He was born Joseph Menendez, but all his soccer buddies and the Spanish society of St Louis knew him as "Sophie" or as my grandmother used to call him: "Soph". This was due to the fact that so many of the Spanish society had similar names - Joseph, Jose, etc that they all had to have nicknames. His best friend was "Apples" and there were others: "Cotton", "Big Blo" (because he was really loud apparently), "Gloves" (the keeper on the soccer team) and I can't remember all the rest. He was "Sophie" because that was his mom's name (my great-grandmother) and they all knew her. I knew her as "Wella" because when my Dad was a kid, he couldn't say "abuela" right! Wella was the one who came over from Spain.
My grandpa had two brothers - the older brother died when he was just a baby. He also had a younger brother named Vincent. They were some handsome boys!!
 |
| Joseph and Vincente Menendez |
 |
| Grandma and Grandpa dancing, one of these photos was inscribed with the message "Always You - Sophie" |
 |
| Bridal Party |
 |
| Rose and "Soph" |
Grandpa also fought in World War II. He was in the army and saw a good bit of action. He used to say "hey Val, have you seen my horse?" and pulled out a photo of him on Goering's horse after the war had ended. Otherwise he never mentioned the war at all. Here are a few more handsome photos of my Grandpa - the soldier.
 |
| "Pacific War Ends" |
 |
| Spanish Society (Grandpa is middle row on the Right) |
As I said before, my Grandpa was part of the Spanish Society of St Louis. He played soccer with a bunch of them as well. In fact, he tried out but did not make the 1950 US World Cup Team. This was the team that beat England and was a HUGE upset for the World Cup. They made a movie about it -The Game Of Their Lives. This team was made of guys from St Louis and New York. Some of my grandpa's friends and teammates from St Louis made the team. If you look at the IMDB link, one of the characters is Harry Keough. He was at my Grandpa's funeral this weekend along with his sisters. A really nice guy, and it was almost like meeting a celebrity, as he is a common name in our house and famous soccer player as well!
Eventually Grandpa was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame (along with Harry Keough and many of the others). At the funeral, about 8 of the Hall of Famers showed up in their medals and were a sort of "honor guard" for him. They wore their jackets and their medals around their necks, and it was beautiful. Very moving and touching, and none of us had any idea that they were going to do it. It was really nice.
After my Grandmother passed away about 5 years ago, my grandpa remarried a wonderful woman named Butsy who really was great for him. She was truly a blessing and took great care of my grandfather. We had a great time taking him to dinner every weekend last year. These next few pictures are from one of my favorite dinners with Butsy, Dad, and Grandpa at a Tapas restaurant for dinner.
"Topless?!?" - Grandpa
"No Tapas!" - Dad
"Topless?"
"NO.... TAPAS!"
"Butsy... Steve's taking us to a topless restaurant!!!" - Grandpa
We were celebrating Christmas so we got funny hats. Butsy wasn't a fan, but Grandpa was a good sport. I think the elf hat was made for him!
It's really hard to believe that this was just a year ago. My Grandpa passed away last friday after being in the hospital for several weeks and the hospice for one. I was lucky to have been able to spend lots of time with him last year when I was in St Louis for rotation, and we went to dinner every weekend. I also got to spend time with him recently when he was in the hospital, and he sang his spanish songs to and with me. Always wanting hugs and kisses before we left, always "doing fine". He was always in good spirits, ready to tease and joke and sing. I miss him so much already.
 |
| "With Love - Soph" |
Very nice post. He looks so much like your dad is amazing! I am sorry for your lose and lave you!!!
ReplyDelete