Obituary of J. Ronald Corrao

J. Ronald Corrao, 78, of Burlington, Mass passed away peacefully, and surrounded by his family, at Mass General Hospital on Saturday, February 19, 2011 after a long and courageous battle with heart disease. He was the beloved husband of Joan M. (Hartwell) Corrao for 54 years. He is also survived by his children; Cheryl Kaufmann and her husband, Jorge, of Nashua, NH; John R. Corrao, Jr., and his wife, Elizabeth, of Auburn, NH; Christopher P. Corrao and his wife, Marie Elena, of New York, NY. His grandchildren, Angela and Kristina Kaufmann, Samantha Corrao, Nicolas Ronald Corrao, Dr. Jorge Kaufmann and Leslie Kaufmann, R.N., He is also survived by his close cousins Rosemarie Alfe and Loretta Evangelista. Ron was born in Boston in 1932 and grew up in Medford, Mass. He graduated from Medford High School and from Boston University. He served in the U.S. Army and received an honorable discharge. He was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (I.U.O.E.). Originally residing in Somerville, Mass, he and his wife moved to Burlington in 1964. He worked in the drilling and blasting industry for many years. Later, he worked as facility manager in various companies in the area. He most enjoyed spending time with his family, especially during the holidays, backyard cookouts and other family socials. In addition, he and his wife took many vacations together and enjoyed traveling the country. He had many other interests, in particular, WW II aircraft, air shows, automobiles and Civil War history. Later in life, he enjoyed sharing his new-found interest in the culinary arts. He had a love for the game of tennis and was a long-time member of the Burlington Swim and Tennis Club, where he served as Tennis Director for 14 years. He also served as the Club’s social function manager. He was fortunate to have developed numerous friendships through the game of tennis, many of which are very close friends to this day. Visitation will be Tuesday, February 22, 2011 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn Street, Burlington, Mass. A mass in celebration of his life will be held Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 10:00am at St. Margaret’s Church, Winn Street, Burlington, Mass. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Ron’s name may be made to the American Heart Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701, www.americanheart.org. For directions, obituary, & online guestbook see www.sullivanfuneralhome.net or www.saintmargaretschurch.net John' Eulogy Hello - my name is John and I am the oldest son of Joan and Ron and I have been given the honor to speak to you about the life my father – Ronald Corrao. There are so many things to say about my father. He had many facets to his personality and many phases to his life. He was born in Boston MA on March 25th 1932 (the same day as my mom but a few years earlier) Dad grew up in Medford, went to BU and served in the US Army. He married my mom in 1956. Cheryl came a year later, I was the middle child in 61 and Chris (my little brother) was the baby of the family in 1966. Pop loved us kids and when we all eventually became adults and married and he treated Jorge, Maria Elena and my wife Elizabeth just like they were kids of his own. He was a devoted husband. He and my mom have been married for 54 years (which is in itself a major accomplishment in this day and age). They have lived in the same house at 7 Ganley Drive here in Burlington for 47 of those 54 years. My father had two major phases of his professional life. He worked in the drilling and blasting business for many years clearing the way for bridges and roads throughout New England. He did the blasting for sections of 93 in NH, 95 heading towards Newburyport and many other locations. If you look to the left as you approach the Concord tolls on 93 you can see his handy work. When I was a kid he would take me to work with him during the summer. I was able to see how the whole process of loading the dynamite and arranging the blasting caps worked. I also got to actually press the button that set off the blast – which was very cool for a kid of about 10! Later in life when I was driving up to NH to ski or camp I would always point out to whoever was in the car that my dad blasted that ledge and would proceed to tell the entire story of how it worked. The 2nd half of his professional career he worked in facilities management and was quite successful. And even though he didn’t really like the cold, I think he preferred the drilling and blasting phase of his work life. I think it was because he could see clearly what he accomplished at the end of each day. Early on dad thought he was the disciplinarian in the house. He yelled a lot but his bark was far worse than his bite. There was a time when I didn’t eat my dinner and it was declared “no dessert”! (funny - how I say the same thing to my daughter Samantha now) We had chocolate covered brownies for dessert that night and needless to say I wasn’t happy I wasn’t going to get one. But later that evening, my father motioned for me to come to the basement where he had a big chocolate covered brownie and a glass of milk hidden for me over by his workbench. I sat there quietly eating my brownies with him telling me that the next time I need to eat my dinner. He concluded the lecture by saying “don’t tell your mother about this or she will kill me” - because we all knew who the disciplinarian was in the