MEMORIAL

Memory Of

This page is dedicated to my family

and friends who have passed on from this life.
Gone, but NEVER forgotten!

Rosemary

Faegenburg

My favorite picture of my beautiful and wonderful mom

Rosemary Faegenburg Born on March 29, 1920

who passed away on Saturday, September 23, 2006.

I was an adopted child, but this wonderful woman and former

United States Navy Nurse, took me in as her own, raised me,
was ALWAYS there for me, and taught me principles and
ideals that helped me learn how to take care of myself and
my family, just like she did.

Losing mom is still the MOST painful experience I have had
to endure in this life.

But I never stop thinking about her, REMEMBERING her,

and most of all LOVING her for all she did for me!

(** Update 09/23/2019)

Today marks 13 years since mom passed away. I remember that day

like it was yesterday.

I LOVE you mommy and I miss you more as each day passes by me!

I pray we will meet again!

Merrill

Faegenburg

My dad Merrill Faegenburg was a United States Naval Aviator

during WWII.

He received his wings on November 3, 1943.

He graduated just 5 months after President George H.W. Bush

(I have Dad's 1943 Slipstream yearbook with their pictures).

He was born on April 15, 1921

and passed from this earth on

Thursday, December 5, 2013.

Dad was the toughest son-of-a-gun I ever met!

He survived lung cancer, numerous skin cancers,

and was on Kidney Dialysis for the last 4 years of his life

(Dad, I TOLD you to stop drinking that crappy Dewar's Scotch)!

I can't explain quite how he did this for me,

but Dad was a realist, and NEVER ignored the facts.

He prepared me for his passing in subtle ways which somehow

took some of the sting away from my grief of losing him.

I didn't recognize those subtle things at the time because he was

always there to talk to me. We did almost every day and I usually

made it back to Florida once a year to visit him. It was only after

he passed away that I was able to look back and see those things

he was planting in my mind, that would help me through the pain

of losing him.

A few years before Dad passed away, he sat down at his computer

and wrote a short story about his life. A couple of years ago, I

thought it would be nice if I sort of spiffed it up a bit. No changes,

but I tried to correct some spelling and grammar, and add some

pictures. I also made a table of contents to make it even cooler!

So, I thought since Dad did all that work writing the story, and since

I had always dreamed of one day actually learning how to make

a website, the two have finally come together.

And so I present:

The Merrill Faegenburg Story

Thomas

Dickinson

The year was 1973 when I met my dear friend Tom Dickinson

in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

After failing to get accepted to the St. Pete Police Department

(I failed the final lie-detector portion of the process, not for lying

but for telling the truth about my past drug use), I decided to

become an Emergency Medical Technician after answering

an ad I saw in the newspaper from Florida Ambulance Services.

After completing my training and getting my state certification,

Tom Dickinson and I were assigned as permanent partners on the

South side office of FAS.

Here is a picture of Tom as he looked back then when I met him:

Besides all the life-saving skills that Tom helped me to acquire
while on Active Duty, He was a very skilled driver and taught
me how to operate an Ambulance so that patients remained
comfortable during transport. Those smoothness skills and the
art of driving that way, remain with me today and I credit Tom
with teaching me.

Tom was also responsible for introducing me to a friend of his
who would later become a catalyst in my life when I changed
career paths and got into the music business as a professional
electric bassist.

Tom's career led from the Ambulance to becoming an officer
with the Tampa Fire Department. I knew I was not going to
survive long-term as a paramedic.

It was the picture below that was the turning point in my mind:

Tom and I were the ONLY unit available that Saturday morning
in 1974 and were first on the scene to this horrific crash. Two
of our EMT's barely escaped with their lives after being hit
head-on by a drunk driver. I NEVER fully recovered from the
tragedy of that morning and Thank God my dear friend and
partner Tom Dickinsonwas there with me to help me.

Tom Dickinson spent his life in a career path of helping others.

Another of my heroes for sure!

And so it was with tremendous sadness that I learned of Tom's passing

from this earth on Friday, May 6, 2016.

I love you Tom and though you are gone, you are NEVER FORGOTTEN!

I remember our slogan at Florida Ambulance:

"When Only The BEST Will Do"

and Tom, you ALWAYS were the BEST!

George

Mendelke

I met my good friend George Mendelke in November of 1996 when I

started working for Tenneco Packaging Corporation in Evanston, IL.

