This morning we went to Unclue Armond’s funeral. It was sad, nice and peaceful. It was in St. Mary’s… a big old church around the corner from the house were Armond lived most of his life.. as did his mom and dad.. and his grandparents.

 

A nice group of people had gathered to pay their respects.. There were some good pictures of Armond..

He used to be the chief of the local fire brigade.. so they had his helmet there..

There used to be two St Mary’s.. an Italian one and an Irish one.. Then they tore down the Italian one and combined them..  It was a cool old building Lots of nice stain glass, an organ, incense.. the works.. it had a family feel to it.

After the service, we all lined up to drive to the cemetery. I ended up being a pall bearer.. which I was honored to be.. I really liked Armond and welcomed the chance to say goodbye that one last time.

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We got to the cemetery mausoleum. Same place that Dianes Dad, Aunts, and grandparents are buried. There was an army honor guard gather ether to honor Armonds service in the army.. Some of the game guys that had been at Gabe’s funeral.. They fired a three shot volley.. then gave the spent shells to Armonds daughter Cathy.. just like they gave them to us for Gabe.

The service was short and sweet .. we said good bye and shivered in the 20 degree air.

Here’s where Gabe is buried, 2nd from the top on the left.. still waiting for lettering..

And here are diagnose grandparents

and here is Armond and hi first wife’ Jeannes.. yet to be moutnted. 

on the way back to the church, DIanes brother steve showed us some of the other family graves. .. Here’s Armond’s Mothere.. and Diane’s grandfather’s first wife Theresa’s grave.

here’s almond and babe’s infant baby brother stefano 

and a neigbor infant who’s buried nearby because the neighbors couldn’t afford their own plot..

I can’t imagine the times when such loss was so common..

We also found Diane’s  Great-great Granparents Achillo and Maryrose right next store..

 

It was nice to have that sense of place.. We all then found our way back to the S Marys rec center for a nice lunch..

 

it was good hanging out with the family for another hour before heading home. Here are Diane’s brothers Steve and Joe.. \

People were passing around pictures and We found some of Diane’s dad Gabe

and DIanes’s aunt  Teresa

 

There were quite a few baby around.. I realized that these were Armond’s great-great-grandkids. pretty cool.. 

he was a good guy.. had a good life..

we will all miss him and his stories..

 

rest easy uncle armond

 

nite all, nite sam

-me