Category: family

My father died last Wednesday, June 3rd while I was away in Milwaukee.

He was such a character, full of charm and bluster and life.  When he was first hospitalized a few weeks ago, my husband and I found him in the Medical Intensive Care unit, flirting with the nurses like he was just there for a social visit.  He always loved to strike up conversations with strangers, and he collected friends and admirers from all around.

I had the privilege of working for him in the family business after I graduated from college.  While I always loved and admired my dad, working for him allowed me to appreciate him, and the depth of his intelligence, in a whole new way.  He loved the company he founded and work was a passion for him.  He had a truly analytical mind and could easily sort out a variety of solutions to a business problem.  I remember coming to him about some trivial issue I’d encountered, all indignant that he didn’t understand my perspective, only to find that he’d fully examined that viewpoint and rejected it in favor of a more appropriate solution.  I’d been thinking he was the narrow minded one only to discover that he had a much broader perspective than I had.

Some of my fondest memories of him are from family vacations:

Early mornings at the lake in Maine, with Dad shouting “Everybody up for a pre-breakfast swim!”

Numerous walks along the beach in the Bahamas.  I especially liked it when we’d splash along in the shallow water singing silly songs.  “H, a, double r, i, g, a, n spells Harrigan”

Playing ping pong with a bunch of other families at a ski lodge in Vermont and his Texan friend Davy, yelling out to him “”Wooly, get your navel to the grass!”

Standing behind his chair rubbing his temples.

Watching him joking around and singing with a barber on the street in Italy even though my dad didn’t speak a word of Italian.

His face whenever he talked about my mother.

Rest in peace William George Andrew West.  Give Mother a kiss for me.  We love you both.