Basilio Dieppa

Basilio Dieppa age 83. Beloved husband of 59 years to Patria; loving father of Elizabeth Dieppa-Wells(Raymond), Edward, Edwin (deceased), Eva Gebura (Jeffrey), Patria, and Sonia Malz (James); dearest grandfather of Alicia Steele, Isabel , Desiree Rodriguez-Gould, Erica Villanueva, Marcus Wells, Edward Jr., Daniel, Billy Steward, Gabriella Malz, and Jimmy Malz; great grandfather of Mirabella Steele and one on the way; His passion was his cuatro (Spanish guitar) which he played at every opportunity. He arrived from Puerto Rico in the early 1950’s. Employed at Interior Steel Co. He quickly established roots and began raising a family. He loved baseball (Cleveland Indians) and the local Roberto Clemente League. He recruited all his grandchildren for the league. Basilio was also one of the founding father’s of the San Lorenzo Club. VISITATION MONDAY AND TUESDAY 2-4 AND 7-9 PM AT CRACIUN BERRY FUNERAL HOME 7200 DETROIT AVE. Funeral Mass Wednesday 10 am a St Michael Catholic Church 3114 Scranton Rd. Where family will recieve friends 9:15 am until time of mass 10 am(PLEASE MEET AT CHURCH) Interment Holy Cross Cemetery. Online condolences at www.craciunfuneralhomes.com

Eulogy:

Once upon a time. This is often how a good story starts, however even the greatest writers of Disney and the best directors of Hollywood could not capture the fairy tale I am about to share with you today. This is a story of the ages, beyond your imagination, one in which we all shared a part in.

Let me start in the beginning, the way the story was shared with me by my father. It all started with a picture. One of my mother’s cousins who lived in a different town of Puerto Rico, showed my father my mother’s picture. As he looked at the photo he proclaimed, “I am going to marry this girl”. He took that photo and then traveled to find her, seeing her sitting on the porch in Aquadia (a small town in Puerto Rico). Just seventeen days later they would be married. 59 years later I am here to tell you that was only the beginning of this fairy tale.

Soon after they were married they moved to Cleveland, where he would establish his family. He worked at Interior Steel. He was a man of hard-work, diligence, perfection, but mostly a man of family! He loved his family. He and his bride would have six children, the first myself Elizabeth, the second Edward, the third Edwin who would pass away at age two due to pneumonia and yet they remained strong, the fourth Eva, the fifth Patria, and the baby of the family Sonia. Each of us always had clothes on our back, a roof over our head and food in our bodies; however we had so much more. We had a father of tradition. Basilio means “royal and kingly” and in our home this is exactly what was expected. He would go on to teach us the very values that we hold dear to us today and pass on to our children and give us the opportunities to better our future for our own families one day. Just as you think how can this fairy tale get any better it does, as grandchildren entered his life, his life forever changed. He was not a typical grandfather; to be honest all of his grandchildren would say that he served more as a father in many ways.

Like every story, there is sadness, joy and humor.

Let me shed some light on this king of our family. He was a man of many God given gifts; one of his greatest was his music. He would play his cuarto all the time, entertaining family and friends. He loved his almanac and loved reading books about baseball statistics, though he would be the first to tell you if the book had an error or what he believed was an inaccurate fact or stat. And he was always right! He was the man who we called upon when we needed a carpenter, electrician, a painter or for anything honestly. He truly did it all and with great detail! Cleveland truly became his home, and everyone in Cleveland knew who he was. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would not only recognize the name Basilio Dieppa, however be prepared because if they knew you were one of the heirs of this great king you were in for a lengthy one way dialog about how they loved him. He was dedicated to the Hispanic community of Cleveland and was one of the original founders of the San Lorenzo Club. He was brilliant and innovative always creating something that could simplify life, perhaps an extension for the remote control so you did not have to get up and change channels. He created the “as seen on TV” item about 10 years before it was actually seen on TV. Had he been born in today’s world he would be a great engineer, the rubix cube only lasted 10 seconds with him! One of his greatest characteristics is how reliable he is. He would pick us up or our kids up in a given moment. He was our driver. He provided the home that would care for our children; he was the provider and at times the caregiver. He was the summer camp host for all of his grandchildren with a pool the size of a larger tub; however the children always thought they were in an Olympic size pool! Above all this, you never had to ask him for anything, he would ask you. You would walk into his house and after greeting you he would only want to know what he could do for you!

He was our king, but better known as, pop, papi, papa, grandpa, and to his great grand-daughter big papa. He is the Hero in our very real fairy tale! Hollywood could never even begin the capture the magnificence of his life.

And to think it all started with a beautiful photo of our mother…..and that very photo he still had in his wallet 59 years later.

The loved he shared for my mom overflowed into our lives and hearts….and as we look to the future….we know that this is not just our happily ever after, but a new chapter of the special fairy tale HE created for us!

We love you pop and thank you!