Dale-Time

I miss Joe.

Joe was a non licensed guy that worked here at the funeral home for more than 40 years. He lived across the street from funeral home and his son Thom was my best friend growing up. Joe was as dedicated as any employee could be. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do. He made removals and made ambulance runs before we finally got out of that business. He worked visitations, set up flowers and delivered them. He was the parking lot general, working the main gate sending hand signals down to us so we’d get the cars in the right lanes. And hollering at us young snots if we didn’t do it right. He drove the coach and even sang solos in his younger days.

But the job that he did that I miss the most; Joe took care of the building. He knew where every valve and circuit breaker was. He even drew up a diagram and kept a note book of the whole place. He kept records of every paint job, wallpaper job, new equipment installation and sprinkler heads too. He knew to clean the roof drains in the fall and change the furnace filters every quarter. And if something broke, he knew who to call to get if fixed. He could do some of the repairs himself but he knew his limits. Plus Joe was really tight with a dollar, saving stuff just in case we needed it some day. And best thing about Joe was that you didn’t have to tell him to do any of it. He just did it. He knew what needed to be done and he did it

Now Joe was no angel. He was cantankerous old fart that loved to give you a piece of his mind. And everyone here had it out with him at one time or another. But damn, I sure wish he was around now.

When I started working full time I made it my mission to learn as much as I could about the building from Joe. I studied his charts and followed him around when he checked toilets, and faucets and the furnace thermo couples. I learned where he kept all the keys for the umpteen different doors we had and the little drawers that held the secret stash of Jewish yarmulkes and shrouds. Because I knew one day Joe wouldn’t be here and somebody needed to know where everything was.

Well, my main building has expanded and we added two more locations. More than 50,000 square feet in all. Roofs, plumbing, equipment, lawns, bushes, cars, telephone and alarm systems and two apartments. Sheese. And I don’t have Joe any more. He retired more than 15 years ago. I’ve tried to replace him on several occasions but nobody has come close to filling his shoes. So I do my best to keep the places up. I teach people a little at a time about all the different things that need to be done and where all the switches are. But there are days when it can be so overwhelming. I hope my Dad knows how lucky he was to have Joe.

If you’ve got a Joe, be real good to him and pay him well. And make sure you thank your lucky stars.

I’m Dale Clock. Thanks for listening.