Dad – A Life Incredibly Lived
(updated Oct. 9, 2015)
(updated Oct. 9, 2015)
- He was a marketing marvel, he would try every which way to get his message out. He wasn’t afraid to contact newspapers and TV about what he was doing. His passion was to help and connect people. He was consummately curious. He was a whirling dervish.
- Mom would say he was the "headline guy" – that he wasn’t interested in details - but when he was passionate about something, he was consumed by it. Almost everything interested him.
- He loved going to the library. He loved You Tube.
- Around 1941 Dad was living in Cleveland, OH and changed his last name from Rosenfield to Royce. He had been feeling the effects of anti-Semitism given his “Jewish sounding” last name. He saw the name in a phone book and thought it sounded good.
- Dad achieved Eagle Scout status at 16 and went by himself to international Eagle Scout jamboree festive in Holland in 1937.
- In WWII he initially taught at a flight school in Cleveland and then afterwards became a commissioned officer in the Navy. He served on oil tankers in the South Pacific.
- He was on the debate team at West High School in south Minneapolis and in college. Around 1939 one of his U of M debate teammates was Hubert H. Humphrey. (Humphrey served as US vice-president 1965 – 1969.)
- Around 1960, Dad contacted Walter Mondale, then attorney general for the State of Minnesota, about his suspicions that Ted Herman, his business lawyer, was involved in illegal investments. Herman was in fact trying to hide his money problems by using a Ponzi scheme. Dad worked with Mondale in getting Herman convicted and sent to prison. Many of Dad and Mom’s friends were financially hurt. (Mondale served as US vice-president 1977 – 1981.)
- Dad told me a story once while we were driving near the Mayo Clinic. He said that when he was learning to fly, he and a friend each took out a plane for a full day of practice. While flying that day, Dad suddenly realized that his friend was nowhere in the clouds and got very worried. He circled back and saw that everything was OK but that the grounded plane was out of fuel. Dad quickly landed and together they found a farmer and asked for an enema tube so they could siphon gas from his plane to his friend’s. Afterwards they returned the enema and were on their way.
DAD’S SECRET SAUCE
- Dad acted on his interests. He was consummately curious. He wasn’t afraid to drop a hobby. He wasn’t afraid to fail, especially later in life. He like things that were “unique” and pursued anything that genuinely excited him. He loved to join “teams” of people who were active, involved, and making a difference. He was genuinely interested in meeting new people and hearing their ideas.
- He had small, yellow lined pads for his “to-do” lists . . . crossing out items as he completed them.
- Dad and Mom always made a point to ask about other people, their families, lives, etc. and taught us all to do the same. To them it was a measure of good taste and proper manners.
- Same old, same old bored him. He was easily bored.
- Dad liked to connect people, get them together, and create opportunities. He reached out to everyone and organized lunches, outings, etc.
- He saw changes and limitations as opportunities.
- He wrote down the names of Patz’s siblings and their children; he always asked about everyone.
- When we took away the car at age 84, Dad pouted for a few days then dove in learning and conquering the bus system. In his apartment he hung MTC maps, bragged that he lived on a bus line (and that everyone should as well), and rode the buses just for fun. Using the buses was a source of pride for him.
- He had the ability to fall asleep instantly and anywhere.
WHAT PEOPLE SAID ABOUT HIM
- Paraphrasing Patz: Dad respected people not because of their fancy titles, ties, or expensive attaché cases, he never cared about those things. His title was being a “mensch.” He treated people the way they really wanted to be treated. His “Kodak” moment was his generosity. And even when people didn’t thank him for his gifts, he realized his generous acts were not a way of keeping score.
- Amos Heilicher: Elliott’s bumper sticker should read: “He raised the art of living to the art of giving.”
- Judy: What she learned from Dad - his generosity, his involvement with others, and his energy to explore new hobbies and interests. He showed us the right way to grow old: keep busy, keep active, keep exercising.
- Al Sklader: “You’ve heard of the rich and famous, in Elliott’s case it’s the unusual and the odd!”
- According to Shiro Katigiri, he and Dad met for the first time in the men’s room at Air Cargo City. Apparently Dad leaned over and said to Shiro, “Oh, so I see Japanese men are circumcised too.”
