R.I.P Papa

Charlie Schardin was my grandfather, my Papa, but I’m not sure if I can say that I knew the man.

I certainly knew the legend, the stories, and the myths that we built around him – every family has a person that casts a long shadow – shadow is the wrong word – with Papa it was more like a spotlight.  He had the power and the brilliance to blind you at times, but he always brought light to everyone and everything around him.

Papa was born into a working class neighborhood of San Francisco, and he barely got to know his father and eldest sister before they were taken away with tuberculosis.  His mother scrimped and saved and held the family together.  And much like his native city that rose from the rubble of the great quake just over a decade before he was born and a nation drew itself out of the great depression, so Papa cast himself into the story of America.  Through his hard work he got his education at UC Berkeley.  Through his smarts and savvy he got good jobs as electrical engineers and those jobs led him to being a pioneer in the fields of Radar and Computer Science.

His whirlwind romance with Dorothy, Nana, and their adventure driving across the country before the creation of interstate highways is the stuff of legends.  This was a man who was at Pearl Harbor, who shook the hand of Einstein, and who tapped Stormy Snively on the shoulder while she was marching in the parade at Disneyland.

His marriage of over 65 years, his children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren, will always know him, and love him by those two simple syllables, Papa.

Now your journey is over, your travels are through.  But the stories, the legends will live on, as a shining spotlight to remind us all on how to be better people, better family members, and just better.

Love you Papa.

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