A tribute to my dad on Father's Day

I wish I had better pictures for this tribute, but I know alot got destroyed in Hurricane Charley several years back. So I went through what I do have and got what I thought were the best ones I had on hand.

1981 - Chicago, IL

OMG, look at my mom's huge glasses! Hee hee hee.

Grandma's 77th birthday. Cedar Lake, IN

- 1988.

Dad, brother Dave, grandma and me.

Nice high water shorts Dawn!
I have no idea what year this was, early 90's, between 91-92 I reckon.
Cedar Lake, IN.



Dad and I at a Wynonna concert in Chicago IL.
Summer of '95 or '96
We went to 2 Wynonna concerts together. This picture is of the first one we went too.



He loved to go fishing!





Walking me down the aisle
June 2001
Ft. Riley KS




Father of the Bride
June 2001
Ft. Riley, KS





At a friends wedding

December 2003

Rennselear, IN





Shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

Me, Dave, dad, and cousin Jeni

January 2005



January 2005






Robert and dad fishing
May 2005
Englewood, FL






Dave and I at dad's memorial service

October 14, 2005

Merrillville, IN






Goodbye daddy. :-( I love you and miss you so much.


I wish you were still here on this earth.


It's hard to be without a dad especially when life just sucks and you don't know what to do next.


I miss your wisdom, your jokes, your rants about the crazy mexicans at work who drove you bonkers, what was going on at the Town Club (the bar), visiting you during the summertimes, taking a ride around the lake while slurping up Dairy Queens, going to the Lake County Fair, having bonfires each night, blowing off fireworks, having BBQ's with the neighbors, getting poison ivy when helping you with yard work, playing Rummy till the wee hours of the morning and always beating me at it, taking me to talent shows, buying me a guitar and letting me think I could be the next Wynonna, coming to my high school graduation, watching you play the lotto thinking you were going to strike it big, making funny faces till I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt, going to White Castle's for some 'sliders', hitting up Serelli's Beef on the way home from the airport and devouring the best roast beef sandwiches I ever had, Jays Potato Chips 'nuff said, trips to GARDS Laundy mat and how you always made me laugh by tossing your clothes in the washer and running like h*ll out of there to go across the street for some 'wacky weeds' (cigarettes), coming to the cottage year after year after year and nothing ever changed. You never got new furniture, no new carpet, no new bedding, never repainted the walls, it was like taking a walk back in time every year I came, "Uncle Dad", listening to Elvis 'Pretzle' as you called him and Pasty Cline, taking me Tabby and Buford down Bumpas Road and almost causing us to lose our lunch because of the steep hills, grocery shopping with you at Wilco, Keys, Dominick's and Aldi's, making the famous 'Casselburgers' to throw on the grill and much more...




So many more memories there are....



I love you daddy and I wish you were here so I can say Happy Father's Day to you.



Your daughter,



Dawn