MEMORIES
CHARLIE JOY
I'm so sorry to here of your father's passing but I'm sure you can all rejoice and find comfort in what was a remarkable and well lived life. Your father is someone I thought of often and shared stories of Eliot with many friends.
I first met Eliot through a mutual friend when he was looking for a casket for Lily. I own a custom furniture shop that specializes in kit furniture and your dad was looking for a casket that was a kit. His idea was that when Lily died, her casket, which was stored beneath her bed as a ready to assemble kit, could be quickly put together and she would be swiftly and efficiently off to the cemetery! We made the first casket prototype and your father just loved it. It was built out of standard construction plywood and was quite crude. It was never meant to be the final design but Eliot thought it was perfect! saying, " who the **** are you trying to impress at this point" A few days later he brought your brother to our shop for approval and Jeff was not impressed. He thought the casket kit beneath the bed was a bit odd ( I agreed!) and that perhaps something more traditional and refined would be a better way to go. We eventually settled on a design that made everyone happy. Lily even came by the shop more than once to see the progress on her casket; Eliot happily walking her through our warehouse shop in MPLS. What a rare and wonderful son he was!
When your dad bought his yellow Volkswagen he was so proud of that car and he would come over to the shop and chat and we'd go to lunch. His unannounced visits were always welcome and for years he would just show up out of the blue.
When we were in need of some temporary employees for a large project, Eliot thought he might be able to help. He told us he'd been helping some newly arrived Russians get on their feet and that they would be happy to come over to the shop to help us out. The next day, ten people showed up ranging in age from about 16 to 70. Only Giary spoke English and informed us that among the group of men were a physicist, a concert pianist and a college professor. We had them drilling 300,000 holes in coat trees. In between the numerous breaks for vodka and cigarettes your dad would stop by and check on everyone's progress and it was clear how much he was loved and respected by our extremely over qualified crew.
Thanks to your father we still build caskets for the Chevra Kavod Hamet and the crazy, funny, wonderful stories involving your father will go on and on and on.....
With warm regards and sympathy,
Charlie Joy
CHARLIE JOY
I'm so sorry to here of your father's passing but I'm sure you can all rejoice and find comfort in what was a remarkable and well lived life. Your father is someone I thought of often and shared stories of Eliot with many friends.
I first met Eliot through a mutual friend when he was looking for a casket for Lily. I own a custom furniture shop that specializes in kit furniture and your dad was looking for a casket that was a kit. His idea was that when Lily died, her casket, which was stored beneath her bed as a ready to assemble kit, could be quickly put together and she would be swiftly and efficiently off to the cemetery! We made the first casket prototype and your father just loved it. It was built out of standard construction plywood and was quite crude. It was never meant to be the final design but Eliot thought it was perfect! saying, " who the **** are you trying to impress at this point" A few days later he brought your brother to our shop for approval and Jeff was not impressed. He thought the casket kit beneath the bed was a bit odd ( I agreed!) and that perhaps something more traditional and refined would be a better way to go. We eventually settled on a design that made everyone happy. Lily even came by the shop more than once to see the progress on her casket; Eliot happily walking her through our warehouse shop in MPLS. What a rare and wonderful son he was!
When your dad bought his yellow Volkswagen he was so proud of that car and he would come over to the shop and chat and we'd go to lunch. His unannounced visits were always welcome and for years he would just show up out of the blue.
When we were in need of some temporary employees for a large project, Eliot thought he might be able to help. He told us he'd been helping some newly arrived Russians get on their feet and that they would be happy to come over to the shop to help us out. The next day, ten people showed up ranging in age from about 16 to 70. Only Giary spoke English and informed us that among the group of men were a physicist, a concert pianist and a college professor. We had them drilling 300,000 holes in coat trees. In between the numerous breaks for vodka and cigarettes your dad would stop by and check on everyone's progress and it was clear how much he was loved and respected by our extremely over qualified crew.
Thanks to your father we still build caskets for the Chevra Kavod Hamet and the crazy, funny, wonderful stories involving your father will go on and on and on.....
With warm regards and sympathy,
Charlie Joy