Bill Nieczpiel

He was the loving husband of his wife Franca and father of his children. His life was not an easy one. He was born the second of two children in Philadelphia in times when our country was looking to end World War 1 and preparing to change the shape of Europe forever both in good and bad economic times.
For my father, growing up in the 20's was exciting and challenging. As a child, he worked in a local stable taking care of the horses that would draw wagons areound the city of Philadelphia. At the bright age of 5, he could have had the opportunity to hear the first first radio broadcast. Later in his life, he could have even experienced the first talking movie, "The Jazz Singer", and the first Mickey Mouse Disney talking film, "Steamboat Willie". However, those times in the twenty's were short lived. At the age of 14 the stock market crashed and then there was the great depression that lasted straight through the 1930's not ending until mid - 1940's. With such strife, people killed others, killed themselves, were homeless and were pennyless.
Leaving his family at the age of 15 he entered the Merchant Marines to try to survive those hard times. As time would tell, his experiences in the Merchant Marines were just as heroic. As printed in "The Evening Bulletin" on Tuesday September 19, 1939, there was an article that talked about an American freighter, The Artigas. The freighter, two-days at sea, was ordered to heave-to and state her nationality and destination by a German U-boat. My dad was stationed on the bow of the ship at that time as a lookout and ti him went the honor of first spotting the submarine. BY the grace of God the ship was not torpedoed and sunk as many other ships of the time were.
In 1948, the year the Frisbee wa sinvented, dad met his soulmate in Italy, our mother a beautiful young lady, whom he has spent 60 years of marriage. During the 50's and 60's dad worked at New York Ship Yard as a rigger, building ships like the USS Kitty Hawk and the N.S. Savannah, the world's first nuclear powered commercial ship. After the ship yard closed dad had to return to sea where he retired as a Merchant Marine.
Finally, my dad was a kind of man of good character and a loving father. It was not unusual to see a grandchild baby resting on his chest. We will all miss him. Here's to you, Dad!