Steve's Eulogy

I feel very lucky to have found a document that my dad left us on his computer that gives us a personal glimpse into his life up to age 31.  He made his last entries in Nov. of 2010.  I’ll do my best to summarize and will use his words as often as possible: 

It is titled:

Legend of Edwin Alexander Crosbie

(Or My Life according to Me)

 “Great” as he is known by his great grandkids, Hannah and Sam, was born July 23 1921, in Washington Pa.

Father:  Francis Leslie Crosbie

Mother:  Esther (Susie) Johnson Crosbie

The family moved to Grandfather David’s house in the summer of 1927. No electricity, no running water (water pumped from a rainfall cistern).  Outside toilet.  Lighting was from natural gas mantels in overhead chandeliers. Heating from a potbellied coal stove in the living room and local natural gas heaters in the bedrooms (Electricity, running water, bathroom, and central heating (coal furnace) installed in later years.

          The 2 story house had three bedrooms with chamber pot in each.  Ed, his brother Dick and both parents had one room, until Granddad rebuilt the chicken house into a nice bedroom and the two kids moved into his room.  Also living with them were his Aunt Helen and widowed Aunt Mary and her infant daughter.

Washing up was done in a basin in the kitchen dining room from the pump.  Saturday bathing was done in the same room using a laundry tub and hot water from the tea kettle.  Mother cooked two meals a day for the tribe. 

Attended Gaby Heights two room schoolhouse from 1927 to 1935. Two teachers in eight years.  Mrs. Morrow grades 1-4 and Mr. Donald Dille grades 5-8. (Excellent. Started love of mathematics.)

          Attended Trinity High School 1935-1939.  Did well in algebra and plane and solid geometry.  Started playing the piano since about 1927 and accompanied the boy’s chorus on the piano for four years. Took second place in a tri-county piano competition.

          Started playing piano in a medium sized dance band in 1937. This orchestra played for dances at granges and anywhere there was a need for good music at a cheep price.       

After graduating from Trinity High School was offered the job of accompanist for the College Glee Club and organist for the College Chapel services at Washington and Jefferson in lieu of tuition.  Enrolled W & J for the fall semester 1939.  Graduated in 1942 with a major in Physics and a minor in Mathematics.

          Was also organist from1942-1943 at the first United Presbyterian Church where he faithfully attended from kindergarten to Feb. 1943.  That is when Dad joined the U S Marine Corp as a PFC.  He was sent to Paris Island for basic training.

          He qualified as an expert in marksmanship and after 6 wks training was sent to Quantico VA for Officer Training.

          He writes, “Once while I was on leave in Washington DC, as I approached two young “Shave Tails” (short for new 2^nd Lieutenants) carrying paper bags I gave a snappy salute. They returned the salute but one of them was so excited that he dropped his paper bag.  His fifth of whisky broke on the street. It was very funny but I didn’t laugh until I was out of ear shot.

Graduated from OSC and became a 2^nd Lt Aug 5 1944.  Instead of, as expected, being sent to the Pacific as a platoon leader in combat they took note of my Physics Major in college and sent me to Pierce Laboratory at Harvard for Electronics training and later to M I T in Boston Ms for Radar training.

          In the summer of 1944 was sent to the army base at Camp Murphy for training in portable Radar units.  The camp was located in the swamps about 60 miles north of Palm Beach Fl, and had cans of water for the feet of the bunks for a good reason. After getting up in the morning after my first night was shocked by feeling red ants in my shoes. Learned to sprinkle roach powder around the shoes before going to bed.

         

Dad shipped off from San Diego, Ca. for the Falalop Island in the Ulithi Atol that had a small airstrip and a large harbor where the US Navy ships anchored for rest and recreation that his group was tasked to protect using the radar units.  This is where he spent the remainder of the war. 

          The Air Warning squadron had only been there a few days and was not yet in operation when there was a Japanese Kamikaze attack on the ships in the harbor. While watching an outdoor movie witnessed the three explosions. One exploded into the harbor.  One tried to sink an island.  But the third managed to hit the fantail of the aircraft carrier Randolph.

          And so months passed as the Squadron prepared for the eventual assault on the Japanese mainland.  The invasion orders never came as the U S practically destroyed every Japanese City and everyone expected the Japanese to surrender.  Some time during this period 2^nd Lt Crosbie became 1^st Lt Crosbie.