FAMOUS SAYINGS
- “When am I going to retire? I’m not tired yet!
- “I don’t keep the other guy’s books.”
- “Don’t waste a minute, life goes fast.”
- “Scream a little louder I can’t hear you.” We would be playing in the living room and Dad was taking a nap before dinner. None of the kids ever wanted to wake him because he woke up with a start and it frightened us.
- “Tell him I can’t talk right now, I’m in a funny position.” Dad made a silly pose in his Groves Kelco office when a salesman called him and he didn’t want to talk or lie.
- “What percentage of the time ____________?” This was his perennial question and it didn’t matter what the topic was. Also, almost every night at dinner he would ask one of us to go downstairs to bring up a “letter” from the World Book Encyclopedia collection.
- “Why give money to Hallmark, make your own cards.”
- “Now that’s a good problem to have.”
"AHEAD OF HIS TIME" IDEAS
- Dad thought that since we kids could watch endless hours of one TV, we must be able to watch multiple TV’s at once. He set up four small TV’s on top of the huge color TV console in the family room to test his theory. The experiment didn’t last long.
- He wanted us to use nametags at every event, no matter how fancy.
- He religiously put his name on everything and more than once it helped him and us get our lost stuff back.
- He taped and hid keys in tire wheels (the good old days) and outside of wherever he lived.
- After losing a few hearing aides, Dad permanently attached them to his glasses using fishing wire.
- After almost starting a fire at the Parkshore Apt building when he forgot he was making something AND left apartment, Dad committed to always putting on the oven light to remind him whenever he was cooking.
- In the 1960’s: On the dashboard of Mom’s car he hung a phone receiver with a long cord. When we stopped at a stoplight, the front seat passenger would lean out the window holding the phone and say to the next car, “It’s for you!”
- When they built the house, in the kitchen floor the inserted a covered opening so we, OK Ila, could sweep debris right into it.
- To avoid getting books wet while reading in the bathtub (a favorite ritual of his), he hung the book over the water by: 1) threading a cord through a book, 2) hanging a chain and hook from the ceiling, and 3) hooking the book so that it was suspended at a comfortable reading level.
- Around 92 yrs old he was determined to find a ‘younger’ woman who would drive him to Florida in the winter. He found one woman but she was a smoker. He also signed up for the Jewish dating website around the same time.
- Growing up he put vocabulary words he wanted us to on the bricks in the kitchen.
- When video cameras became available, he built a stage in the basement to interview family and friends. He quickly saw the potential.
- In 1996, Dad came up with the idea for the Hennepin County Library system: "Too Hot to Hold On To: Buy, Read and Donate." People who bought hardcover bestsellers were asked to donate them after reading them to help with providing high demand books.
- For the monthly newsletter at Parkshore, Dad convinced the management to allow him to interview fellow residents and write articles about their lives.
- Almost every morning while living at Parkshore and his E & G apartment, he would walk the whole area and collect the garbage.
- After the war he only wore bow ties, no neckties.
- In the early 1980’s he made a room reservation at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City for December 31, 1999. At first the hotel didn’t want to do it.
- He bought cases of things he loved: “Exploding” (and dangerous) Chinese birthday candles, perpetual motion drinking bird gadgets, varieties of wines in a box (which are now very much the fashion)
- In 1955 Mom took Garry, Judy and Jeff to Los Angeles to visit her family. He became sick and was diagnosed and hospitalized with polio (at the height of the polio epidemic). Mom and Dad wanted to bring him back to Minneapolis, but didn't know how to get him home (as he needed to lie on his back the whole time)? Dad convinced the pilot and flight attendants to let Garry lie in the aisle during the flight home.
- Dad learned a secret code in pharmacy school that he used when he needed to hide passwords, etc. (others in the family now also use it). He wrote out the word "pharmocist" (misspelled on purpose) and assigned a number to each letter. Ex: one code for his computer was AS IS = 3989.
