Goodbye, Jerry

Jerry's Plaque Installed at Unitarian Church in Westport

Mom informs me that the plaque is now installed on the place where we scattered some of Dad's cremains in the Memorial Garden of the Unitarian Church in Westport. Mom plans to see it for the first time this weekend.

— Doug Davidoff

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

Goodbye to Post Office Box 710, Westport, Connecticut 06880

During all the years he practiced law in Westport, Connecticut, Dad's mailing address was Post Office Box 710 at the Westport Post Office. Now, of course, Dad has left us and it appears the U.S. Postal Service will leave its historic Westport Post Office building, too.

Dan Woog's "06880" blog about Westport alerts us to this. (And, don't you know, "06880" is Westport's ZIP code, so where better to read about the Westport Post Office?) The photo accompanying this post is from Dan's blog.

I can remember from a very early age walking into the Post Office with Dad and marveling at how letters got into the box, peering through the box to the inner workings of the Post Office behind the wall. The Westport Post Office is a not-terribly-striking example of WPA or Art Deco (or both) in civic architecture. 

But I have always liked the building. Until he moved his office to Riverside Avenue a mile or so downstream on the Saugatuck River, the Post Office was never more than a two or three block walk from Dad's office. He liked to get the mail on Saturdays, so that meant an automatic trip downtown. Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors of ice cream was next door to the east. The Westport Post Office is where I applied for my first passport, read the FBI's most wanted posters, and inevitably ran into someone that I knew or Dad knew, if I was with him.

From Dad, I knew the truth of an old piece of newspaper reporting advice: If you're stuck for a story or just landing in a new town on assignment, try the local post office as a place to run into people and find out what's going on.

For me, the Westport Post Office was an early connection to a civic life. I owe that to my father.

— Doug Davidoff

P.S. I wonder who uses Box 710 in Westport now.

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

Jerry Davidoff: An "Extraordinary Life" Featured in the Hartford Courant

 

This is wonderful affirmation.

The Hartford Courant, America's oldest continuously published newspaper and the leading newspaper in Connecticut, features Dad this Sunday in its "Extraordinary Life" feature. The headline is Jerry Davidoff Was 'A Drum Major For Justice.'

The weekly story profiles an interesting life led by a Connecticut Nutmegger who has died within the past few months. The series is written by Anne Hamilton of Hartford who learned about Dad in his final days because she is friends with my partner, Marta Flanagan. 

The article quotes Mom and my brother, John, as well as Dan Woog, Wayne Arnason, Anne Stanback, Tracy Sugarman, and me. Dad's oldest friend, Robert Fried, also spoke with Anne Hamilton -- but unfortunately they connected too late for Anne to consider using Robert's recollections in her story.

Like many newspapers, the Sunday Courant can be purchased on Saturday and much of the Sunday feature material, including "Extraordinary Life," is posted on the web on the Friday or Saturday preceding the Sunday. Which is to say that at this writing on Friday night, the feature is already available on the web.

The list of people featured every week by Anne Hamilton in "Extraordinary Life" reminds me of the potential and diversity of people in the world. It makes me want to connect with the families of other "Extraordinary Life" subjects in the Hartford area and across Connecticut.

And it reminds me of how much I miss Dad. And how much I appreciate his example.

-- Doug Davidoff

Doug's Eulogy for Jerry

My eulogy for Dad is entitled, "For the Love Which From Our Birth, Over and Around Us Lies," taken from the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth."

Download PDF of Doug's eulogy for Jerry.

-- Doug Davidoff

WestportNow.com Obituary for Jerry

As I catch up with correspondence about Dad that lagged for the past two weeks, I see I have neglected to post this link to the obit and wonderful comments on WestportNow.com. WestportNow is a great community news site founded by Gordon Joseloff, the former CBS news correspondent who today is first selectman of Westport.

The accompanying photo was taken by the Unitarian Universalist Association photographer at the General Assembly in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 2006 at which Mom and Dad were given the Distinguished Service Award.

-- Doug Davidoff