On February 18, 2017, at 5:30 a.m., we received a phone call from St. Mary Manor. Mom and dad are together again. And we now know the answer to dad's oft-asked question, "when is my expiration date?"

Just one month and one day after he celebrated his 100th birthday, with family and friends.

We are relieved that his passing was quiet and comfortable, that we shared a beer (Yuengling lager, his favorite "picnic beer") with him at lunch, on the 17th, and that the familiar taste comforted him and made him smile.

His funeral Mass will be held at the Chapel at St. Mary Manor, 701 Lansdale Avenue, Lansdale, PA, at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 6. Interment will be at the convenience of the family.

Thank you for prayers, kind thoughts and joyful memories.

Dad was proud of his service in the Naval Reserve during WWII, repairing, modifying, writing about, and flying planes. He once told me that he knew by age 7 that he wanted to work on planes and fly them. Ultimately, he worked as an engineer for GE, at the Advanced Space Projects Division, from which he retired in 1981 after 25 years of service.

He was known throughout our family for his ability to fix anything powered by electricity or gasoline, and to get himself filthy in the process. His habit of wiping grimy hands on the front of his shirts was mom's source of frustration for all their lives together!

Dad sang in the choirs of every parish he joined, and in the annual St Patrick's Day shows and Minstrel Shows performed by the Holy Name Society at St Dominic's Church in Holmesburg. My earliest memories are of song lyrics taped to the bathroom mirror, where dad would sing, at the top of his lungs, songs like "It's a great day for the Irish", "Swanee", or "Shrimp boats is-a coming". He was our Bing Crosby.

Even at St Mary's he was known to burst into seasonal song, whenever and wherever the spirit moved him.

He is missed. But he and mom and my dear brother Ed are together again in faith and love.