DEAR EDITOR:

Father is an ordinary man. He was born the youngest of 10 siblings living in a two-bedroom house in the city. As a teen he worked a part time job after school to help the family forgoing many youthful activities. At a time of “conflict”, out of patriotism and practicality he joined the military. After serving his country he married Mom. He did not have time to chase his dreams or follow his passion. They had kids to care for. Happiness was not a goal but an end from its means. He was a policeman, a shift worker and a union steward fighting for his brothers’ concerns. He had a side hustle before side hustles were cool. As many men of that time and place, he belonged to an informal mutual aid society composed of friends and co-workers trading knowledge and labor to fix cars, pour concrete and dig French drains. Licensed tradesmen had thousands of unpaid competitors in their midst. When the steel mill left town in his golden years depriving him of a promised nest egg, without bitterness he turned experience into new skills, working well past retirement.

Dad is prone to disagreement, as likely to argue the finer points of playing a pinochle hand as he is to spar over theology with his ordained sibling, not out of sport or ego but for his love of truth and his duty to defend it. He is a man of deep faith not often preaching the gospel but trying his best to live by its tenants. As a nonagenarian with age-related physical limitations, he faces daily life with acceptance, determination, and a good, humored nature.

He was an involved and loyal son, ever a faithful and loving husband and always a father — strong in will, gentle in heart. He taught a boy to be a man. Sometimes an ordinary man can live life extraordinarily.

MIKE TEVIS

New Castle, Pa.