Gone Too Soon

***This post was transferred from the Finding Horace blog.***

Originally published on Finding Horace 26 Feb. 2023.

My grandfather was Matteo (Martin) Francisco Palermo.  Everyone called him Mike. At the young, young age of 38, Grandpa Martin succumbed to…something.  My grandmother claimed he died because the nurse left the window of his room open after a surgery.  My mother suspects he died from mesothelioma because he worked in the naval stockyards.  I believe his death certificate cites pneumonia. My dad doesn’t have anything to say concerning it because Grandpa Martin actually died the February before my dad was born.  Grandpa left behind 1 daughter from his first marriage, Dolores, and 2 children (my aunt, 3, and dad, unborn) from his second marriage. 

Honestly, I grew up thinking my step grandfather, Ralph, was my actual grandfather. I don’t remember when I found out about Grandpa Martin, but I do know that when I did, no one mentioned he had an additional child from a previous marriage.  I would eventually find her children through the magic of Ancestry.  By then, she was long dead, so I couldn’t ask her anything about what Grandpa Martin had been like.  The lovely photo included in this post is her with Grandpa Martin, and he certainly looks like a doting father.  

I’m not sure where I’m trying to go with this except that, at 38, he should have had the best years of his life ahead of him.  He should have been there to laugh with my grandmother over the antics of the children. Maybe they would even have added another child or two to the mix. He should have lived to see those children grow up and get married. His beautiful smile would have stolen the show at any momentous occasion. He should have lived to share his jokes with his beloved brothers and sisters-in-law in their various homes in New York.  (It is worth noting that he is buried next to my great grandparents - his in-laws; they wanted it that way.) He should have been able to spend his waning years with his beautiful wife by his side and his grandchildren at his knee.  He would eventually have 7 of them, 6 girls and one boy.

He missed out on his son and all 7 of his grandchildren. From what I have been told, we missed out, too.

Martin Palermo - Gone Too Soon

August 25, 1910 - February 9, 1949