Harold Charles Schreck, age 96. Peace to his memory.

My great-uncle Harold passed away yesterday. Tomorrow I will go to his calling hours and then funeral on Tuesday morning. I'll miss him. He and my Aunt Wald were like extra grandparents to me. He and my grandfather, Julius F. Schreck were brothers. Funny memories: When I was a kid they would sometimes babysit me. They had lamps that were shaped like potbelly stoves. We would take yard sticks and pretend to fish off the couch and cook the fish in the stoves. My imaginary friends Goldie & Joe also helped. Also, Aunt Wald & Uncle Harold taught me to eat liver and stewed tomatoes. I don't think I've eaten them any place else since I was a kid, and if my mom would make it I wouldn't eat it. But if Aunt Wald cooked it, it was delicious. I didn't know Uncle Harold was a Democrat or a Photographer. I remember him working for a photoshop when I was a kid, but I just thought he worked there. I don't ever remember seeing him with a camera. He was a Yankees fan, but Aunt Wald rooted for the Mets. When she died 2 years ago, my cousin Tommy put a Mets cap in the coffin to be buried with her. I'll probably see the same tomorrow with a Yankees cap. Uncle Harold died with only like half a lung. About 60+ years ago he had Tuberculosis and he was institutionalized in an sanatorium. Part of the treatment was the removal of portions of your lung but you were also institutionalized to quarenteen the sick. Imagine being in your 30's, happily married with kids at home and you get sick with TB, and have to be removed from your family for about 18 months. I think he stayed in the sanatorium in Saranac Lake, NY. Unlce Harold and my Grampa Schreck were brothers, who married best friends: Waldemine Schreck and Jane O'Brien (my Grandma) of Rome, NY. My Grandma was a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in Utica, NY where I was born, and Aunt Wald was a nurses aide there on the day I was born, March 19, 1967. I remember going to Bingo as a kid where he and my Grampa would call the numbers. I remember playing Michigan Rummy with them and some of their friends while camping in Chenango Forks State Park. I remember him working the beer tent with my father, uncles and Grampa at the St. Joseph's St. Patrick's Church annual German Picnic. Lots of really wonderful memories. Until they were seriously elderly Aunt Wald & Uncle Harold remembered all my birthdays, Christmas, and other significant events in my life with a card and small monetary gift. Towards the end of his life he was mostly blind, but I could speak to him and he knew it was me by the sound of my voice. That made me feel good. It's good to be part of a family.