EULOGY FOR JEROME SPILLANE

My husband has had many written requests for his eulogy this Tues. at St. Joe's. Jerome Spillane lived a long, healthy life & died at 93. His wife, Elizabeth, now lives at Blenheim.

As I think of my father today - a passage from Robert Frost, the poet, comes to mind:

The woods are lovely, dark, & deep, but I have promises to keep..."

Jerome has gone those miles and kept those
promises.

Those miles began on a small rocky farm on the coast of Ireland where Jerome was born a few months after the death of his father. He had known much want as a child, but he struggled and worked hard. At the age of 36 years old, after the death of his mother, he traveled to his sister's home in Newport, Rhode Island

The second day of his arrival in Newport, he was working with Hugo Key putting a driveway in at one of the mansions on Bellevue Ave. From that day and for the next 50 years, my father worked long and hard, always making sure to avoid the poverty of his youth.

As a maintenance man at St. Claire's nursery school, he fixed windows, doors, and mended leaks. Even sometimes looking after the children on the playground. The children all loved this burly Irishman with the musical brogue.

My father loved to work, and making a good living for his family. Even after his working a regular job, he operated a landscaping business on the side. And then found time in the evening to repair rental properties that he bought all over the city.

Although my father didn't know his father, he was a great dad. Dad didn't know much joy as a child but he brought to us great joy.

As I reflect on my Dad's death, sadness and grief come over me. But I find comfort in the fact that you, Jerome, my Dad, are today in Paradise with a Father you had never known in this life. And now you, Dad, can know the comfort and security of a father's love.

My husband, Frank, is a good writer, isn't he?