          Then on August 6 the Atomic bombs were exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrendered.  The Air warning Squadron embarked for Peleliu Island.  Lt Crosbie was left behind to Shepard the transportation of the trucks, jeeps and other equipment to Guam.  He joined the squadron in Peleliu and was appointed Mess officer and spent time inspecting and tasting the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.

                   Not sure of the date but eventually boarded a ship to return to the states.  Had sent most of my pay to my mother but pocketed $100 to use for playing poker on board ship.  Lost it all the first night and was reduced to playing bridge for the rest of the journey.

          Returned home and wasn’t too sure of my future plans.  Went to see Dr Bell, head of the Physics Department at W & J and my future became clear.

          Dr Bell said that they were starting graduate program at W & J.  Asked if I would like to sign on as a graduate assistant and Study for a Masters degree in Physics.  I was to receive the grand salary of $100 a month.  Accepted the offering Immediately.

          In the meantime, on the recommendation of a mutual friend I called Helen Hamilton and asked her to go to a dance at the Washington Hotel.  We had a good time and I liked her very much. She must have liked me too because we were married within two Months.

          My immediate duties during July, was to lecture and teach a summer school Physics class at the college.  Lunched almost every day with Helen at the Union Grill (a favorite hang out for Granddad Dave on Saturday nights.) Helen had a job in a Law Office just a block away.

          After the summer school ended we decided to use the August break to get married and go on a honeymoon.  Helen’s farther, who owned a car dealership gave us a new two door Plymouth and leaving a great party at Helen’s home we drove to the Summit Hotel at Uniontown gap in the near by mountains. After one night there we decided that the place was too rich for my pay and we took off for Niagara Falls.  Stayed in a Motel in Canada.

          Helen’s father, who, in addition to his garage and car dealership, was also selling pre-fabricated homes, and was able to sell us one at cost and we took on a $5000 mortgage for about $25 a month.

          And so nested, taught, and studied for a couple of years.  Then with the issuance of the 300$ G I Bonus in 1948 decided that we could afford a baby. Son Stephen Hamilton Crosbie was born June 18 1948.

The same month received the MS degree from W & J and accepted the position as graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh while studying to become a PhD. Moved to Pittsburgh in September 1948 and started graduate studies and employment at the University of Pittsburgh.

                   In 1950 the Government issued a $300 G I Insurance Rebate and we decided we could afford another child.  Richard Wayne Crosbie was born on December 16, 1950.

                   Part of my Thesis was an extension of theories proposed by Drs. Maria Mayer at University of Chicago and David Inglis at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. I had been in touch with Dr Inglis and wrote to him asking for an interview.  Was offered the position of Associate Physicist in the Physics Division at Argonne (for the astronomical monthly salary of $620).  Accepted the offer and moved the family to Chicago in November 1952.

          We moved into a two room suite at a hotel near the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.  The Hotel was about a block from the Museum Science and Industry.  Helen would take the boys almost daily to the museum for amusement (and perhaps education). Rickie, at two years and as they walked the streets Helen kept him on a harness leach.  We ate in restaurants and Steve was very fond of the butter patties.

          Finally our rental unit in Park Forest became available and we moved in. There were two tennis courts just a block from our court.  I decided that I would play tennis for recreation on the weekends.  I played in a foursome that met once a week for about thirty years.  I continued to play tennis until 2002 when macro degeneration deprived me of the sight of the ball.

          Many Argonne scientists lived Park Forest.  In that period almost all middle class families had only one car.  Most all the Argonne employees living in Park Forest formed car pools to get to work.  Dad’s first carpool partner, a young Japanese Physicist, Katsumi Tanaka was trained as a Kamikaze pilot.  (Dad states) We became good friends but Katsumi was a terrible driver.  (He assumed he had the right of way and we had some narrow escapes.)  A rough calculation in 1999 showed that the total distance traveled to and from work in 47 years as a full time Argonne employee amounted to about one and a half round trips to the moon. 

