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Friday, January 22, 2010
Characteristics of Success - 'Greatness'In our continuing series on 'Characteristics of Success'
I want to explore the term or quality of 'Greatness' and see what we uncover. The dictionary
defines 'Greatness' as: noteworthy, weighty,
serious, momentous, vital, critical, famed, eminent, noted, notable, prominent, renowned,
elevated, exalted, dignified.
I have waited to explore this topic and write this post for
several weeks. The reason I waited is I wanted to take some time to digest the events and the implications to me
personally and professionally. The last several weeks have been tough for me from a relationship standpoint and here's
why. On Friday, January 8th I got a call from my best friend Tim (Swammy.....that nick-name is a whole other story!  ) and he went onto explain that my high school basketball coach Gene Evans died. After I got off the phone I wept......kind
of like right now as I'm typing. To begin to capture the 'impact' he had on my life and so many other lifes would take a book.
I wrote about 'Gene' in one of my blogs several months ago which was entitled 'Heroes'. If you haven't read it, I
would suggest you go into the 'archive' section and click on October 29th, 2009. Over that weekend as I let the 'loss' sink-in
I was blind-sided by another event. On Sunday, January 10th, my good friend Kim Duso, lost his dad. Kim and his Dad have owned
the Marina where I have kept one of many boats over the last eleven years!
When I found out about Don Duso's death
I called Kim immediately and could barely get the words out.....over-whelmed with emotion, I cried more than talked.
On Monday, January 11th I was sitting at the computer writing when I noticed the ambulance was in front of my next store
neighbor's house. My neighbor is a wonderful eighty-six year old man named Andy. Andy lives alone and is a great man,
friend and neighbor. I quickly went outside to talk with the ambulance crew and was relieved to find out that Andy was
just 'feeling' a little bad and needed to go to the hospital and be checked. (I'm happy to report that Andy was home the same
day and seems to be doing 'fine'.)
So that was how my weekend went......
The next week I
attended Don Duso's viewing On Wednesday, January 13th and his funeral on Thursday the 14th. January 13th was my one daughter
Mariah's 13th birthday and she went to Mr. Duso's viewing with her mom and sister, Sierra. Mariah later posted a wonderful
thought on Facebook in honor of Mr. Duso. This is what she said:
'r.i.p.
Don Duso, 1.10.10. you were like a grandfather to me, you will be in my heart and my mind forever, :'(. ♥ ♥
♥ '
Mariah has known Mr. Duso and has been going to his marina since she was two years
old!........He was like a grandfather to her!
Why am I
sharing these thoughts and what do they have to do with 'Characteristics of Success' and the above-noted aspect of 'Greatness'.
As you think about the definition of 'Greatness' above I would like you to read two articles: The first is from
the Carlisle Evening Sentinel Newspaper , about Gene Evans and the other is from the Adirondack
Daily Enterprise, about Don Duso.
Here
is the one about Gene Evans:
Gene A. Evans, 83, of Carlisle passed away on Friday, Jan. 8, 2010, at home surrounded by his family.
Gene was a loving, devoted husband,
father, grandfather, great-grandfather, coach, teacher and mentor.
He
was born on May 15, 1927, in the Bronx to the late Arthur and Clara Evans. In addition to his parents, Gene was preceded in
death by his brother, Joseph Evans.
Surviving are his wife of 59
years, Dorothy James Evans; a daughter, Deborah Smith (and her husband, Richard) of Mechanicsburg; a daughter, Lisa Hall (and
her husband, Ron) of Spokane, Wash.; a son, Dr. David A. Evans (and his wife, Ali) of Voorhees, N.J.; five grandchildren,
Brett Smith (and his wife, Amy) of Mechanicsburg, Lindsay Smith of Mechanicsburg, Shaelyn Hall of Spokane, Wash., Eric Evans
and Sarah Evans of Voorhees, N.J.; and a great-granddaughter, Madison Miller of Mechanicsburg.
Gene was president of his class graduating from Plymouth High School in 1943.
He was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dickinson College. He holds two master’s degrees, one in mathematics from Michigan
University and the other in education from Bucknell University.
