Goodbye, Jerry

Architecture in Jerry's Westport World

I'm certain that psychology has a name for the concept of a child separating himself or herself from a parent. But I cannot remember the name of the concept. Whatever it's called, it has been blurring my judgement for the past few minutes. I have debated whether to write about architecture in Westport in this blog about my father or whether to write in my personal blog.

I've decided to put the information here, because every building mentioned has a direct connection with Dad. If someone knows the name of the psychological concept I've been wrestling with, please let me know in a comment.

Ahem. About architecture. Yes!

Dad had a genuine appreciation for architecture and the quality of the built environment. He appreciated architecture through the ages and reveled in pointing it out to John and me. He liked architects and their work locally in Westport. He enjoyed framing his opinion of cities around their architecture. It pleased me that he liked the contemporary and historic architecture in Indianapolis during the time I lived there, and it pleased me a lot that he so enjoyed visiting the architectural gems created by the generosity of J. Irwin Miller in Columbus, Indiana.

So, in reading Dan Woog's post about the Westport Historical Society's exhibit "Westport Modern: When Cool was Hot!" it's intriguing to me that every building mentioned by Dan or by other people in the comments is a building that Dad interacted with. There's a reference in the comments to the County Federal building, which was built by the owners of the savings bank of the same name to replace the bank building that burned in 1966, taking Dad's law office with it. There are a few references to Hillspoint Elementary School. As a member of the Westport Board of Education, Dad was a steward of that building. He may have been on the board when the decision was made to close the school.

I wrote in the comments to Dan's post about Mildred and Bernie Davidoff's house, "The Barn."

 And, of course, few buildings were more important to Dad than the Unitarian Church in Westport. More, he also drove past the Civkin-designed home of the Schines at 6 High Point Road on his way up to our house at 20 High Point Road and counted the owners of Number 6, Joel and Rena Schine, among his friends.

Needless to say, I am eager to revisit Westport and view "Westport Modern: When Cool was Hot!"

— Doug Davidoff

John's Eulogy for Jerry

A while back, I published a link to a PDF download of my eulogy for Dad.

Since then, my brother, John Davidoff, published his eulogy on the blog for his business, Davidoff Communications in Chicago.

This is a link to John's eulogy. It's accompanied by a great photo of Dad and John, shown below.

Some of what John wrote:

Hi Dad. It’s John. “Big John!” as you bellowed out my whole life...

I have been taking stock of my own life, in relationship to yours, and reflecting on where I go from here … in carrying out the part of your legacy that is mine now to move forward.

Dad, I thank you. You were a warrior of the heart and an amazing romantic and dreamer. I will never forget when, just ten years old, you led our family all the way to Paris, to the Louvre, to stand below one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world -- the Winged Victory –- that all powerful feminine tribute to a sea battle…where you, Dad, told Doug and me of your wish that we would see “her … the Victoire” every morning on our way to school such that we would grow up to be strong and confident men. What an impression that has made on my life … still, here and now, almost forty years later.

It was a good eulogy, John.

— Doug Davidoff