My favorite photo of Dad. He passed  two years ago today. i know that he & Mom are together and happy.

Today (04-7-25) I read that Richard Brustowicz had passed
in August of 2023.  The obit was placed in the NJ FTA (Former
Troopers Association) website.   I am very sorry for your loss.

         Although I was younger than your father, I still remember
speaking with him several times in our ABC Keyport Station.

          I recall his as a witty , knowledgeable and nice man.

          I did not know he was a Hero in the Korean War.

         RIP Rich Brustowicz and God Bless your Family.
           
                                                        Robert Caruso NJSP (ret.)
                                                        Williamstown, NJ

He always loved to make grilled cheese for us. That's how I'll remember him. One year ago, we said goodbye.

I will always remember my dad. Today he would have been 92. I didn't forget. I will never forget. Happy birthday in heaven 💛

My Father was a Veteran of the Korean War. Such a handsome fella. 

My Dad in his younger years. My son Michael is his twin, except for the blue eyes. 

My dad insisted on attending his grandson (my sons) Michael's graduation in 2020. My Dad was such a fighter, right up to the very end. He waited for us. I'm sure he heard everything ♥️  

** Part 3**

Gifts that Richie gave were just a small part of his personality. The part that I loved the most was his sense of humor. His one-liners would leave me laughing for days, and years, and now the rest of my life. The jokes that made me laugh, in turn made him laugh harder. I called his sayings Richie-isms.  There was a special song that he began singing to me out of the blue one day at his kitchen table. We both laughed so hard that we continued to sing it until he passed. It was, “our song.” I would answer the phone, and on the other end would be Richie singing away. In reality he called to speak to Ed, but the two of us would chat, giggle and sing for the good part of an hour. Many times he never did get to talk to Ed!  
The last year has been hard. I didn’t give up, Pop. Absence is difficult, but the love for someone can never be taken away.  I never stopped trying, and on August 4th, what I like to call as a miracle occurred, or perhaps divine intervention by Gert. I was able to have a final, private conversation with my father in-law. I made him a promise that day. Thank you, Pop, for being so strong and hanging in there. I kept was able to keep that promise with your help. 

I will continue to sing our song and laugh, just like we did that first time in the kitchen. I miss you.


For many years, up until Covid turned our world upside down, Ed and I would bring Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to Richie and Gert’s home, birthday cakes, anniversary parties, and many, many weekend dinners. My mother in-law would ask, “How do you have time to do all of this?” Easy, you make time to do things for the people you love.  Richie would always say, “Thank you Marie.”  However, that was just the tip of the iceberg of his thank you. He learned the things that I love, and constantly went out and purchased them as a surprise for me. I was always amazed at the size of the pomegranates he would buy. “Chinese apples,” he would tell me. “That’s what they’re really called.”  Occasionally I would take boiled eggs to work with me for breakfast. Regular store eggs were not good enough! My father-in law would go to a special market and buy the largest eggs a chicken could lay. “Double yokers”, he called them, and sure enough they all had 2 yokes in each egg!  Then came the wines, Mead, Moscato, you name it. We could never leave his home without taking a bottle that he, “personally picked out.” A wine in which I had never heard of, which is now one of my favorites, came from him. Several times we would come home and open our garage door. Richie knew how to get into the garage if we were not home. On the workbench would be a package filled with surprise goodies like cheese babka, and of course scratch off lottery tickets.  The summer Ed and I were in a motorcycle accident, and broke our ankles, his parents didn’t know what to do for us. They arrived one afternoon with once again, another enormous box. It was filled with a surplus of items that I never would have thought of.  I don’t think I have ever had so many rolls of toilet paper! “This is stuff you need Marie, it’ll come in handy, “he said. Yes Pop, it certainly did come in handy!  “Stuff” only you would have thought of.

The gifts were just a small part of his personality. The part that I loved the most was his sense of humor. His one-liners would leave me laughing for days, and years, and now the rest of my life. The jokes that made me laugh, in turn made him laugh harder. I called his sayings Richie-isms.  There was a special song that he began singing to me out of the blue one day at his kitchen table. We both laughed so hard that we continued to sing it until he passed. It was, “our song.” I would answer the phone, and on the other end would be Richie singing away. In reality he called to speak to Ed, but the two of us would chat, giggle and sing for the good part of an hour. Many times he never did get to talk to Ed!  
The last year has been hard. I didn’t give up, Pop. Absence is difficult, but the love for someone can never be taken away.  I never stopped trying, and on August 4th, what I like to call as a miracle occurred, or perhaps divine intervention by Gert. I was able to have a final, private conversation with my father in-law. I made him a promise that day. Thank you, Pop, for being so strong and hanging in there. I kept was able to keep that promise with your help. 
I will continue to sing our song and laugh, just like we did that first time in the kitchen.
I miss you. 
"At the end of the journey, when our last song is sung,
Will you meet me in Heaven someday?" Johnny Cash



**My memory is too long for one page, so I divided it between all three of my photos. **

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Not long after Ed and I exchanged wedding vows, my father in-law, Richie Brustowicz stated loudly, “Welcome to the family Marie!” I can still hear his words as if he said it moments ago. Family, that’s how Richie made me feel. I wasn’t just Ed’s wife; I was his family. 
After we returned from our wedding in Arizona, Richie and Gert arrived at our home with an enormous box.  He was very proud of himself, smiling every so brightly. We had no idea what he had purchased for our new home.  “Open it up,” he demanded, still smiling. While in Arizona with us, Richie had admired the Remington bronze statues that he had seen in the galleries in Scottsdale. Ed and I couldn’t believe our eyes! In that large box was a beautiful, Remington bronze statue. How he found this in NJ was nothing short of a miracle. This was just the beginning of a very special relationship with a man who stole my heart. That statue is still on display in our home.

 



Photo from 2019. Just one photo out of thousands. My parents were such a big part of my life. They were with me for every part of it. We shared such a close bond as I was the youngest of five and the last one to leave the nest. We vacationed together in Germany, we loved to go to yard sales together and Dad and I loved to go out to eat. They were both over joyed when my two sons were born and loved to spend time with them. My memories, photos and videos of my parents are my treasures & my truth. Nothing will ever change our bond and the love I have for my parents. I know they are together again. 

Will always remember you this way ❤️  The sweetest great grandfather to Peyton and Jax

My sincere and heartfelt condolences on your loss. It was my honor getting to know Rich as he sat in activities with us. I had frequent conversations with him as he spoke of his life and family. I will treasure his memory. 

Robin Gamatko 
(Madison Center)



My sincere condolences to the entire family. 
May he rest in peace. 

Dad loved his little buddies. He sang to them. He fed them pieces of cake when he thought I wasn’t looking. He told me to go ahead and do some shopping just so he could babysit them by himself.  He couldn’t wait to tell me how smart they are and the funny things he saw them do. He was so happy and smiled and laughed when he played with them. Well Dad, they miss you the most. Love to you in Heaven from Monkey, Weasel and Lilabit.

OBITUARY

Richard R Brustowicz

June 11, 1932 – August 13, 2023

Quinn Hopping Funeral Home

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