Pat and I attended Tim Scully's funeral today. According to the family, Tim suffered a heart attack, at home on Wednesday, that took his life. Apparently, Tim's family history included heart disease and, it seems, Tim was aware of that fact and enjoyed every precious moment on earth with his family and friends. His wife Donna, and the two daughters, Tari and Katy, were very welcoming and told us many interesting stories about their life with Tim.
I never really knew much about Tim other than the fact that he came to Redemptorist via Jesuit and Holy Cross where he and Pat attended school... though many stories abound. Fitz and Scully both grew up in a family where the father had left their mark and then left permanently, leaving both kids to fend for themselves in Lakeview. Tim's father died when he was seven and Pat's father passed away when Pat was but ten years old. It left a void in their hearts that was filled with each others' friendship. Buddies to the end, Tim talked Pat into trying out at the city's last resort for Catholic school students... Redemptorist, where they not only shared their junior and senior year together, but were also an important addition to our football team. Both Tim and Pat were fearless players. Tim, despite his small stature, was a force to be reckoned with at halfback and defensive back and helped our team attain a 10-2-1 record in 1968.
But off the field, I knew very little about Tim... or Pat, for that matter!
It really was the slide show and our conversations that confirmed how rich and wonderful his life really was. Photos of his childhood, his teenage years, his Marine days in Vietnam, which apparently changed him forever, and his marriage to Donna and all the good times he spent with his two beautiful daughters, told the story of each precious moment. Pat and I were impressed that Tim's life was so well captured in photographs though I got the feeling Pat wished he could have been somehow a small part of that slide show presentation.
Though it was such a shame that he and Tim, for whatever reason, never spent enough time together later in life, everyone, especially Tim's wife, Donna, was glad to see Pat and welcomed him with open arms. They expressed the same warmth when I introduced myself as just a fellow teammate at our high school. Patrick seemed moved by it all. Later, he and I went to Gus's, in Folsom, and had a few beers and reminisced. Somewhere out there in cyberspace is a cellphone celebration in honor of Tim in the form of a saved seat where an extra Bud was poured into a icy mug.
Needless to say, we both miss Tim!
Thanks ever so much to our town crier, Floyd Hyer, for putting the word out about our teammate and alumni, Tim Scully, otherwise, he would have left us without anyone from the old school knowing about it and I would never have been able to share some quality time with my deceased friend, his family and the old Irishman, Patrick Fitzgerald!
