Remembering Grandpa Erny



Grandpa in his younger years.

My grandpa Erny died peacefully Friday night surrounded by his children at the rip old age of 100 years old. I have been preparing for this since I visited him last summer so I was somewhat relieved when I learned of his passing.

When I last saw him, he was not the same Grandpa Erny that I remembered. He had become frightfully skinny – he was already skinny, but this last time he was horribly skinny. He was very week and walking with a cane – I had never seen him with a cane. I remember trying to help him up from the chair and he was so week that I felt like I was going to break him when I picked him from the chair – I had to have my dad (his son) come and help me. When he spoke, his words were very mumbly and unclear and he kept falling asleep during conversation. At that point and time, it was like my old Grandpa Erny had already died and I couldn’t bear to see him the way he was.  I knew I had to hold on to the memories of my old Grandpa Erny and realize that he was gone.

He had been asking to be with my grandma, Alice, who died in 2007, ever since she died. This is what he wanted and I don’t blame him one bit. I can only imagine the look on his face when he sees her as she greets him into heaven and thinking about that brings me great comfort. It’s just sad thinking I will not have either of them in my life again.

I will miss his laugh – I can hear it in my head right now and it’s so adorable! I will miss him telling me stories about growing up and our mornings when we would watch the birds from his porch. He made the best bird sounds ever! I will miss the evenings when my sister and I would play cards with both of them. I will miss hearing about his beloved garden and grandma’s rhubarb jam she made from the garden. I will miss hearing about his adventures with his motorcycles – he was very much into them as a young fellow. He had a motorcycle shop in which he met my grandma at. He would jump through fire hoops and he even took a honeymoon to Montana in a side car which is what I will leave you with. A few years ago, Antique Motorcycle, did an article on my grandparents and how they met, etc. It’s short and sweet (& probably could have been written better).  

A Honeymoon to Remember

Shortly after his discharge from the service, Erny met his future wife Alice Erdmanczyk. Alice's brother, Lenny, hung out a lot at the Yeske brother's shop a lot. One day Alice joined her brother when he went to the dealership. Spying a new Harley still in the crate, Alice asked Erny who it belonged to. Erny admitted that it was his, and when pressed further by Alice, he explained that it was still in the crate because he simply hadn't had time to put it together. "Why don't you put it together and take me for a ride?" Perhaps that was just the thing a busy bachelor needed to hear in order to prompt him to make the time to put his bike together. Erny and Alice went for many rides, and eventually they were married in September 1948. "He had to marry me," said Alice. "He couldn't spell or pronounce my last name." Alice and Erny had two Sons, Arthur [my dad] and Larry, and one daughter, Mary. They have had many great memories of trips including their first long ride together, a five-week honeymoon to Montana.

They were married for nearly 60 years. I will be wearing this beautiful necklace to his funeral tomorrow. It was my grandma Alice's.

Love and miss you both forever!