Obituary of Joseph Decker

Joseph Henry Decker, 91, of Rocky Hill, CT, formerly of Bradenton, FL and Allegany, NY, passed away on June 16, 2012 with his loving family by his side. Joe was born to the late Frank and Susie Decker on May 18, 1921, in Arcade, NY. He married Patrica Gersting on June 5, 1948. Joe was an avid flyer, and in World War II served in the Air Corp of the United States Army as a fighter pilot and later as a fighter pilot instructor. He also founded and ran Decker Flight Service, which allowed him to further pursue and engage in his favorite hobby. Joe worked for Clark Bros., a Division of Dresser Industries, where he retired in 1983 as a Product Service Engineer. Joe will always be remembered by family and friends for his incredible work ethic, his willingness to lend a helping hand, his love of flying and golf, his kind and gentle soul, his patience, and most of all, for his devotion to his family, especially his wife of 64 years, Patty. Joe was predeceased by his son, James Douglas. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; daughters Deborah (Bruce) Henry and Julie (Michael) Hermsen; 4 grandchildren and 1 great-granddaughter. Memorial donations for Joseph Decker may be made to the Scleroderma Foundation - Attn: Donations, 300 Rosewood Drive - Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923. For online condolences please visit www.mulryanfh.com Tribute to Dad On Saturday, June 16th, 2012, we said goodbye to Joseph Henry Decker, the most wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather that anyone could have wished for. He had recently turned 91 years old. Dad began his life on May 18th, 1921 in Arcade, New York. He was the fifth of nine children of Frank and Susie Decker. He lived on a farm, and grew up during the Great Depression. During those times, he considered it a thrill to get an orange for Christmas. He was brilliant, resourceful, and incredibly hard working. Dad had many avocations. He once worked as a crane operator for Anaconda Brass Company in Buffalo. Later, he and his brother, Leo, ran an automobile garage for two years. The two brothers shared a love of flying. They attended New England Aviation School in Boston and became airplane mechanics. The two then built their own helicopter. Dad later obtained his helicopter license in Texas. During World War II, Dad enlisted in the Air Corp of the United States Army before the Air Force was its own branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. At that time, he was a Second Lieutenant. With his love of flying, his innate technical and mechanical abilities, and his perfect vision, he became a Fighter Pilot, and later a Fighter Pilot flight instructor. He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. He was stationed in Naples, Florida, and later deployed to Iceland and Greenland, which were very strategic locations for the military during WWII. Thankfully, he was fortunate to not have experienced active combat, and returned safely to civilian life and continued his love of flying. Dad met Mom, Patricia Gersting, while he was still in the service. He came to a party at Mom's house on a blind date with one of Mom's high school friends, but immediately started paying attention to Mom. Mom told him, "Go away, you didn't come to this party with me!" He later called her and asked her out. Mom and Dad would often frequent a popular hangout at Lime Lake, NY, where Mom indicated that Dad used to wear his uniform to impress the girls. Mom often recalled how handsome Dad was in his uniform. The two were married on June 5th, 1948, and just celebrated 64 loving years together. After being married, Dad took a job as the company pilot for Clark Brothers. He and Mom moved to Olean, NY and shortly thereafter started a family. Their first child, Jimmy (James Douglas Decker), sadly was born with spina bifida and died at only five months and 26 days of age. Their second child, Deborah Jo Decker (now Henry), was named after her father. After Debbie was born, Dad and Mom started building a home in Allegany, NY, with Dad doing most all of the design and construction himself. Julie Ellen Decker (now Hermsen) was born five years after Debbie, and both girls were the apples of his eye. He was a playful, tireless father. He happily participated in games of hide-and-seek nearly every day upon his return home from work. He always kissed Mom first, and then started to look for us. We were always in the same two or three places, but he would pretend to be completely surprised when he found us tucked behind the coats in the closet or standing on the rungs in the pantry. After a couple of years at Clark Brothers, Dad became a buyer in the Purchasing Department, then a Technical Correspondent in the Service Department, and finally a Product Service Engineer. During all his years at Clark's (which was later purchased by Dresser Industries), he continued on as company pilot, flying company executives and its products all around the country. He retired in 1983. During his working years, Dad also started Decker Flight Service out of Olean International Airport. Flying was an expensive hobby, so Dad started the business to support his passion. He was a flight instructor, airplane mechanic, flew charter flights, and even towed gliders and dropped skydivers. But he only went to the airport after he had finished his job at Clark's. If that weren't enough, he would travel another 20 miles on a regular basis after his airport work was finished to visit Mom's Dad, our Grandpa, Elmer Gersting, in Franklinville, NY. Family vacations were very important to Dad, as he never had the luxury of a vacation as a child. He wanted all of the family to have a say in where we went and what we did, and we would spend weeks perusing Mobile Travel Guides looking for interesting places to go and things to do. Two of our favorite spots were Jekyll Island, GA and Williamsburg, VA. We would fly to Jekyll Island in our Cessna 170, the largest of the three planes that made up Decker Flight Service. It was such an adventure to fly in our plane on vacation. Sometimes Dad would let Debbie be the co-pilot, which was an incredible honor. One year, Julie won a bicycle at the "Largest Easter Egg Hunt in the World" on Jekyll. Getting the bike home proved quite challenging, as we were unable to strap it to the wing of the airplane!! In Williamsburg, we had a favorite motel, which had an amazing waterfall in the pool. Dad used to take turns putting his little girls on his shoulders and walking us through the incredible force of the waterfall. He never complained or stopped until we tired of it, although he must have been a prune by the time that happened. He also did awesome back dives