- P = 1
- H = 2
- A = 3
- R = 4
- M = 5
- O = 6
- C = 7
- I = 8
- S = 9
- T = 0
VOLUNTEERED WITH, DONATED TO & FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED
- At Park Nicollet Clinic. Dad and Jeff retrofitted the coffee cart to make it safer. He dressed up as Dr. Seuss and patients loved it.
- Played the tuba and helped out with St. Louis Park middle school band with Randy Moore
- Kiwanis, which helps communities around the USA.
- In December 2013, Dad and Bat-Sheva stood outside Byerly’s in St. Louis Park, rang the bell and asked for donations to the Salvation Army.
- Dad was honored by the City of St. Louis Park on October 19, 2015. Details to follow.
- Rotary Club, St. Louis Park
- Amicus - this organization helps inmates connect with mentors who will help them after are released from prison. Dad also wrote to two brothers who were in prison because of drug offences. He became active in trying to change to try and decriminalize the drug laws.
- He played tuba for the Minneapolis Police Band and the John Phillips Sousa Band. When he gave up the tuba he stayed on as an usher.
- He and Jeff were members of the original “Chevra Kavod Hamet” (Jewish Burial Society) at Adath Jeshurun Synagogue. Dad came up with the design and protype of a kosher pine wood casket that only cost $125. (It is stilled used at Adath.)
- PACER Center: (Parents Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights). He was on the first advisory board.
- STEP: (St. Louis Park Emergency Program)
- Wayside Center, next to Parkshore Apartments
- Kiwanis
- Ronald McDonald House: Read Dr. Suess books to kids dressed up as the Cat in the Hat
- Helping Paws
- Dad got every excited about “Rock and Read,” a non-profit that helped kids to learn to read through computer singing programs.
- He created his own charity, Minnesota Eclectic Foundation
- At the Minneapolis JCC: Dad raised enough money to re-carpet the theater by sending letters to his friends asking for money. The JCC board was not being happy with him. He helped build a harpsichord from a kit and supported their music program. He was excited about the Silver Sneakers (senior exercise program) and was involved up until he got sick.
- Dad sent instruments to music students in Israel, made it a community effort and was not shy about asking people to donate instruments or to take them on the airplane. His idea helped many young Israeli musicians.
- He was active in the St. Louis Park Successful Aging Initiative program at Park Nicollet and Methodist Hospital.
APPEARED ON TV
- Kare 11, slide at water park
- Marching with Tuba for exercise
- Dr. Suess
- "Joggling" – jogging and juggling together. He competed and won a national competition. He was the only one competing in his age group.
- Hollidazzle Parade marching
BUSINESS & BUSINESS IDEAS
- Dad was an ace promoter. He was always looking for ways to get his ideas (and himself) in the paper or on television.
- In his 20’s started business where he contacted parents of newborns, which were listed in the paper, and went to their houses to take baby pictures
- Thrifty Drug – the family’s drug store business
- Groves Kelco – he worked with his brother’s Arnold and Leonard and they were partners with the Weiner family. Dad instituted a profit-sharing benefit for the employees.
- Started trade organization: Toiletries Manufacturers Association
- Air Cargo City
- Royce Development and Construction Company
- Built industrial buildings
- Ipana (see Time Magazine article)
- Fresca Douche Powder (see Time Magazine article)
- In his 90’s he took a puzzle design from remembered from his childhood and saw it as a novel idea for a marketing tool for business recognition. In his apartment he created an assembly line and manufactured and had two clients, an insurance company (which re-ordered) and a CPA firm.
- He had an idea about selling the empty space on the back of transfer tickets so area business could market their products. He pitched the idea to the MTC but they weren’t interested.
- He tried to corner the eggs, goldfish, and light bulb markets.
- In the 1970’s people started to recycle newspapers. Many non-profits had paper drives to raise money. Dad, Garry and Jeff came up with an novel idea using folded cardboard and twine in order to help people store and bundle newspapers as they were piling up.
BUILT FOR HIS FAMILY
- Ice skating rink
- Roller coaster
- Tree house
- Darkroom in basement
MOVED THROUGH SPACE (alone & with his kids)
- Flew his plane along Mississippi river and tried to fly under bridges, that’s how his mom and dad learned that he was studying flying at the U of M. This was confirmed by Gary Goldetsky who said that Dad told him he did it. (see video of Dad describing it at his 83rd surprise birthday party at 1:06:20.)
