Benjamin James Fiore

Benjamin James Fiore AKA: Varlardi Fiore Feb. 26th, 1917-April 17th, 2010 For the first time in my life, I'll celebrate Father's Day this year without my dad. My dad passed away on April 17th and was 93. If you’re here today, and I thank you for that, that means he touched your life in some way or another. What can I say about my dad? He was a great lover of life! He loved to gamble, loved to cook his Italian food, which he thought was the best in the world (and it was actually very good); although he never learned that cleaning up was part of the process. He loved to dance and he spent many nights dancing with my mother, Rene in NYC at Roseland. He loved to travel and was always ready to go at a moments notice. My dad was born in on Gold Street under the Brooklyn Bridge on February 26th, 1917. That was the beginning of the Fiore Family. He had an older brother named James, two younger brothers named Palma and Tony, and three sisters Rosey, Gilda and Viola, who were twins. Tony was the youngest of the bunch. My dad is survived by his 5 children (Ellen, Robert, Laurence, Linda and Susan). His six grandchildren (Garrett, Gavin, Michele, Tina, Frank, and Pat), six great grandchildren (Taylor, Laila, Brooke, Ella, Dylan, and William), his brother Tony and his sister Viola. Also, his ex wives (Ida, Rene and Marjorie). Dad met his first wife, Ida, when he was 22 and she was a young 16. Ida snuck into the club because she was underage, that’s where they met. Back then boys paid 25 cents to get in and girls were free. The war broke out, then my dad was off to Hawaii. He wanted Ida to come with him, but she was seeing someone else at the time. He left for Hawaii, probably heartbroken, and told her he would be back for her. She said no way! Ida’s boyfriend was killed in the war and low and behold who showed up at Ida’s door? My dad !!!!!!!! On February 21st, 1944 they were married. Dad and Ida had 2 daughters, Linda, the oldest, and Susan. They also fostered 2 little girls, until they divorced. My dad was a motorcycle cop in New York City with the 79th precinct in Brooklyn. It wasn’t the nicest of neighborhoods back then. He appeared in the movie On The Town with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin, riding a motorcycle of course. He went on disability from the motorcycle department due to a broken back. Finally, he broke his leg and retired. I guess it finally caught up to him. He retired and went into insurance; there he met Rene, my mother and his 2nd wife. They married in 1959, for 23 years. My parents came to California in 1961. They took the long way and made it a 3 week adventure. It must have been quite a time, as they packed their Chevy with whatever would fit and left everything else behind; just like the Beverly Hillbillies! When they finally arrived, neither one of them had jobs, but in no time, my dad secured a job as an insurance adjuster. Later he secured many positions as a negotiator for Personal Injury Attorneys. My father was one of those hard working fathers that always got his way. His words were the law in our house. However, he was no Saint by any means or stretch of the imagination. He was a man who understood a hard day's work, yet he never had the advantage of a college education. He worked pretty much his entire life. I remember as a child that my dad was always working. He woke up everyday, put on his shoes, and went to work to provide for our family. I could count on one hand how times my dad was sick. Even if he didn’t feel good, he would get up and go to work. I didn’t realize it then, but that was one of the biggest lessons I learned from my dad - the value of hard work. Growing up we moved a lot and lived in many different houses. Our house was always the place where everyone gathered, with family and friends like Uncle Palma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Viola, Okan, Sevgi, Donna and Bob. The house on Candlewood had a pool and I have many great memories of our parties. Of course, my dad always cooked his favorite recipes, so everyone ate very well. I’m sure we’ll all miss his meatballs and braciole. Uncle Mike, Uncle Palmer, Okan and my dad played cards regularly into the night in our house. Everyone smoked and drank at that time, so the house was always a very noisy and busy place. Since he thought he was such an excellent cook, my dad decided to open a restaurant called "Fiore's". He gave so much food and drink away to his friends that he was not able to stay in business. This is also what happens when you leave your teenage kids to run the restaurant and have endless amounts of beer on tap. On top of being a great father, teaching us work ethic and friendship, my dad was also a wonderful grandfather. He made sure to visit New York at least once or twice a year and spoil his grandkids rotten. His