Gramps, or Rocco DeRobertis as he was known to most, passed away last month. He was a really cool guy and a great grandpa, so I wanted to tell anyone who will read this a little about him. There he is above in an orange (his favorite color) shirt with me, his first grandchild.

Gramps flew his own plane (and performed an emergency landing safely), has his own boat, went scuba diving, rock-hounded, polished and cut rocks into art, blew glass, managed an impressive film collection as a cinephile, spent years caring for a tortoise, and traveled the world. He was always into something new and giving it his all, and he appreciated progress in tech and trends.

Gramps loved Disney. The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland will always remind me of him. A couple years ago, I told him how I was having trouble finding a Mickey Mouse watch that I liked before finding one at Tokyo Disneyland. He interrupted me to tell me he had one that he bought at Disneyland he could ship me. Even after I clarified that I did have one now, he insisted. He bought a new battery for it and ensured it worked, even setting the time before shipping it to me. There were always Disney albums in the car. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah always reminds me of him now.

Gramps had his own small plane, and I’d go on flights with him. He’d let me sit in the copilot seat and push the yoke and feel the plane respond.

In July of 1992, Gramps crash-landed his plane in Las Vegas. One of my favorite stories about Gramps is how he told me this story. He told me that during the crash, he heard the voice of his own father, who was deceased, reassure him. Gramps told me that his dad told him “these four words.” And then Gramps told me what he heard. “It’s not your time yet.”

I looked at him and said “that’s five words.”

I just wanted some clarification. Was it those five words? Or had he heard “it’s not your time?” But he got mad and yelled. And that was certainly Gramps.

I’m talking about all the great memories I have of him, but I can attest to his stubborn and hot-headed nature. One time while playing a card game, my aunt clarified “that’s worth point five points?” and Gramps god mad. “No, not point five! A half a point!”

As a kid, I loved Ghostbusters. My grandparents would call and tell me they had ghosts in their house and tell me to come over quick to bust them! I had my proton pack and trap and would rush over! They always kept plenty of toys for me in a downstairs closet so I could have fun when I visited. I particularly remember a cart with a small tv and SNES on it that I could wheel out. They also had a View-Master and a blue View-Master projector I’d use. One Halloween, I went as a wizard. Gramps made me a staff, a long branch he spray-painted. He attached a light-up plastic pumpkin to the top and a battery.

Gramps was always really giving. I specifically remember him taking me to Fry’s and surprising me with a Playstation. He told me I could pick out a game, and I denated over FF7 and Kartia so long that he told me to put both in the cart. I never did beat Kartia.

Last year I was planning a trip to New York City to see a show and was hoping to see another show that I really loved as well. That second show was closing a couple weeks earlier. Grandpa asked me how much it would cost to travel to NYC a second time to see that show before my planned trip. I made sure that he understood that I technically had the money, but I just didn’t have the budget for it. He completely understood. He paid for my flight, hotel, and ticket so I could go see the show. He told me that doesn’t just want his loved ones to inherit his money after he dies – it’s better that they enjoy it now so he gets to see us enjoy it. I didn’t realize he’d pass a year later.

He was into lots of cool crafts. Geodes always remind me of him for sure. He had rock tumblers that made really pretty tumbled stones. One time he took me rockhounding to look for blue tourmaline. We went with a group, and I remember that everyone agreed they’d pool whatever they found and split it evenly. Gramps found a couple small pieces but not much. He did not tell the others.

Later he build a machine in the backyard to create rock spheres. He’d cut rocks and then put them in the device with three polishing arms that would slowly turn the sharp-edged stone into a shiny, polished sphere. He had so many.

He had a lot of rocks around in his backyard too. Here’s some I took from his house recently.

He also got into glassblowing. Mostly he made bowls, but he also made decorative pieces. Here’s a bowl he made me.

Gramps loved movies and games. In the last twenty-years or so, he really loved the DS and had a bunch of games. He preferred puzzle and adventure games. I was surprised that he knew the Professor Layton games when I told him about my Luke cosplay. He also thought the modded Game Boys I had were really cool.

He was a huge cinephile. When I was little, he’d always be recording TV shows. He had multiple cable boxes and VCRs so he could record multiple shows at the same time. His TV guides were full of highlights so he could plan what to watch and record. His office was crammed full of tapes – not just normal shelves, but a collapsible system of shelves so that the shelves would take up less space, but he could still pull a shelf out when needed. Maybe I got my love of sitcoms from him.

He definitely liked silly humor; Steve Urkel reminds me of him. Sometimes while we sat on the couch, he’d cross his legs, and I’d sit on his foot. He’d kick to launch me in the air and catch me.