George was a Senior Telecommunications Specialist and I was hired

as a Systems Programmer on the IBM AS/400 platform.

In 1997, Tenneco completed a new Information Technology Operations

Center affectionatley know as the: ITOC, in Lincolnshire, IL which was

much closer to our homes. George and I began working directly with

each other as part of a massive I.T. project to upgrade computing

resources at all of Tenneco's Packaging Plants and Distribution Centers.

Tenneco needed a team to handle the Telecom upgrades to hardware

at these facilities and they needed a corresponding Software Technician

to handle the major changes needed on the IBM AS/400's.

During 1998, George and I logged over 50,000 flight miles visiting L.A.,

San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Tampa, Charlottsville, Phoenix ,

Salt Lak City, Buffalo, just to name a few. There were dozens of other

cities too, and while we worked our asses off, we made sure we had

some fun as well. If a city had a Ruth's Chris Steak House, we had a

dinner reservation waiting for us.

We got to see the Grand Canyon, drive across the Okaland and Golden

Gate bridge, lunch in Saucilito, and even had lunch one day at the original

Cheer's Bar in Boston (TV show was not filmed there in case you are

wondering).

I had a big problem flying, and I would never have made it if I had not had

George Mendelke at my side.

After I left Tenneco in 1999, George and I sort of lost contact with each

other. He moved to Arizona for a while as a consulktant, and also spent

some time in Indiana. We exchanged e-mails every once in a while, but

it was the one in 2014, when he was diagnosed with cancer,

that changed things.

When George got back in the Lindenhurst area, I started visiting him

when I could. By that time I was out of work on Disability Retirement,

so I got to spend some time with him. I should have visited more often

as I could see the cancer was taking a terrible toll on him. But we would

have lunch, watch the TV, just talk about whatever came to mind,

and tried to have as close to a normal day as we could.

I remember torwards the end when George was hospitalized, I went to

visit him and we began talking about food. He was kind of hungry

and was hankering for a Portillo's Hot Dog (Best on the planet).

I drove a half hour there and a half hour back, and stuffed the food

inside my coat pockets to sneak past the nurses. I hope he was able

to enjoy it somewhat, but I truly enjoyed making the run for him.

It was late in April of 2017 and I had been trying to schedule a

lunch get-together with George, but had not heard from him for a week

or so. I had just left an eye doctors appointment on the morning of

May 5th, when my cell phone starting ringing with an incoming call

from George.

When I called out his name upon answering, the caller said no this is

his son Nick. I started choking up instantly because I knew there was

only one reason Nick would be calling.

George had passed away quietly in his sleep during the night.

I am crying right now as I write this remembering that terrible day.

I spent the afternoon with the family and paid my final respects to

George, and gave him that last kiss on the forehead, That same kiss

I always gave him when I saw him and left him.

It was in that moment that I remembered what George had done for

me on my last visit when he was still alive. After I leaned over his

bed and gave him that little peck on the forehead, he leaned up from the

bed and kissed my forehead too! He must have sensed something coming.

It was the same way, the last time I saw my Dad alive. He gave me a bear hug

of all times and I now realize why. He too knew time was running out.

And so on Friday, May 5,2017 my dear friend George Mendelke

departed from this earth.

I should also like to mention that George is the TRUE reason that I got

really inspired in later years in the computer industry. He taught me

the foundation skills that led me to the knowledge of learning how

to create, run and maintain my own websites here in my home.

What a journey it has been.

Dear brother George, THANK YOU so very much for blessing me

with your friendship.

Gone but NEVER FORGOTTEN!

Michelle Lee

Yurkanin

1/24/1987 - 1/5/2022

==========================================

Michelle Lee Yurkanin, was my niece. A Niece that I had no idea
even existed until January 20th, 2022.

And that makes this memorial even more hearbreaking for me, as I will
never get to meet and know this beautiful young woman whose life
ended far too soon.

Michelle leaves behind a loving fiance Joseph Deem and two young
sons, Joey (4) and Noah (10 months) as of this writing 1/21/2022.

She was from Hazleton, PA and lived with her husband and sons in
Lititz, PA.

It is my sincere hope that I will learn more about Michelle's life and
the lives of her family and friends soon, so that I can add more
to this tribute.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help Joe with expenses
in this time of need. If you could find it in your heart to help out,
the family would deeply appreciate it. Please click HERE.