While
serving with the Navy, he played on the 1944 North Carolina PreFlight School basketball team. From 1946-1949, Gene played
basketball at Dickinson College. He began his coaching career at Carlisle High School in 1950 as assistant varsity football
and track coach. From 1951-1952 to 1969-1976, Gene was Carlisle’s basketball coach with an overall record of 272-110.
His teams won seven South Penn Conference titles, three District III championships and had two undefeated seasons. He was
twice voted Harrisburg Area Coach of the Year. Gene coached basketball at Bucknell University from 1962-1964, and from 1964-1967
was assistant football coach at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1968, he was basketball coach at Hazleton High School.
In 1976, he left Carlisle and moved across town to Dickinson College and coached for 13 seasons. His teams won
championships in the MAC Southwest and Southern Conference and NCAA District II Regionals. Gene received Carlisle High School’s
Sports Service Award and Carlisle’s Finest Educator’s Award, as well as National Basketball Coaches Association’s
Division III “Coach of the Year” award. He is in the Dickinson College Sports Hall of Fame and South Central Pennsylvania
Sports Hall of Fame. Carlisle High School’s gymnasium was dedicated to him in 1994.
A
memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, in the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 100 E. High St., Carlisle,
with the Rev. Charles A. Brophy officiating. There will be a tribute ceremony held at 3 p.m. on the same day in the Gene Evans
Gymnasium, Carlisle High School.
 
Here is Mr. Duso's:
Saranac Lake Fire Chief Don Duso was laid to rest Thursday after a funeral service that celebrated
his life and his service to the community. Duso, who died Sunday at age 78, was a member of the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire
Department for almost 54 years and was serving as the village's fire chief at the time of his death. He also was chairman
of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee for more than 23 years. http://www.saranaclakewintercarnival.com/
Duso's flag-draped casket was brought to St. Bernard's Church from the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in the
back of the fire department's antique 1942 fire engine. Several of the
department's officers, in full dress uniform, marched in step behind the engine in a procession led by a tanker truck. The
casket was brought into the church between rows of saluting police officers and firefighters from at least a half dozen area fire departments.
The funeral
service was led by the Rev. Mark Demers of the Adirondack Community Church, where Duso was a member. Demers described Duso
as a man who lived his faith in Christ by the quiet ways he reached out to others. Don was a 'pillar of the community' and
will be missed greatly.
'Several people shared their own stories and remembrances of Duso, including Natalie Leduc,
who talked about playing with Don when she was a young girl, and Dick Kibben, who spoke of Duso cutting the ice blocks for
the Winter Carnival Ice Palace each year. Kim Duso, Don's son, thanked the community for all its condolences and kind words
about his father.
A special alarm and announcement were broadcast over the fire department's radios during the
service. 'It is with deep regret and sorrow that we announce that Chief Don Duso answered his last alarm!' Village fire truck
driver, Rick Yorkey said: 'The Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department thanks you for your service to the community
and will never forget your honor, courage and duty.'
The funeral came to a close with a military
service for Duso, who had served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. His wife, Cherie was presented the flag that had
covered her husband's casket. After the service, the casket was put back onto the antique engine for a funeral procession
to Pine Ridge Cemetery that included 50 firefighters marching on foot, fire trucks and a half-dozen cars carrying Duso's family.
As it travelled down River Street and came to the site of the Ice Palace, the procession passed under a large
American Flag that had been draped from the bucket of the fire department's snorkel truck. The procession continued on
to the cemetery where Duso was laid to rest in a private family service.
  
Now
that you've read what was said about these men and what their lives represented, I have a question I would like you to
think about:
What characteristics (qualities) do these two men have individually and also share that
YOU feel makes them 'Great'.
Re-read the 'Greatness' definition above and think about what
you've read.
I will refrain from sharing my observations until my next post. Over the weekend I hope you'll continue
to think about the aspects of their lives and I also hope you'll think about your own life.
Do YOU
share the qualities you've thought about?........Would YOU be considered by others to be 'Great'?
Until next time, thanks for listening/reading and remember to: 'Dream Big and Dare to Fail!'
9:25 am est
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