off the diving board, which always thrilled us. Education was extremely important to both Dad and Mom. There was no sex discrimination in our family. Dad could have drafted Title IX. Our parents told us from an early age that we would go to college. Nothing else was even a consideration. They couldn't have been prouder of their girls than when Debbie graduated from Hobart and William Smith, and Julie graduated from Skidmore. Despite the great personal sacrifices that entailed, they paid for every penny of our expensive private college educations. After Debbie graduated from college, she began her mathematics teaching career. She continued course work pertinent to her field, and while doing so, met Bruce Henry, a kind, gentle, extremely intelligent and handsome man with a very dry, but immensely funny sense of humor who was also a mathematics teacher. They fell in love and were married in our parents then hometown of Allegany, NY. The reception was at The Castle Restaurant, the best restaurant in town. As was the tradition of the time, Dad and Mom paid for everything, and were happy to do so. After Julie graduated from Skidmore, she began a nursing career in New York City. Following three years on that path, she changed course and went to business school. It was there that she met the tall, dark and handsome Michael Hermsen. Like Bruce, Michael was incredibly bright and had his own unique and incomparable sense of humor. The two were married in NYC where they we living, and once again, Dad and Mom paid for a very tasteful and elegant wedding and reception. The curse of having two daughters in that day and age!! But Dad and Mom were so happy and proud of all of us. Dad had a loving relationship with both Bruce and Michael, and was always so interested in their careers and their lives outside of work. Bruce was happy to learn skills from Dad, especially when it came to practical things like fixing the cars or making household repairs. He could always be found in his "workshop" that Bruce would frantically organize before every visit. Michael had a very demanding work and travel schedule, but grew very proficient at lining up projects that he knew Dad would like to do when visiting our family! Everyone who knew Dad knew he could fix ANYTHING!! Not only could he fix anything, he truly enjoyed the challenge of doing so. He would seek out projects to do, and loved to help everyone out. There was no task too daunting for him. He would figure out a solution, often after much puttering and experimenting, usually using pieces and parts he crafted himself. He always took care of his family and his friends. When he would come to visit us, he would always ask us to make lists of things for him to do, and he meant it. He would be upset if we didn't give him things to do, and he would go looking for things to do if we didn't give him enough! While in Florida, Dad was always doing odd jobs for the condominium in which he lived, as well as for many of the residents. He collected and eagerly shared his tools and skills. He took care of projects for those who did not possess his mechanical abilities. He also looked after many residents' apartments when they went north for the summers. Dad was always dependable and a perfectionist. One of the mottos by which he lived was, "If you are going to do something, do it right, or don't do it at all." He leaves very large shoes to fill. Dad loved to keep busy in so many ways. He enjoyed golfing, riding motorcycles through the countryside around Allegany (usually with one of us on the back), tinkering in his work room, skiing, flying planes, and playing racquetball on his lunch hour when he was still working. When he golfed, he walked and pulled his cart, even into his 80's. He and Mom loved to walk in Florida and also exercised three times a week at a health club until just a few years ago. He was the role model for the Energizer Bunny. He never stopped. Dad enjoyed a Starbuck's mocha frappuccino in the morning, and a cold beer in the afternoon (as long as it was at least 4pm). He enjoyed hearing about what all of his family were doing, where we were traveling, how work was going, and all of our accomplishments. He was blessed with four lovely grandchildren—Jessica Leigh Henry (now Blodgett), Courtney Erin Henry, Alexander Decker Hermsen, and Rachel Leigh Hermsen. He closely followed all their activities, struggles, and achievements, and was always so proud of them. He also became a great grandfather 14 months ago, when Jessica and her husband Nate gave birth to baby Emma Elizabeth Blodgett. He was so thrilled to meet baby Emma last summer that he went into the swimming pool with her. Dad also enjoyed Thanksgivings in Nyack, NY and summers in Glastonbury, CT. He loved dog sitting for Sadie, and sitting on the back patio watching the goldfinches and hummingbirds on the bird feeders. He liked keeping the feeders full and the vegetable garden weeded. It was just a few short months ago that Dad moved north again to be with Mom, and to be closer to his daughters and their families. He was sad to leave Florida and his many friends there, as it had been home for him and Mom for almost 30 years. He loved the warm weather, bright sun, and being able to spend a lot of time outside. Who could blame him? We were all hoping for many more birthdays, holidays, Father's Days, and anniversaries together while he was up here. We were looking forward to returning to the East Side restaurant for good German beer and food, singing songs from the old country, and laughing until we nearly cried. We were looking forward to introducing him to his new great-grandson after he was born in August. We are so very sad for all of the things that did not happen as we hoped. What we are thankful for, however, is that we had as many wonderful memories and years with Dad as we did. He was blessed to have a very full, productive, and healthy life with his loving wife and family. We are proud that our Dad was the type of person he was, a great role model, teacher of the lessons of life, and the embodiment of how to behave toward others. He was the type of person who was the foundation of what makes this country great. A kind, thoughtful, caring, generous, hard-working person of humble beginnings who did everything he could to give us the best opportunities and the best life he possibly could. We are thankful that, in the end, he still recognized us, heard the wonderful things we said to him, and was able to let us know he understood us. When he passed, he was surrounded, held, and repeatedly kissed by his loving family. Dad was a great man, and we will remember all the best about him and hold him dearly in our thoughts each day, and in our hearts forever.