were also some moments that were truly touching. Aunt Doris looked very tired. But her spirits did seem to improve in the short time from before the funeral to the dinner after the burial.
Outside of Aunt Ginnie, Catherine and Diane I only had about 1 hour before the funeral and 45 minutes after the burial to talk to everybody before I jumped on a plane back here. So I only had a chance to spend a few minutes with everybody.
A consistent theme on this blog and at the funeral was how Uncle Jerry never had a bad word to say about anybody. So I am starting to feel bad about trashing all of you to the NY cousins but, they seemed to enjoy it.
Thanks everybody!
We placed an order for 59 tees! They will arrive on February 23rd.
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Yes we had a great trip. We met relatives. Bill Herron said he met Jim twice and both times thought he looked remarkably like a young Bobby Kennedy. We all laughed heartily.
p
He has him mixed up with John Tesh.
That was Bob Herron, not Bill Herron. Dad's cousin Rosemary's husband.
Thank you Emily. Nice commentary on the trip. You are correct, of course.
By the way, blogger won't let me add a new post right now. Not sur why.
I want to go back to Florida. we're expecting three inches of snow but it's drizzling right now so it's probably going to be snow over ice or slush, but made an executive decision not to cancel the 1st Communion parents meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. Whaddya think? It would be hard to shoehorn another meeting into the calendar in the next two weeks. My position is if it were a meeting for soccer/basketball/baseball no one would whimper. As it is, they'll be cursing us, or maybe about 5 parents will show up. I don't know. 3 inches, come on.
Is there a last chance for t-shirts??? We're still more than a month away?
I placed the pre-order early this morning...I think it's too late. :-(
If you wanna give me your order I can make some calls and see if I can add to the order. :-)
I came home from getting my hair cut and the dog had eaten what was left of the cake I made ( a little over half was left). That means 3/4lb. of butter and 2 1/2 eggs and lots of chocolate. What do you think will happen? I'm betting nothing.
I'd call the Vet. Guinness ate a one pound bag of chocolate licorice once and I called the Vet. They said that it was, "flavored," chocolate...so he was fine. However, they said if he had eaten a pound of real chocolate there could be a serious problem. That's all I know.
With any luck, it was enough.
OK, kidding! Couldn't you kill him, though? A homemade cake with lavish amounts of goodies in it. (How did it turn out, anyway?)
I never heard of chocolate licorice. Does it have the flavors of chocolate and licorice or is it just chocolate-flavored candy in licorice shape? I love both chocolate and licorice, but together? Trying to imagine it makes my face squinch up.
By the way, I got my hair cut on vacation. Pretty short - just below the earlobes. Joe J. couldn't remember me with short hair, (although it was pretty short when he was little,) so I guess it was time for a change. The trouble with short hair is, you have to do stuff with it to look decent unless you're lucky enough to be Mary Straub. I'm too lazy for short hair.
monica, keep the dog off the new red couch! But, steer her toward any carpet you want changed!
Monica, it could be a new strategy for redecorating. What are you gonna bake tomorrow?
Where is everyone?
I entered a word scramble contest today...spent 2 hours at work unscramb
ling 25 words...trying...the last 4 words I could not get...Mike walked into the office, and he said he's dyslexic, so could I hold the scrambled words at a certain angle...and after a some grunts and groans, he got the rest of the words...maybe I'll win the contest!
OOOh big gap in the paragraph...So, tonight Randy came over...I'm now into serving great meals for under $10...so I'm experimenting on Randy and Mike...I started with sauteed scallops, then followed with clam chowder, and then the entree...salmon, plus tuna with whole wheat pasta, sauteed with onions, celery, cream and mushrooms and peas! It was yummy!
Salmon=$3
Scallops=free (they are Cathy's)
Clam Chowder .50
Tuna=$1
Pasta=$1
Oh, yes the wine...priceless!
Chocolate Licorice. Chocolate flavor in the shape of a licorice whip and with the same chewy texture. :-)
What brand of Clam Chowder do you buy for .50 that tastes good?
was it red clam chowder or white? I only like the red kind. You can never find it anywhere.
The dog suffered no ill effects except some bad gas and even more of my contempt.
We will probably make cookies today as it is a snow day. I don't know why though. Nobody lives out in the country and it hasn't snowed all that much.
Because everyoneloves snow days, even administrators. I called all my grandchildren today to tell them Happy Snow Day and they were all gleeful and getting ready to do cozy indoor things involving play-doh and paint and soup and chocolate.
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