Morris aka "Bob" Stoller, 1914-2009In tribute to my grandfather, Morris Stoller, I wrote and recorded this song: "Kaddish for Sabba." To listen click: HERE.
(or go here: http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/1522157) My special thanks to Jim Dower on keyboards and Joe Goretti on drums for helping me to record this tribute.
Kaddish is the prayer for the departed. Sabba means grandfather. He spent 95 years on this planet and was married to my Grandmother, Florence, for 69 of those years (from 1940-2009). They had three daughters, including my mother, 3 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.
He lived a long and full life with few regrets. He and my grandmother lived independently and took no medications at all. Grandmother, still a spry 90 years old, continues in this mode.
I'm well aware of the fact that I'm posting this tribute on the Internet about a man who was born at the dawn of the First World War. It's almost unimaginable the amount of change he saw in the world over the course of his life.
Ever curious, Mr. Stoller carried a valid NYU student ID in his wallet for most of his life, continuously attending lectures and auditing classes. He never completed any advanced degrees because I think that would have signaled an end to his education, which he never intended to do.
He had a ferocious work ethic, which he attempted to teach us all. He serviced jukeboxes in the 1950s on a route and worked as office manager for a big entertainment law firm for decades. He finally "retired" from that job so that he could continue coming into the same office every day, but on a volunteer basis. He held various volunteer positions until the very end of his life.
He also played trombone in the Brooklyn Navy Yard band during lunch hours as he served there in WWII. Though I never heard him play, somehow I think his musical legacy filtered down to me.
Ivan BodleyBrooklyn, NY
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