Jerry Babcock.Com Memorial Service Program

The following is a transcript of the Eulogy & tribute given by Andy Duda at the Memorial Service.

"Thank you for the outpouring of support this very difficult week. I have been asked so many times about how Jerry's family was doing. If the love and caring of others could somehow be enough to carry you through this tragedy, then Sue, you have no difficulty whatsoever because the love that has shone through this week has been amazing. But we all know life just isn't that simple. When Sue asked me if I would like to say a few words, I immediately said yes. Never a question. Then the reality of getting in front of this large group set in and I began to feel a bit of panic. I'm not a very good communicator. So at least five times Sue gave me an out, and normally on about the second option I would take that out. But this time it was very different. I knew that Jerry deserved better, so I never considered backing out - instead, I started making a list of who Jerry was, and the list grew and grew.

Number one on my list was family man. Not until Sue mentioned this week how few nights they had spent apart in thirty one years of marriage, virtually none, did I realize how much of a family man Jerry was. I mean, I always knew it, but I didn't really know it, if that makes any sense. When the guys were going to Miami to watch the Bears, whom Jerry loved, Jerry stayed home. Or when we were going to Phoenix to play in America West Airlines golf outing, and boy did Jerry love to play golf, Jerry stayed with his family. And he did it low key. Never once, and I think the guys will agree, was Jerry accused of being hen pecked. He just knew how to balance his family life against everything else, and he did it well. Talking to Sue's mom yesterday, she told me the story of how Sue, at nineteen, when Jerry was stationed at Glenview NAS, brought home a sailor. Two years older than her no less. "OH BOY!" she said. Well, I think it turned out OK don't you Mrs. Forbes? Not many people in this life are lucky enough to experience thirty one years of a GOOD marriage. Ironically, that makes this day so much more difficult to bear.

Jerry was intensely proud of his family. There was no prouder dad while Eric was serving his country in the Marines. And when Eric got out, and started pursuing a career in music, Jerry was right there managing the band, trying to help them along, even though it may not necessarily be the type of music that Jerry enjoyed best.

Katie, I can't tell you how happy and proud Jerry was when you decided to follow in his footsteps to become a controller. He was proud of his profession and proud to have you pursue the same career. And there was no prouder grandfather around, even though at the time I got the feeling that he thought he was a bit too young to be called grandfather. But he was extremely proud from day one.

Few people knew that Jerry was a deeply spiritual man. He was extremely satisfied that he had passed that spirituality on to his children. And as a result, he was extremely proud of how his children have turned out. You did an exemplary job of raising your family Jerry. I, for one wish I could be more like you.

Jerry was truly an original. He always had some new, witty twist on just about everything at the center, from the artwork that he produced for the bay headers, to the first individualized break list strips. He took something about a person that made them stand out, and with his creativity, he produced a piece of art that became the persons name tag for the break list. If he made one for you, you were honored. how about the caricatures that he was drawing of each of the supes.




	Tribute by Andy Duda
	The following is a transcript of the Eulogy & tribute given by Andy Duda at the Memorial Service. "Thank you for the outpouring of support this very difficult week. I have been asked so many times about how Jerry's family was doing. If the love and caring of others could somehow be enough to carry you through this tragedy, then Sue, you have no difficulty whatsoever because the love that has shone through this week has been amazing. But we all know life just isn't that simple. When Sue asked me if I would like to say a few words, I immediately said yes. Never a question. Then the reality of getting in front of this large group set in and I began to feel a bit of panic. I'm not a very good communicator. So at least five times Sue gave me an out, and normally on about the second option I would take that out. But this time it was very different. I knew that Jerry deserved better, so I never considered backing out - instead, I started making a list of who Jerry was, and the list grew and grew. Number one on my list was family man. Not until Sue mentioned this week how few nights they had spent apart in thirty one years of marriage, virtually none, did I realize how much of a family man Jerry was. I mean, I always knew it, but I didn't really know it, if that makes any sense. When the guys were going to Miami to watch the Bears, whom Jerry loved, Jerry stayed home. Or when we were going to Phoenix to play in America West Airlines golf outing, and boy did Jerry love to play golf, Jerry stayed with his family. And he did it low key. Never once, and I think the guys will agree, was Jerry accused of being hen pecked. He just knew how to balance his family life against everything else, and he did it well. Talking to Sue's mom yesterday, she told me the story of how Sue, at nineteen, when Jerry was stationed at Glenview NAS, brought home a sailor. Two years older than her no less. "OH BOY!" she said. Well, I think it turned out OK don't you Mrs. Forbes? Not many people in this life are lucky enough to experience thirty one years of a GOOD marriage. Ironically, that makes this day so much more difficult to bear. Jerry was intensely proud of his family. There was no prouder dad while Eric was serving his country in the Marines. And when Eric got out, and started pursuing a career in music, Jerry was right there managing the band, trying to help them along, even though it may not necessarily be the type of music that Jerry enjoyed best. Katie, I can't tell you how happy and proud Jerry was when you decided to follow in his footsteps to become a controller. He was proud of his profession and proud to have you pursue the same career. And there was no prouder grandfather around, even though at the time I got the feeling that he thought he was a bit too young to be called grandfather. But he was extremely proud from day one. Few people knew that Jerry was a deeply spiritual man. He was extremely satisfied that he had passed that spirituality on to his children. And as a result, he was extremely proud of how his children have turned out. You did an exemplary job of raising your family Jerry. I, for one wish I could be more like you. Jerry was truly an original. He always had some new, witty twist on just about everything at the center, from the artwork that he produced for the bay headers, to the first individualized break list strips. He took something about a person that made them stand out, and with his creativity, he produced a piece of art that became the persons name tag for the break list. If he made one for you, you were honored. how about the caricatures that he was drawing of each of the supes.

