A friend

I lost one of my oldest friends yesterday, we had known each other since I was ten and he was eleven.  His name was Allan Wyckhuys and we knew each other thru church.  He and his pal Tom Bernisconi served the first mass at St. Cletus Catholic Church in summer of 1960.  We got to know each other soon afterward. Al lived on Merideth street on the next block from Kelsey where we lived.  Warren was being split up in this period because of the tremendous growth and multiple schools being built.  The mass was celebrated at the South School gym with folding chairs for the attendees.  My dad was not yet a Catholic but would soon convert based on a faith learned at this church.  

In later years after high school, we worked together at United Shirt, a seller of casual mens wear.  I learned to smoke cigarettes there with Al and all the other employees.  It was a minimum wage job but that was ok since all I needed was a few bucks to spend.  

Al was a voracious saver,  having money from the paper route and on into this employment.  He was the only guy I ever knew that paid cash for his new car, a 1967 green Dodge Dart.  He marched into the dealership with is father, decided on the vehicle and brought with him 20 neatly folded $100 bills.  The salesman did not want the deal to go through.  But Al's dad, looking at a showroom with no customers,  convinced him to make the deal for $2000.  

He graduated from Warren High School a year before me.  I finished up at Charles Stewart Mott the following year,1968.  That summer, Al and old friend Tom took me on a road trip to Washington DC with a final destination of Ft. Lauderdale FL.  These were both really good, trustworthy guys and my parents knew they would look out for me.  We took a guided tour of our nations capital and got rained out,  then drove to our final destination in the Sunshine State.  We found a place to stay for 7 dollars a night with coffee and donuts for free and had a splendid time.

I got reacquainted with my buddy when we were at Oxford Towers.  He started reading my blog and started one up for himself.  He had a long career in education and a very strong Lutheran faith,  a lovely wife, Joanne with 3 daughters and numerous grandchildren.  His was a life well lived.