In Memoriam

• Christmas Day, 2006: My Dad, Bob Balewicz, passed away at 76.

   

  It's kinda old, y'all have read it in my bios, articles, etc...but I'll repeat some of it for posterity

  • The story of how he took me into the woods of Canada on his back, so starting me in freshwater fishing.  You see my mom was from Grand Falls, Canada, right over the Maine border. He met her while he was stationed at Loring Air Force base, they married (u should see those pics, it was 25 below zero!) & they lived up there for a few years, before he moved back to Carteret, where I was born, where my Grandmother lived for 75 years, where we all went to St. Joseph's RC church, dad being eulogized there on his passing.

  • And the fact that I "grew up" on the Raritan Bay, with my dad encouraging me with little aluminum outboard boats, graduating up & up in size & reach until we hit the 'Canyons.

  • And that we have had, luckily, in our family a house at Chadwick Beach for over 60 years.

  • It's all added up to a lifetime of fishing, boating and a complete love of the outdoors for me. But what did I learn from him?

    • Patience. That some days you catch, others you just fish.

    • Quiet. Shut up and fish.

    • Work ethic. To this day, some of his early charges in the Pipefitters Union call me (by mistake) & relate just what it was like to apprentice under my dad...& his dad.

    • Faith. For a guy who went to church every day he could, what better day to enter Heaven than on Christ's birthday. He was 'prepared'.

My dad started skiing when he was 46 years old. I had already been skiing for 12 years, but we immediately took day trips & 2-3 dayers to VT. This pic was from our last day skiing together at Okemo, just a little over three years ago. He had, only two months earlier, had triple-bypass & as usual, had come back strong.