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Grampa was born to Italian immigrants on Feb 20th, 1912 in Brockton, MA. His twin brother Richmond -- aka, Twinnie -- was born on Feb 22nd. They completed the 8th grade before leaving school to work. A couple of the stories I remember from their childhood: * pet duck * the cops busting the family's wine barrel during prohibition * something about being in the _____ street dagos gang * sweetened blueberries on white bread for lunch during elementary school He got work at the Quincy shipyards during World War II. A welder. Because of his small size, he could weld in tiny places. They got paid by the number of welding rods they used up. He'd say at low tide the beach looked like a forest of welding rods. Thrown overboard by workers at the end of the shift. He liked to fish. A lot. They'd drive a Model A Ford up to Tilton, NH to his wife's sister's place. Route 3 to Tilton from Brockton took 4 or 5 hours back then. Grampa liked to make things. He particularly liked to take things apart and then make copies of them, especially toys. His garage is currently filled with a drill press or two, a band saw, a table saw, and two metal lathes. He and his brother started the Twin Leather Co. in Brockton MA after the war. The punched out leather findings and products for cobbler shops. He was missing the tips of a couple fingers. Woe was you if he tickled you with one of them. Grampa taught me "Trot trot to Boston, trot trot to Lynn, make sure when you get there you don't... fall... IN!" Didn't drink, although was partial to Manischewitz in his later years. When he did smoke, his brand was Lucky Strikes. I was there when Grampa was run over by my cousin Brian. I think I was 10 or 11... it never occurred to me that Grampa might use a term like "You son of a bitch!" For much of his life he was a consistently happy person, unless you didn't heat his coffee hot enough or there wasn't enough sugar or salt on the table to his liking. He wasn't rich but lived well. He died wearing his wedding band, 15 years after his wife Louise passed, 50+ years of marriage between them. He is survived by his twin brother, a brother and two sisters, 3 children, 10 grandchildren and a bunch of great grandchildren. I will miss him.