“There is no expiration date on the love between a father and his child.” —Jennifer Williamson
On this Father’s Day Weekend, we remember the loss of two beloved members of our family. The first is our father Frank Augustine who died of natural causes in our childhood home in Hoboken, NJ, on December 18, 2017, three weeks shy of his 101st birthday. Dad had excellent recall for his age, so much so that over time, I was able to record an oral history of his colorful life. In the 1940s he enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Oregon and Idaho. It was a popular job relief program established in the 1930s by FDR, as part of his New Deal platform to keep kids off the streets and provide them with gainful employment. Dad also did two stints in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas with my late uncles Joe and Anthony Augustine, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he served as a cook for his unit and as a personal aide to his mentor and friend, Army Chaplain, Capt. William Walsh.
Some months after our mother Marie died in 2013, I wrote a feature story about our dad and his lifetime achievements and contributions to his community and his country that was published in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Legacy Journal in the Spring of 2014 (see link at the end of this post). Dad entered the order of the Maryknoll Fathers as a seminarian in Ossining, NY for one year, served in the Maritime Service in New London, Connecticut, and was the Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus for two terms. He also served as a Boy Scout leader in Hoboken for 25 years, was the oldest living life member of the Elks Lodge No. 74, and was known in his neighborhood as an urban gardener, homemade winemaker, and lover of nature. He retired from Maxwell House Coffee in June 1975, the same month and year I began my career as a podiatric physician and surgeon in San Jose, CA. In 1984, while visiting with my mom at our California home, dad gifted me his most prized possession, a freestanding glass-enclosed gold Atmos clock with a circular perpetual motion pendulum (photo) presented to him by General Mills, the parent company of Maxwell House in honor of his twenty-five years of loyal service. Forty-Five years later it sits regally on our library shelf, a symbol of his generosity, love, and the passage of time from one generation to another.
The other beloved member of our family we fondly remember for Father’s Day is our late brother, Michael Augustine who died tragically on November 1, 2019, (All Saints Day), nine days short of his 61st birthday. Our brother was named after our dad’s father Michael, who was a coal miner and railroad worker. My brother became an eagle scout under our dad's tutelage and often said, “He was the best father a son could hope for.” Out of all four of us siblings, my brother Michael had our dad’s temperament. He was easy-going, loved to joke around, and always had a smile on his face. He was also a hard worker. Always drawn to the carpentry and construction field, in 2002 he took a job with the Shauger Group, Inc (TSG) in East Orange, NJ. Due to his enthusiastic dedication to his job, he became an important and integral part of the company team as its’ carpenter foreman and supervisor. He was much beloved by his fellow employees and his boss Donny Shauger who felt a brotherly kinship toward Michael. Thirty-six co-workers and Donny attended his funeral service. He is survived by his four sons whom he was deeply devoted to. They are our nephews Michael (Mikey) Augustine, Jr., Andrew, Brock, and Alex who adored him. Though they are no longer with us, Michael and our dad will continue to dwell in our hearts and minds. Cecile and I made a donation in Michael's memory to provide food and masks to Mukuru students in Kenya, a country of scenic beauty and majestic camera safaris where Michael and I along with our brother-in-law Joe bonded on a trip of a lifetime (photos). I never saw him so happy.
Postscript: Feature Story: 97-Year old Frank Augustine Recognized Lifetime Achievements“
—a son’s tribute to his father.” by Dr. Dennis Augustine (RET. D.P.M.)
