DAD

Joseph Ronald Lyle was born in Belmont Hills, or as he liked to say....West Manayunk, on August 1, 1918. He was the 5th child in a family that eventually numbered ten children, 6 boys and 4 girls. To his brothers and sisters and childhood friends, he was Ron and Ronnie, and to another whole world he was Joe and Uncle Joe. To us, he was simply Dad and Grandpop.

Even though growing up, his family had very little money, he had great childhood experiences that we were fortunate to hear about as he loved to share those stories.

He talked about working in a neighbors garage making brooms for some extra spending money.

He talked about weimming in the Schuylkill and sliding down the falls and of course "Bear Ass Beach".

He loved to tell about the family dinner table of 10, and asking his Pop for a piece of bread, which his father could slice and sail down so it landed perfectly on your plate.

And without fail, on every trip to the shore, he would tell the story of sleeping under the lifeboat on the beach at Wildwood Crest.

Dad met Marion Morrison on a blind date, while she was a student at West Chester College. He started making weekly trips down the old Lancaster Pike, and not long after she graduated, they married.

They moved a couple of times until they settled into a spot, not far from "the hill" where they would stay for the next 40 plus years, Roxborough. On Osborn Street they raised thier boys, known by their formal names.....Jimmy, Tommy and Joey!

There were crabbing trips to Maryland with the uncles and cousins. There were swimming trips to the Schuylkill with the boys and several father/son camping and canoeing trips during the boy scout years.

Dad had a few different jobs, but his favorite by far was with the Lower Merion School District.

In the last few years when Kathy would come home from working on the "Mainline", he would never fail to ask "where she had worked that day". He could relate each of her bank branches with a school or athletic field wose grass he had cut. He retired from Lower Merion in the early eighties to pursue his second career.....full time gardener! He grew EVERYTHING, from corn to potatoes to asparagus to rhubarb, and his tomatoes were the est. The families freezers were so full of vegetables in the fall that they needed to get a second one to hold all the vegetables.

He worked hard in that garden, but it was also about the location! He took up most of Uncle Stew's back yard, and the social aspect was almost as important as the fruit of the land.

Having lunch with Stew and Kay, looking across at the house he grew up in, walking down the street to make sure that Art's tomatoes were not bigger than his, and trading seeds and stories with Max next door.

And he loved the sun, something that he never outgrew! Although he was not fond of wearing shorts in later years (he thought his legs were too skinny), he never failed to sit outside on warm days in his tee shirt with his pants rolled up to his knees!

A joy for dad were his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. Over the years, he and Mom loved to travel (by car of course) and once Jenny and Megan were born, they had a great excuse to see Pittsburg, Idaho, Mississippi, Washington state and California.

Katie and Bonnie were so fortunate to be able to have Grandpop at all thier games and school events, and you can always find him front and center in all their Halloween pictures!

Dad was very happy to see Alex come along after all those girls!

Every chance he got he would show pictures of his great grandchildren, Michael, Joey and of course Trinity. Even though he might change her name from time to time, he loved being there with her during his last few months.

Dad was one of the mose endearing men you could meet. He fit in well with all of his extended family. Not only did he love his own brothers and sisters, he loved Mom's sisters and thier husbands and all of his nices and nephews.

He was a good husband, a good father and father-in-law, brother, uncle, son and friend.

In short, he was a good man and although we will miss him dearly, he leaves us with so many happy memories and another lifetime of smiles.