house! Pop was a humorous and quick witted man and he would often come up with some very funny one liners! Years ago - Chris and I were picking them up at Logan from one of the many adventures they took with Ralph and Loretta. When his luggage came down the chute and it was all banged up. Dad took one look at it and proclaimed (in front of everyone) “it looks like they tied it to the outside of the plane”! We cracked up and so did everyone who was around. Just recently we were at Cheryl’s taking down an old shed with a big saw. We had the radio on and “Freebird” was playing. For folks around my age - Freebird is a classic! Well - I decided to turn it up the volume (dad never liked loud music) and just when the best part of the song kicked in - dad looked at me and yelled “the chain saw sounds better than that song”. I laughed so hard I had to put down the saw and sit down on the grass! It was hilarious!! Like most people - My father had a few quirks! One was that he would never – ever throw anything away! The basement is full of stuff that has little or no use to anyone (except of course to him) This always drove my mom crazy! One quirk in particular was that he keep empty paint can. Once he finished painting, he would clean out the cans, peel off the labels and put them neatly on a shelf in the basement --with the other empty – shinny paint cans! He was forever asking me if I needed a paint can – which of course I never did and I am sure those paint cans are still there today. SO… - if anyone has the need for an empty paint can, please see me after the mass and I can set you up! Our family has been members of the Burlington Swim and Tennis Club for over 40 years. My father made lots of friends during this time and I see a lot of them here today! People like Mike Phelan, Don and Diane Cortese, and Bill Sussenburger have become lifelong friends. We had some pretty good years down at the “Club”. Although he didn’t go in the water much he loved to play tennis and we played a lot of tennis together. He is a lefty and had a tough serve (especially to the ad court!) Every once and a while he would get lucky and serve up an Ace or two! We had a lot of good matches together. As most of the Club crowd knows - he always marked his tennis balls with 3 red dots! We would find them all over the place marked with his Ron Corrao “3 dot” trademark! Rumor has it - that one of these 3 dotted balls was spotted on the Cape – but that has never been confirmed! I think those years at the Club were special years for him and I know they were special for me! I think one of the bigger events in his life was when he became a grandfather! Initially he was reluctant to embrace the grandfather role (maybe because that was a sign of getting older?) but when Angela was born and he saw how adorable she was - that changed quickly and he was hooked! From then on - he welcomed the role of grandfather. After Angela - Kristina came which made things twice as nice! Some years later - there were two more bundles of joys in his life in Samantha and Nicolas Ronald. As the years went on - I think my father’s most favorite thing to do was spend time with his family! No matter what idea we came up with he would also say YES! Mom would say “let me look at my calendar” and dad would just say “sounds good to me”. Not because he didn’t have anything else to do - but because what he liked to do most - was be with his family! We were together as a family for the all the major holiday’s and would alternate houses for the big events. In the summer we would go to a place called Chauncey Lobster pound up in Kittery ME. It is high-end - eat in the rough place (if there is such a thing) located right on the water. Dad loved that place and over the last 10 years we have been there many-many times As soon as the weather started to break he would always ask when does Chauncey’s open! It is also the place where he early on developed a special bond with my daughter Samantha while watching the blue barrels go up and down the chain! In addition, we also spent countless weekends at our house in Auburn and Cheryl’s in Nashua - all of us - generally just having a good time! My father taught me how to fix cars, wallpaper, paint, wire outlets and a host of - other handy things! He took us to buy our 1st cars and showed us the fine art of negotiating and keeping your cards close to your vest. He told me that I should make my living with my head vs my hands. Which was probably the most simple - but profound thing he ever said to me. But most of all - he taught me how to be a good person - more though his actions than his words! My father was a great man and I owe a lot to him for the man I am today. I love him - as we all do. Will we miss you - Pop! And of course – we will never forget you! Thank you The Match, written by Angela Kaufmann He was getting ready to face his toughest opponent, In his most important match. I knew that Gramps would put up a fight, This victory is one he needed to snatch. He was known as a man of courage and drive, Characteristics essential to exceed. Perhaps this is why he made it so far, He had the drive to succeed. In the beginning the game was even, A fair fight for all. Then things took a turn for the worst, And Gramps began to fall. The challenger quickly advanced the deuce, But my Gramps still put up a fight. He knew how important this win was to us, Though the end was in sight. So in the end, you see, my Grandfather won, His love is all around.