I remember that he’d take me to the movie store with him on occasion. At that time, they’d set aside a LaserDisc copy of every new movie they got for him. Speaking of movies, one Easter he put on Animal House followed by Event Horizon. Quite the seasonal movies. I also remember once I talked about liking Devil’s Advocate when I was maybe 12. He hadn’t seen it, but he put it on and we watched together. When there was a scene with a topless woman he said, “oh, I see why you like this movie!”

He’d make copies of tapes for all his kids and grandkids. As we got older, this continued even when we didn’t really want them. He was generous, and we accepted them. By that time, I was paying for many streaming services and not interested in his low-quality copies, but he’d gift them anyways. But when I was little, his collection was much more impressive. I’d mention liking a cartoon and suddenly next time I saw him, he’d have a bunch of tapes of the show for me.

Besides TV and movies, he gave me tapes of old time radio shows. It’s thanks to him that I know Space Patrol, X-Minus One, and Dimension X.

He loved Hawaii. Here we are together on vacation. Back home in Lake Forest, he had a jacuzzi in the backyard with a tiki fountain that squirted water into the pool. I spent plenty of nights laughing with him in the jacuzzi. Unfortunately, I was probably in a bright orange speedo just like he was.

When I was really little, Gramps had his own boat. I don’t remember when he got rid of it or what happened. I do know he loved to scuba dive. He let me use the equipment in the pool. I remember once I kept telling him I thought I was going to run out of air. He repeatedly let me know that I had plenty of oxygen. Then one time he said I was fine and pushed me back down. I was out of oxygen that time! Don’t worry; I was fine.

Here are some Christmas photos over the years. In the first one, Grandma is wearing oven mitts to keep her hands warm.

One recent Christmas a few years ago, he interrupted me and told me not to use the f-word in front of women because they shouldn’t hear that kind of language. My cousin said “yeah Peter, what the f***,” and then Gramps got mad at her too. After he left, my grandma came over and said “what the f*** was that all about” (or something like that) and laughed.

Gramps cared for Tilly the tortoise for years. I believe my Uncle Rocco brought it home as a kid. Not surprisingly, somehow she became Gramps’ pet. Tilly passed away in June of 2016 and was at least 40 or 50 years old.

Gramps also loved hummingbirds, and hummingbird feeders always remind me of him. When I visited his house recently, I saw a hummingbird approach his empty feeder. I went back and took the feeder.

One time, Mom’s dog Rocky peed on him at Christmas time.

Look how happy he is with his lobster! He loved to cook, and he was always smoking or grilling. He also loved sushi, introducing me to the food and teaching me to use chopsticks. When I went to get sushi with him as an adult, I realized that by that point, I thought his taste in sushi was pretty simple. He tried to warn me when I ordered unagi that it was actually eel. Yep, I knew. A lot of foods today remind me of him – corned beef hash, Boston Baked Beans, chocolate cordial cherries, macadamia nuts to name a few.

Gramps had a lot of other hobbies too that I only saw in passing. I know he had a telescope in his office along with a fancy looking bow for archery. He painted and made stained-glass lampshades. He bought molds so he could make me metal mini figurines for D&D in his oven. He used to hunt, but that didn’t seem to be something he did by the time I was around. He had a pool table upstairs. He covered his house in a string and pulley system so he could attach the Christmas lights and then stand in one place, using his pulleys to put up the Christmas lights. And he had a fancy doorbell that played music. I think it’s the only one like that I’ve actually seen in person. He had a bunch of models in a storage area behind his bed. I think they were Star Trek and Star Wars.

Here’s some photos of him throughout the years. Through these photos he’s an 18 year old just entering the navy, or a navy veteran, or a guy with the deepest deep v ever on vacation in Mexico, or a man sporting one heck of a mustache.

This photo is from a family reunion for my grandparent’s 50th anniversary.

Here’s some more photos of us together.

There was fire at his house August 15th this year. A garbage can caught fire. He tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher but slipped and got the melted plastic on him. He spent six weeks in the ICU and had six surgeries. I talked with him on September 29th, and we spoke about the future. We didn’t think his time was going to be cut so short. He got out of the hospital on October 3rd but still had rehab and another surgery. He was readmitted October 20th I think. He was moved to hospice care on November 4th and passed away at 12:35 PM on November 6th. I was on the way to Vegas but didn’t make it in time.

We tried to make his funeral a celebration of his life. We told funny stories about him and managed to laugh while reminiscing. I’m glad I can think of so many happy times and can laugh at his antics over the years. You know he once poured/rubbed food all over his chest at the dinner table because his mom told him to have good manners? And if you’re thinking he was a kid at the time – nope, he was a grandfather already!

Gramps is laid to rest at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery. It was a nice service, and the Navy honor guard was there to play Taps and fold and present the US flag.

I miss him a lot, and I’m still crying daily over a month later. But I know he had a great life. He did so many cool things, and he really loved his family. So much of who I am is from him, and I’m lucky I have all the great memories.

Love you, Gramps.