- Falling
- Canoeing and Boating
- Jogging
- Juggling (or combined Joggling)
- Riding in parades, in Edina and St. Louis Park
- Flying planes
- Gliding
- Biking – unicycle, tall bikes, recumbent
- Jogged from place to place, he didn’t walk
- Trampoline – jumped and perfected the back drop
- Unicyling – the unicycle was at the house
- Ice Skating at Parade Stadium
- Pogo stick
- Tennis
- Yoyos
- Stilts
- Skateboards were at the house: our street was hangout for skateboards who loved “Huntington Hill”. We ended being the emergency room for the kids who got hurt.
- Bought a pick-up truck and towed a three wheeler RV with Mom. Both were donated not too long after they were bought!
FUN CARS WE OWNED
- Antique Rolls Royce cars. See pictures of family dressed up.
- 1960 restored Mustang Convertible
- VW Bugs
THE ODD AND THE UNUSUAL
- Dressed up as the Cat and The Hat (tail and all), called himself Dr. Suess, and rode his decked out “Suessamobile” at various parades. He also read to kids at the Ronald McDonald house.
- He wore and collected colorful and crazy hats and liked to attach eye-catching pins to them.
- Learned how to make balloon animals. To raise money for the Ronald McDonald house, he traveled by bus dressed as Dr. Suess to the Mpls Farmer’s Market and set up pop-up booth. He made balloon animals for the kids and families donated money. He raised a couple hundred dollars that way.
- He was by far the oldest (and most famous) paid Food E sampler at the St. Louis Park Byerly’s. He’d say when sampling Swiss cheese: “No extra charge for the holes!” Initially he wore various hats to work, including the famous cheese hat, but was by the corporate office to stop. A Byerly’s customer complained that Dad’s free speech rights were being stifled.
- For engagement presents, he gave his sons-in-law a toolbox filled with practical tools.
- When he sold the Golden Valley house he held a garage sale where everything was free.
- He was passionate about fire ants and gave Professor Walter Tschinkel an idea about sending a weather balloon with video camera attached to record ants mating! Dad bought the equipment but the weather prevented them from seeing if it worked.
- He rode and gave away various recumbent bikes.
- He lived on a houseboat on the Mississippi River.
- For many years Mom and Dad took Grama Lily and her many friends for a day out in Shakopee, including lunch and a show.
- Organized huge summer picnics at Wolfe Park, brought in the whole family, invited everyone he knew, organized interesting displays for people to enjoy: zipline, trampoline, llamas, Helping Paws organization.
- For holiday business gifts, Dad (with our help) put together boxes stuffed with Jewish food delights.
- Considered by many to be the “Mayor” of Excelsior and Grand. He bought 19 cent bananas from Trader Joes and walked around Excelsior and Grand, passed them out on the street, and went into businesses to give them away. He said it was the cheapest way to make a friend. As a tribute to Dad after he passed away, the CVS manager bought a bunch of bananas and gave them away to the local business owners.
- Two different times Dad hopped on a bus alone to Fargo, ND to help with sandbagging before the floods came. He arrived at least one time in tennis shoes.
- He taught himself Old English calligraphy.
- He sent friends tapes on science topics that interested him.
- In order to cool down hot cups of coffee, he poured the liquid back and forth from one cup to another.
- When he took the kids out to eat, he would dip his napkin in the water glass so he could clean up the dirty faces.
- Taped thank you notes he received on walls.
- He always cut up fruit, veggies, cheese and shared with everyone.
- Had a piggy bank in his apartment for Mercaz Rachel,
- In Golden Valley house, he had map of world (I think) where he charted how far he walked and marched.
- He played a good game of bridge with Mom.
FAMILY OUTINGS, TRIPS, and MEMORIES
- Dad flew Garry, Judy and Jeff in his 4-seater plane to New York City.
- Dad took Judy, Cheri Dolinger and Diane & Donna Rubenstein on a canoeing/portaging trip to the Boundary Waters.
