Father’s Day

By Ron O’Clair

My father had seven children, and was married to my mother for 20 years before they were divorced. I was the fifth of seven children that bared his name. I lost my father when I was just 18 years old, two years after my mother also passed away.

I did not have the benefit of having my parents around to guide me in my later years, but I can proudly say that the lessons they taught me while they were alive were lasting ones. My father John Edward O’Clair Sr. had a strong sense of right from wrong, and a healthy respect for the law, as do I.

He served in uniform to protect America from her enemies during World War 2, and did not shirk from his duty as so many did in later years by evading the draft for Vietnam. I put this down to his own ideals of what it is to be a man. A man does not fail to honor his obligations, or he could not hold his head high, proud to be a man. My father honored his word, and enjoyed a reputation of honesty, integrity, and earned his reputation the old fashioned way, he worked for it. Click to continue »

By Sue Moynagh

I have very few memories of my father, Donald Moynagh. He died in January 1957 at the age of 28 from complications following what should have been a routine operation. I was 4 years old at the time, but I remember saying goodbye as he packed to leave for the hospital. I also remember walking up Harrison Street with my Aunt Helen, heading towards Dirsa’s Funeral Parlor on Providence Street. She asked if I would like to give my father a flower and I said yes. I took the carnation she had plucked from a wreath and placed it in my father’s hand, alongside his rosary. A flag was draped over the coffin. At some level, I understood he would not be coming home again.

Other memories vary in length and clarity, like clips from a video or the grainy black and white snapshots in a photo album. I remember visiting his parents in East Brookfield. Their home was on Lake Lashaway where he loved to swim. I was playing in the shallow water while he swam further out. My mother and grandmother sat nearby, but I decided I wanted to “swim” to him. The next thing I remember was being under the water Click to continue »