grandkids, Michele and Tina, remember him taking them to Manhattan, to see the Christmas Show and taking them to amusement parks. One time he took them to an amusement park and fell asleep on the bench, while the kids went on the roller coaster by themselves. Tina came home all banged up bruises everywhere. Apparently, Tina had fallen out of the roller coaster and grandpa told her not to tell Mom. He promised the kids that they could drive the car while sitting on his lap coming home. Well, they ratted him out anyway....but he didn’t care. The next trip he lost one of them for 15 min. That finally scared him, so he brought me, Ellen, on a couple of trips with him, probably to keep and eye out. When his grandkids, Garrett and Gavin, would come to visit him, he would always make them laugh and let them ride around the block in his electric mobility cart. Since he was unable to shop, he always made sure that my brother Larry would go to the store and buy them gift cards for Christmas. As I mentioned before, he loved to travel and our family took many wonderful trips. One summer we took a cruise to the Caribbean with The Gurney Family. While my dad and Bob were drinking rum on the beach, and my mom and Donna went shopping, the parents were totally unaware that the 7 children, that they were supposed to be watching, were being chased by a barracuda. Thankfully all of us kids somehow managed to survive, and my dad and Bob were still happily drinking their rum and reminiscing about their various exploits. They were not even aware of what was taking place. This has been a family joke for a long time. Another trip my parents took with Donna and Bob was to Italy. They had a fabulous time, visiting the Vatican, Venice, Rome, and Sicily where my dad’s father was born. I don’t know what the heck they were thinking leaving three teenage kids home alone for two weeks. Oh the parties we had!!! We also were very lucky to go to Alaska, where we climbed a Glacier. We went to Hawaii. We visited the Caribbean again. I cannot list all the trips that we went on as kids. The memories of those trips resonate in me, making me want to allow my kids the same kind of exploration I had as a youth. As I said, my dad was always ready to travel, and he spared no expense. Because of his love of gambling, Las Vegas was one of my dad’s favorite places. He was a very good poker player and usually won. That was his game of choice, although he loved the crap tables as well. Las Vegas was also a great place for him to see his favorite stars, like Sinatra, Buddy Greco, and Dean Martin. He even bought a house there when he was married to Marjorie for 4 years. They also did a lot of traveling together. As we all know my dad was not a particularly good driver. Frankly, it was always an adventure every time that man put it in reverse. He, nonetheless, taught his children how to drive a car. Unfortunately, his love for driving recklessly started him on a downhill slope. My dad would argue to this day that every accident he had was someone else’s fault. I think we know better. Dad was the type of person everyone loved to be around. He had long time friends Joe Lacoco and Emilio Esposito. They were the life of the party. He and his cronies were supposed to meet in Las Vegas on their 90th birthdays, all turning 90 within 2 months of each other. Unfortunately, they never did meet. My dad turned 90 in the hospital, where he was never the same again. His 2 friends died since. Then he was the last one to go. A fighter until the end. Just another reason to admire him. Over the last few years after the car accident, we all saw how his health deteriorated. Yet, his spirit of fun, his zest for life, was always present. He was a spiritual person, and I know it was his faith that helped him through those last few months. On my last day with dad, I was sitting in the hospital room and told him how much we all loved him and thanked him for everything he had done. I also forgave him. As he lay dying in his hospice bed, I watched my father take his last breath. I just smiled, knowing he had finally found peace with Life. Poem of Life Life is but a stopping place, A pause in what’s to be, A resting place along the road, to sweet eternity. We all have different journeys, Different paths along the way, We all are meant to learn some things, But never meant to stay… Our destination is a place, Far greater than we know. For some the journey’s quicker, For some the journey’s slow. And when the journey ends, We’ll claim a greater reward, And find an everlasting peace, Together with the Lord. Author unknown I think this poem gives us an inside look into how my dad viewed the world, both in life and death. I know we all miss him; be it father, friend, or husband. I know that as we gather here today, he is with us and I doubt he would want to miss the party.