S Lua Syckes
February 5th, 2010Song: The Beatles – In My Life
This week my grandfather, S Lua Syckes passed away. It is the first death in my family and hit me pretty hard. I spoke to my Grandmother yesterday, and she was more consoling me than I was her (she’s so wonderful!)
Pop Pop (or Uncle Lu, or Dad, or Lu) had just celebrated his 91st birthday on January 20. There are not many people who get to be that old, and even less who get to experience his age the way he did: He played tennis, golf and the trumpet into his 80s!
Pop Pop has some cool stories to his life, and here are a few. He was the older of two brothers born to much older parents (I believe his father, Silas, was in his 40s!) Good ol’ Silas, he’s the one that started all this family name fun. Born Silas Lewis Syckes (a corruption of Sykes and Sycks), Silas went to dental school where, according to legend, changed his middle name to Lua based on a teacher’s handwriting. Apparently, he wanted a cool sign to stand out for his future dental office, and thought Lua would be neat. Silas was a dentist in wartime during World War I, and was away when Pop Pop was born. Pop Pop’s mother knew they wanted to name him with another S name, and keep the Lua, but decided to not name him until Silas returned. Well for whatever reason, they never got around to naming him and thus Pop Pop’s real first name is the letter S!
Pop Pop joined the Air Force and was trained to be a navigator in planes, and was so good he was asked to stay back and help teach. This was lucky for him, and thus me, as most of his classmates who did not stay back went to fight and died. With his college degree he started teaching at a high school.
…Where one of his students was my Grandmother. That’s right, Pop Pop married his student! Well, technically, ex-student. They settled in Cumberland, Maryland in what’s “affectionately” known as “the Dingle.” Two girls were born, Bobbie and Betsy, and then my Dad, Shelby followed in 1955. Pop Pop worked as the band director at the High School (my whole family has always been musical) where all three of his kids were students. Pop Pop and Mom Mom eventually moved to Phoenix, Arizona where I watched as a small, desert old folks community blossomed into a huge city. I always loved visiting out there, and if it weren’t for my pale skin, I’d seriously consider moving out there.
The blog photo captures two pretty awesome photos. The first is from one of either Dad or his sister’s yearbooks as Pop Pop was the school band director. His profile picture is him holding the three instruments he played: Tuba (sousaphone), percussion (snare drum) and, of course, trumpet. I believe these were the instruments he learned while going through college. It is my favorite photo of him, even though it’s decades before I was born. And what a great segue into photo #2: the first photo of Pop Pop and me (and Stan) together. I’m not sure who is who, but we both look pretty zonked. But Pop Pop is beaming!
Things I’ll take away from Pop Pop:
• The tradition his father started, is now onto me. In some ways I’m S Lua Syckes the 5th
• He loved music, and I mean LOVED music. So does Mom Mom, but Pop Pop lived and breathed it as a band director. I do to, and I always found it fun to talk to him about guitars (which he couldn’t really grasp as they’re technically sharp (#) instruments, and he was so used to flat (b) ones like trumpets. I have the same problem only reversed)
• He loved sports, especially golf and tennis. And while I am not a sports guy by any means, and I’m horrible at golf, I like playing and am decent at tennis. I’ve always associated watching a tennis match on TV with Pop Pop.
• His drink of choice, Vodka Tonic, which he drank just about every day is now my drink of choice.
Things I remember about Pop Pop:
• He had this hilarious noise he’d make, somewhere between an exclamation and a laugh that sound like a high pitched “ho!”
• He would always start a speech with “Well, I’m the oldest one here…”
• I loved hanging out with Pop Pop when he’d visit his younger brother Wilton. The relationship between Pop Pop and Wilton seemed so much fun, almost like a comedy act from the old days with Wilton as the funny one and Pop Pop as the straight man. On a side note, Wilton is possibly even more into music than Pop Pop, being a virtuoso violinist and trombonist, as well as a piano salesman.
• Pop Pop came to watch my middle and high school band rehearse once or twice. At the time it was a little nerve-wracking but all my teachers came to me afterwards and said they really enjoyed speaking to him, just as being their version of themselves from the earlier days. I think it was pretty sweet he showed up!
• In 2005 I drove Mom Mom and Pop Pop to Cumberland, Maryland – just the three of us. Along the ride I got to hear many stories I had never heard and ask them questions I never had the chance to ask while younger. It was a marvelous experience I will always treasure.
• He and Mom Mom were married for 63 years. That’s pretty impossible nowadays. They had so much fun together, I loved visiting their place, and they had so much love for each other. It’s a blueprint I’d like to come close to.
There’s a lot more to say, but I think this is enough for my blog.
Goodbye Pop Pop. I’m going to miss you.
Updates:
Added Full House: The Complete Series to Current Interests
Added JD to the Howard Stern page
Removed Elementary theme
2005-2010 Steve Syckes and is for private entertainment purposes only
Great writing, as usual. Here is my reaction to Pop Pop’s passing.
totally love this post (don’t know why I’m just reading it)
Grandparents certainly are special, and it’s so neat that he started the Lua and S name tradition.
That pic of you and Stan as babies is sooo cute!
Thankyou, I never knew this, thankyou.