|
||||
|
In MemoriamNo longer with us . . .If you have recollections or personal remembrances please send them in so they can be posted here. |
||||
|
click to enlarge |
After battling cancer for the last 15 years Sissy left us at 1900 hrs on the 5th of June in Sontra Germany. She fought the good fight as long as she could and was able to pass at home with her life partner Angelika (Geli). She leaves behind her children, Cathie and Erik Clark, four grandchildren Talamay, Alyssa, Elizabeth, and Kylia. She also leaves behind her life partner Angelika Pointek. Sissy also leaves behind many ExRep friends who enjoyed knowing her, during her travels in the Tech Rep world. Sissy was born Sigrid Stade in Wolfenbuttel in what was then West Germany, but her father Kurt moved his family back to West Africa, where he had been interned by the British during WWII. From the age of two Sissy grew up on a plantation in Liberia where Kurt worked as a Tropical Agriculturalist. Sissy spent her early childhood in Liberia attendeding Mission schools where her talent for languages blossomed. She spoke seven languages fluently and without accent when we met, later I watched her learn Italian in a weeks time when we were working for NATO in the Italian Alps. |
|||
|
After completing the German school in Las Palmas, she went on to Bonn for her higher education, returning to Las Palmas in the Canaries when she graduated. Sissy and I met in Las Palmas in a bar run by a Dutch gal, I told TJ the day I met her that I was going to marry her, he thought I was nuts, but then TJ always thought I was nuts.. She was a hit with the Bendix crowd from the NASA site, including TJ "Groovy" Larson, "French" Kirkland and everyone else she came in contact with. After Apollo 11 I left Bendix and the NASA work and traveled to Germany with Sissy and ended up working on the NATO ACE High over the Alps troposcatter system for Marconi, first at the German Air Force site near Landsthul, and latter on, at the Italian Air Force site at Dosso Dei Galli in the Alps. Once again Sissy was a hit with everyone she came into contact with, Phil Pugsly, Matt Snodgrass, Gram Lineal and "young" George Tory from Marconi as well as folks like Herr Heinze from die Grunne Latterne in Landstul, and the German and Italian air force guys I worked with and the folks in all the little villages in the Val Trompia north of Brescia in Italy. After the NATO job we returned to the states, and were married in New Orleans. I think she started having second thoughts when I asked one of the witnesses what the date was and the Judge, both witnesses, the court clerk and I all started rolling around the floor laughing. It was December the 7th. From New Orleans I went on to Iran and Sissy returned to Italy where she found work as a translator in Riccione, my niece Debbie traveled that year and she and Sissy both had a great time spending a summer on the Adriatic. Sissy was able to join me in Iran, and once again was a hit with all the Philco people on the Peace Ruby project, and was liked by all of the Iranian folks we came into contact with. Some names from that period include Carl and Helen Mercado, Denny (Hoot) Gibson, Frank Kasperzak, Liz Becker, Suzy from the IPO and so many more that there is no way I can remember them all. Learning to ski in the Alps Click picture to enlarge
After Nigeria I ended up back in Germany once again working on the Augsburg Upgrade project for Jack Robeson, after the project settled down Sissy and Erik were able to join me and we settled down in Stuttgart for a while. When the O&M phase of the Augsburg Upgrade job finished, I went back alone to Iran and working on the overbuild of the Teheran to Asadabad backhaul, and then back to Germany to work on the Wassekuppe radar job, Cathie had joined us by then so we decided that Sissy and the kids would live down south and I would do a weekly Yo-Yo for as long as the job lasted. After the 'Kuppe project I ended up in Algeria on the Algerian DomSat job, and after a few months Sissy and the kids were able to join me in Algiers, after sailing on a Algerian ship from Marseilles to Algers. I ended up working at the Lahkdaria A station and we were able to rent a home out there. Once again Sissy was really liked by all the GTE staff as well as the Algerian technical staff, and all of the locals and other expatriates that we came into contact with, some names that remain with me are Joe and Teresa Mendoza, Richard (Dick) Rupert and his wife. We had a number of adventures including the grand annual "Convocation" where every foreigner in Algeria had to report to the local police station, on the same day. Click to Enlarge Christmas 40 years ago
I am mentioning all of these places to show what a good sport Sissy was, willing to put up with my eternal wanderlust, packing up the family and moving around the world to live in strange places and put up with improbable adventures while trying to raise a family. I am also writing it so that our kids Cathie and Erik, who do not really remember these days, and our grandkids will have an idea of what a special person their Mom and Grandma was.
I hope that some of our friends from these years can chime in and share their special memories about Sissy. From Cathie As dad emailed people, Sissy passed away on June 5th. A month or so back they found tumors growing in her head or on her brain and they determined, after a couple weeks of treatment, that nothing was stopping the growth. They sent her home. At this time she was unresponsive and simply sleeping. Dr's came to the house 6-8 times a day to give pain meds. On Tuesday she showed signs of shutting down and later that evening she passed away. It was rough to be the person getting the news but I am glad I was able to help them and I am glad she is no longer in pain. My plan at this time is to send flowers to Geli, if others would like to do so also the address is
Angelika Piontek
Sissy It is with great grief that we learned of Sissy’s passing. We regret that we did not have more time to spend with her and that we failed to keep in touch with her over the years. As with most expats, the world is our home and in moving around, we quickly lose touch with our friends. We remember Sissy with fondness as she was a ray of sunshine during our brief friendship. We met Sissy in Algeria when we were posted in the small mountain town of Lakdaria. She was very mischievous and always had a pixy smile for everyone. We remember her as fun loving, but not afraid to speak her mind. She could get angry when the occasion required, but she was a lady. She always enjoyed a good joke. She laughed so hard when she heard that, “Mother,” Jay’s housekeeper, had washed his new leather coat which he had just brought from Spain. After it dried, the coat was stiff as a board and would have fit a doll. On another trip, Jay purchased an electric device to light the gas burners on his stove. Mother washer the lighter and put it out to dry. Jay came home to cook a meal. When he plugged the lighter into the wall and tried to light the stove, he got a good shock. He was very upset at Mother, who spoke no English, but Sissy thought it was funny. She loved her food, like most of us, but she didn’t like to cook. Since pork is an unknown delicacy in Arab countries Sissy enjoyed bragging after she somehow got invited to a friend’s house to enjoy pork chops. I think she told all the expats about how good those chops were. We miss her. Our wish for those who knew Sissy is that she will not be forgotten. Leo Buscaglia said “Though some day we all have to part with those we love, they are not lost. We are always better for having loved. In this way, love transcends even death.” Our deepest condolences to the family, McLean, VA
|
||||