- Dad took Judy and Cheri up in his small plane (the first time Cheri had ever flown!).
- Jeff told story that in order to get their car into a tiny space they all started bouncing it forward.
- The whole family drove to Montreal to see Expo 67 in thee station wagon, pulling a house trailer and sleeping in campgrounds.
- “He Who Hath The Power” game: " He who hath the power, or thinketh he hath the power, may now leave the room."
- Had "Mr. Wizard" secret telephone game with Greensteins, Tobermans, Skladers.
- He took the kids to the control tower at Wold Chamberlin Field to watch the airplanes take off and land.
- Every Sunday morning he took Garry, Judy and Jeff to the Rainbow Café at Lake and Hennepin for brunch.
- He rolled the grandkids in a blanket and then snapped it open. Lots of fun!
- When we had steak for dinner we would argue who would get to eat the fatty part that we called “hair grow long”.
PETS
- Dog: Tinsel
- Cat: April Garry hid April in his room for weeks before Mom figured it out.
- Hamsters
- Fish
- Birds: Lincoln 1 and Lincoln 2
- Baby Alligator: Garry, Jeff and Bruce Ribnick hid the baby alligator in the basement. Mom found out when the boys left it in the tub for a swim and Mom went to the bathroom! See Bruce’s story on Garry’s website.
INSTRUMENTS HE PLAYED
- Recorder
- Viola de gamba
- Tuba
- Didgeridoo (a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians) - bought it and then sent it to Israel
- Alphorn
HOBBIES
- Photography, we had a darkroom in our basement
- Played recorder, viola de gamba, tuba
- Marched and participated in the John Phillip Sousa marching band and Minneapolis Police Band
- Marched in the Hollidazzle for many seasons
- Learned flying at U of M, 1939, and taught flying in Ohio, and helped write a published book about flying – Pocket Aviation Quiz Book. He also wrote a book about flying using celestial navigation but got frustrated and through it overboard. He was serving on an oil tanker in the South Pacific at the time.
- Studied ants
- Adath Jeshuran Synagogue Men’s Club
AS KIDS WE HAD
- Sailboat
- Houseboat
- Towed trailer Expo 67
- 4-seater airplane
SAFETY FIRST
- For several years we lived on Ottawa Avenue near Minnetonka Boulevard. Our neighbors were the Skladers, the Friedmans and the Tobermans (who became life-long friends). Once Dad saw Linda Sklader run across the street without looking. He was so worried about Linda's safety that he spanked her! Anne, Linda's mother, was aghast—"How dare you spank my daughter!!" Dad always said he'd do it again if it taught her a lesson.
- If Dad saw someone moving their lawn either barefoot or in sandals, he would pull over and point out how dangerous it was.
- Dad and Sandie were driving down a street once and saw someone leaning into their trunk, trying to hold the car back from falling onto him. Dad immediately realized that the guy’s tire jack had fallen off and the guy was about to be pinned. Dad pulled the over car and jumped out and leaned in right next to the guy. I remember other cars stopping as well.
- Dad without fail impressed upon anyone who would listen how important handrails on stairs were. He would also follow up with them.
- Dad became obsessed with bathroom safety so that seniors would have less of a chance of falling. He studied it and talked with many experts. He bought and gave away railings, tub handles, and raised toilet seats. He was consumed with finding a way to get the word out and he gave presentations about safe-falling and bathroom safety around the city. He was convinced there was money to be made by having insurance companies sell the equipment cheaply if seniors committed to installing them. (See newspaper articles and videos.)
GRANDMA LILY'S FAMOUS SAYINGS
- Amazing son, lovingly took care of his mother Lily who lived until age 108
- What she thought was the best invention was in her lifetime: “When the outhouse became the in-house.”
- She said this one day in our kitchen: “If I were a cup, where would I be?”
- Dad took Grandma to a Gay Pride Parade and put a sign on the back of her wheelchair saying she was a proud 107-year- old supporter. When someone at the parade commented how beautiful she looked at 107, she yelled back: “You should have seen me as 101!”
- No one was allowed to come over to visit before noon, before "she had her face on."