          As a youth I had been very religious.  There are 1189 chapters in the bible.  Reading a chapter almost every day over the space of 4 years I read the entire bible once and was starting over again.  I carried the bible with me when went into service in the Marine Corp.  But some time during the 3 years of service I lost both the bible and my faith.  I am not stating this fact with any feelings of regret or joy.  It is just a fact.  As I write this portion in early 2010 I wish to state that I am peaceful and content in my unbelief.  And I know that I will continue to live in the memories of those who knew and loved me. (That is if I don’t screw up too much in the next 5 to 10 years.)

          The forgoing paragraph is apropos of what, if anything, to do about the religious education of our children.  We tried going to one of local United Protestant Churches for a few months.  Neither Helen nor I wanted to be there. Then we saw an advertisement for the local Unitarian church.  We started to attend and found it was close to what we wanted.  A religion based on love and understanding (in the broad sense of those words).  And as time went by we found many friends who shared our liberal views on life.  Of course, being me, I began playing piano for the services and rehearsed with the choir.

          This is where his story ends and I attempt to fill in.  My family moved from the rental area of Park Forest to a very modest 3 bedroom home in about 1956 where he lived until 2004 when he moved to Prior Lake to live with us for 5 ½ years.  My dad considered himself a very lucky man; he worked at a job he loved for over 50 years and had a very loving wife and family and an active social life with good friends.  My mom died from cancer in 1991 and fortunately dad had his job, their mutual friends and our immediate family, that helped keep him occupied, happy and content. He started playing piano again at the UU church and of course continued to play tennis this time with a new partner, Barbara Williams.

          I see his religious path as an awakening to a different form of spiritual understanding, as one who has lost his belief in religious dogma, and replaced it with a living, active spiritual life based on the love of life, love of family and love of discovery.  I thank him for my early religious experiences, that were rich in song, schooled in innate positive human values and a deep understanding of the universality of religious beliefs and values.

          As many of you who knew him well, my dad loved life.  Some would say an enchanted, magical life.  He grew up at a very exciting time and worked in a very dynamic field.  As a kid he rode his bike to town up and down a 3 mile long steep hill to town, he rode his sled down the long hill at their house which ended at the swimming pool that the family built out of bricks (filled by cold spring water), he rode a swing his dad built with on a 40’ rope, worked on his uncles farms, and participated in many family bonfires by the pond that were full of celebration and song.  He even took his age related challenges in stride with a very positive attitude.  He joked to Sue as he packed for one of our many camping trips or vacations that he had to make sure to pack all of his senses (eyeglasses, hearing aid, and teeth, and later on he added magnifying lenses, canulas, oxygen tanks, and cane with the same sense of lightness).

          My dad also had a great sense of humor which he guarded well.  He appeared uncomfortable when my brother and I would get really silly or watch something like the three stooges.  We knew better; he would break into free verse in the shower, singing several verses of: “oh, I don’t want to go the rodeo show even if someone tells me to go; or, oh, I don’t …even if I don’t have anywhere better to go” for several minutes; he put a sign in the storage area over the work bench after cleaning up the mess: “Beware (with skull and crossbones figure): clean up after using this area! Keep it clean! Signed Dirty Eddie”. Such a person can’t be without a profound sense of the silly.  His log-on for yahoo games was dirtyeddie2000 (I rest my case).  

I read the following computer entry to dad that he had made a couple of years before, on the last day he was partially awake :

“How do I know my youth is all spent?

My get up and go has got up and went.

But in spite of it all I’m able to grin

And think of the places my get up has been.”

Dad wrote and I read: “At first I thought that the above words were a clever, but innocent, description of the mobility difficulties inherent with old age.  But then the devil in me explained that the words were more clever than I had thought, and not nearly so innocent. Shame on Jimmy Driftwood”.  

Apon hearing this he became fully conscious ... and laughed loud and hard – yes, he loved life.

         

Above all he loved his wife and his children (Rick and I) and our spouses Joyce and Sue, and his best friend of the last 20 years Barbara Williams who traveled extensively with him.  He dearly loved his grand children, Jena and Ben and especially Ben’s wife Bethany who is one of the angles who came into his life when he most needed them.  And most recently he especially loved his great grand children, Hannah and Sam who literally lit up his whole being when they entered the room.

          I am a very lucky person.  I have a very strong connection to my dad; especially his need to strive to do things well and his overriding sense of integrity and fairness.  He has also filled my life with song, a love I will carry always.  He has passed on.  I will miss him, and yes he will live on …in me, …in our family, and in those who were privileged to know and love him.