Joe Gesuale

Today was a tough day. My Grandfather passed away a few days ago and today was his funeral. He was 92 year old, and had a less than favorable quality of life over the past few years. It wasn't a shock, but something like this is always sad. He was the last surviving grandparent I had, so I also felt like it was the end of a generation in my life. Fortunately, I cherished the time I had with him and with all of my grandparents.

I was fortunate enough to have known all 4 of my grandparents, as well as several of my great-grandparents. Joe had a pretty memorable personality, so I thought I'd capture some of the more memorable stories I recall here.
First off, he was a self-proclaimed history buff. You can be sure that at any family gathering he would try to stump you with this question. Unfortunately for him, we all know the answer because he's told it so many times. He'd ask the question (acting like he's some sort of smart guy) and all of us would groan the answer (to his dismay that he did not stump us).

Who was the king who won the Battle of Thermopylae?
Xerxes

When I was a kid my brothers & I would go to Montauk to visit Grandma Flo & Grandpa Joe. Grandpa would promptly try to put us to work. His jobs were long, hard, dirty, sometimes dangerous, and often times involved the use of duct tape and a hammer.

One summer day when I was a kid, we took a small zodiac-like rubber boat out on Long Island Sound. Grandpa decided we should ride to Gardiner's Island from Montauk Harbor. He asked me to check how much gas was left. I said "1/4 tank". He looked and said, "No! You're looking at it wrong. We have 3/4 tank". He was looking at it upside down. We ran out of gas and LUCKILY drifted and paddled back to shore several hours later. (It turns out Gardiner's Island is pretty far, and also is private property)
Christmas at Joe & Flo's was always fun. I recall one year Grandpa's friend (Bert Or Irwin) dressed up as Santa for the kids. Santa thought it would be fun to make a grand entrance by going onto the roof, but Grandpa Joe was out there with a broom trying to knock him off the roof yelling something about messing up the shingles.

I once brought a friend home from college, and Grandpa Joe was over. My friend had his car stolen & I was giving him a ride back to school. This friend of mine had dreadlocks at the time. Grandpa says to him, "Your the one who's car was stolen? Because you look like someone who would STEAL a car".
I went to Italy with Grandpa Joe a few years back. While in St Marks square in Venice, he thought it would be a good idea to feed the pigeons, so he bought some bird seed. Within 10 minutes every pigeon in the square was trying to land on him as he tried to run away, bird seed flying everywhere. (Later, he couldn't understand why people were laughing at him)On that same trip, in Florence, I thought I'd have a little one on one time with Grandpa so I brought him to an outdoor cafe where a band was playing Italian songs. He ordered a screwdriver and downed the whole thing in one gulp before I could stop him. At that same moment, the band started playing "Arrevaderci Roma" and Grandpa, with his new liquid courage, sang along at the top of his lungs. (If he weren't 80 something years old at that time, we may have gotten arrested!)

When I got engaged, my wife Julia & I drove to Grandpa's house to give him the news personally. We said "Hey Grandpa, we have some news". He said brashly "Yeah I heard, you got hitched!". So much for surprises. We showed him the ring because I thought it looked a lot like the one he bought Grandma. He agreed, noting though that Grandma's ring was bigger than mine.
I went on a vacation once to Pearl Harbor in Oahu Hawaii, and got Grandpa a USS Arizona baseball cap as a souvenir. He wore it all the time. In fact, Cops would pull him over for a traffic violation, think he was an Arizona survivor and let him go without a ticket. People would stop him on the street and thank him. Of course, he would play it up! Little did they know, he didn't get much farther than San Luis Obispo (He served in the US Navy from 1944-1945).

When I moved to San Francisco 14 years ago, Grandpa told me lots of stories about his time in the Navy on the west coast during WWII - and I've probably heard him tell me each story at least 100 times more since then, but I'd always pretend it was the first time I heard them each time he told me one.
The last time I saw Grandpa Joe alive was last Feb or March where I had dropped in on him for a visit while I was in town. By this time he wasn't much for conversation, you had to do all the talking. I spent a few hours with him, telling him all the stories he had told me dozens of times before. He remembered. He smiled. He liked that I knew these stories. He was surprised I recalled these stories he had told me so many times. It was probably the best possible goodbye we could have shared.

(From Feb 2009, notice the WWII hat!) :-)

Guiseppe "Joseph" Guerino Gesuale
b. 3/11/1917 Ceprano, Italy
d. 8/30/2009 Dix Hills, NY
Immigrated to the USA via Ellis Island in 1921 with nothing
Served in the US Navy in WWII
Started his own business after the war and became very successful
Survived by 2 daughters, 6 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren

Joe & Florence Gesuale
circa 1942

Joe & Florence Gesuale
circa late 1980's - early 1990's