Dispatches from the obituary page

Now that I have reached a certain age I pay more attention to newspaper obituaries, especially to the symbols that serve as shorthand for those scanning the page. Over the weekend in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel one obit was personalized with a small military medal, another with a train engine, one with a U.S. Navy logo and of course several with American flags.

Antonio “Tony” Analla’s obituary featured the head of a golf club about to strike a ball on a tee, but it wasn’t the only indication in the notice of his death that golf was a big part of his life. Here’s the introduction, which Analla, who died at age 83, had written himself:

“Teed off on December 26, 1928. Holed out on January 18, 2012. Tried to always stay in the fairway but wound up in the rough at times due to poor choices. Made his first eagle when he wed Joyce Dent. They had five birdies: Anita, Debra, Tono, Andrea and Maureen. They in turn had many pars: Overland, Forret, Loveridge and Olsen.”

There was a lot of non-golf info there as well, including that Tony and Joyce were married for 50 years before her death and that he had retired from the Ladish Company. There were mentions of his children and their spouses and his grandchildren and special friends. And the obit noted his passion for music, dancing, traveling and cooking, though it made clear golf was his biggest passion of all. He was co-chair of the golf outing that supported Milwaukee’s Fiesta Mexicana and volunteered at a community center where he taught English and, yes, golf. He was a former member of the Oakwood Men’s Club and member and president of the Grant Park Senior Men’s Club.

“Tony was in charge and co-chaired many golf outings and tournaments,” the obit said, “too many to mention.”

But this accomplishment deserved mention: “He hit his last ‘hole in one’ on June 2, 2004, at Bristol Oaks on #13, 170 yards, with a 5 wood.”

Someone who signed the online guestbook for Analla also made the point that he not only loved the game but also played it quite well.

“Tony taught me how to golf. I only wish I could golf as well as he did. He was still shooting his age just before he passed away.”

I never met Analla but as one who also cherishes the game of golf I enjoyed his last words. Lots of obituaries stick to the who-what-where-when of a person’s life but those like Analla’s that are more personal, and personable, allow a reader to find common ground with absolute strangers.

And lest you think such passion for the game as Analla shared was a rarity, consider this death notice from Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal that began:

“John A. Dulin, age 68, lost his tee time on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012…

It went on to report that Dulin, of Sun Prairie, died after a short battle with cancer, that he left a wife, two daughters, three grand-children and others behind. And, noting that his wishes were for a private service, it closed with some good advice and a punch line for the ages:

“John believed that anything over a story or a shot at a bar once would be a waste of time so hold the sorrow, hold the tears; the big guy lived 68 damn good years.

“Golf clubs for sale.”  

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