	Then, if I remember right, some supe didn't like them and made him stop. they were not offensive, they were just absolutely hilarious and so creative. And how about those personalized booms for the headsets that he was creating for a while. Jerry would take the plastic mouthpiece, heat it up with a lighter and stretch and shape it into all sorts of odd forms. Everyone's was different, all curly-qed and stretched and twisted and whatever. They were cherished art pieces. It was hilarious to see all these controllers on position with these weird things hanging off their headsets. And he did this on position mind you. Did he work any traffic in those days? And of coarse, the Friday night mid. It became legendary. All of the trainees wanted to work that mid to play a little leader board, grill a steak on the Weber grill, or maybe talk to their first aircraft, because Jerry always let the new trainees talk on frequency. What is still the funniest shift I have ever worked, the night we tried to deep fry buffalo wings on the old control room floor and blew two different circuits. I will never forget Jerry asking to turn the fryer up a tad and as soon as the knob was touched, the circuit popped and the emergency lights came on. We just looked up at the lights and at each other and couldn't stop laughing. AF had to pull blueprints out to find where the circuit breaker was. Took them two hours to figure it out. As the morning approached, we were thinking that they would have to work the day shift with the lights on because they could not figure out which circuit had tripped. They were PO' ed, but I think they did enjoy some wings. Then there is the mid that was classic Jerry. As every A/C checked on frequency, Jerry would ask the pilot his or her first name. Every clearance issued from that point, he issued the pilots name instead of the call sign. You can't tell me that the pilots didn't talk about that when they got together with other pilots. Who thinks of these kinds of things? All Jerry originals. And although we now have a new songwriter in the area, Jerry was the first with the original PMM high song. You have to go way back for that one. Jerry had a passion for music. When I would reserve the rental car for one of our vacations together, the second requirement after the fact that it had to be a convertible, was that it had to have a CD player. Leave it to Jerry to bring a wide variety of music. He was definitely my music lifeline. If you ever needed a title or an artist for some obscure piece of work from way back, Jerry was the one you went to. He had an amazing memory for that. And he did know how to vacation. You can see all the pictures in the back (back of room service was held in) of Jerry and Sue on a jet ski or on a parasail or just enjoying a mai-tai together. With Jerry, you always had to set aside time to watch the sunset, although on a particular tape from Jamaica, you can hear Jerry questioning what the big deal was. "This happens every night", he said. But of coarse he was kidding. He loved that kind of a simple thing. Cuddling up with Sue and watching the sunset, or sunrise for that matter. And no trip to the tropics was complete without finding just the right restaurant with just the right view of the water. He would drive miles for that view. Jerry just loved the ocean. He grew up surfing in the Bay area and could not stand to be away from the ocean for any extended period of time. And even though when three years ago, Jerry and I rented a couple of surf boards and neither of us could get up on the wave, Sue still thought that Jerry was white hot. Jerry just knew how to enjoy life, be it a spur of the moment decision to go catch a Moody Blues concert, or hop in the car and drive all the way to Rockford because there is a place there that has the best margaritas. Some people might look at that as crazy. I like to think that it is squeezing everything you can out of life. By the way, I think Jerry's margarita recipe is still the best. One part Cointreau, two parts good tequila and four parts Mr. and Mrs. T's margarita mix. Try it sometime. If you like margaritas, it's absolutely the best. Jerry touched a lot of lives, as does everyone, but somehow with Jerry, it was different. He would brighten a person's day with his humor, with his wit, with his originality. Simple things like the greeting we had for one another. You know how when you pass someone in the hall for the fourth time that day, it's always a bit awkward. Do you say hi again for the fourth time, how's it going? So, inevitably it starts to turn into a simple greeting of "brrrp". That was it -BRRRP-. Up to his last day when I passed Jerry in the hall, our greeting to one another was just -BRRRP-, simple but original. I am going to miss that originality. Sure he was opinionated, and he was passionate about many things; politics, religion, like the tiny feet he wore on his lapel to signify his stance on abortion. But that was Jerry, you knew what you got. On position, the stress might have gotten the best of him at times, but in the cafeteria, he made everyone laugh, and the bottom line was you enjoyed and looked forward to sharing your table and your lunch with him. Guys have a hard time saying this to one another, but J.B., my oldest, dearest friend; I love you, and I will miss you. We will all miss you, terribly. May God bless you and your family and give them the strength that they so desperately need right now that they may continue on in life without you. So long buddy. Aloha". - Andy Duda