EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 28, 2021 Page 3
Obituaries Travel
Thus, Travel Is a Risky
Business. Or Is It?
Article and photos
by Ben & Glinda Shipley
All travel involves an element of risk. No,
we’re not talking about nude sunbathing on
an ice shelf in Antarctica or floating down
the rain-drenched Congo River in a leaky
canoe. But when you leave the comfort of
your home, stuff happens. Sometimes, the
unexpected can intimidate. Often, it turns
out that the question marks lie entirely in
your own head. We’ve experienced both and,
in the process, have come away with some
fond, if curiously shaped, memories. Five of
the more eccentric:
Stromboli:
The evening ferry from Sicily was nearempty.
The island was no more than a
smoldering volcano with a minor village
attached. We disembarked in the January
off-season to find a single municipal light, no
street signs of any kind, and no one from the
rental property to greet us. Within minutes,
there was no one about at all.
More view than you’ll ever need, above the Vierwaldstättersee in Luzern.
Eventually, we found longitude and latitude
marks for our destination on a smartphone.
With a compass app, we trudged blindly for
an hour before we came to a sign on the
wall of a dark and shuttered resort. When we
called the phone number, a voice protested
that they’d been looking for us all over the
island. We ended up with the mini-palace
to ourselves for two gorgeous days, before
a winter storm flew up the Tyrrhenian Sea
and forced our evacuation.
Luzern:
After a few glasses of champagne, we realized
we’d never done the adult thing at the
presumably sharp tippy-top of an alp. We set
out into the moonless night and eventually
found ourselves winding up a steep country
road. Except it was more a cow path than an
Autobahn, and the gentle slope to our right
soon disappeared into a precipice to nowhere.
With inches to spare, we had no choice but
to keep going. And then, by pure luck, we
came to a barn built into the cliff. After a
half-hour of turning the car and catching our
breath above the glittering lights of the valley,
we crawled back to civilization and sanity.
East Jerusalem:
Two weeks after the Second Intifada insurrection,
it didn’t help that we were evacuated
from the bus station in Eilat for a bomb scare.
But we climbed aboard the Jerusalem bus
anyway and traveled with a full complement
of heavily armed IDF troopers (younger than
our children) into the city. We wanted to walk
the Twelve Stations of the Cross, but the
entire hike lay beyond a narrow gate down
a steep, crowded, overhung, chariot-sized
alley in the Arab enclave.
We’d managed a hundred meters or so,
when a blind panic seized both of us. At
least we didn’t run, but it was definitely one
of the power walks of our lives. Back in the
Jewish quarter, we glanced at each other and
realized how silly we must have looked.
So, we turned back and spent the rest of
the afternoon wandering down through the
Arab quarter and chatting with all manner of
friendly Palestinians. They might not care for
some of their neighbors, but to our surprise,
couldn’t get enough of Americans.
One hundred small steps (one giant leap?) for womankind at the East Jerusalem Gate.
Mike McGrath
Edward Michael McGrath III,
known to his good friends as
muggsy passed away on October
25, 2021, he was 75 years old.
He grew up in El Segundo
and had many great stories of
the “good ol’ days” when everyone
knew everyone else in
the small company town. He
loved sports, especially baseball
and surfing. Beginning in
1973, he began a very successful
building maintenance
company which held contracts
throughout the Southbay. An
accomplished outdoorsman,
he loved to fish the Channel
Islands with family and friends.
He’s now at peace with the
Lord, at the eternal reunion in
the sky. Services will be held
privately, in lieu of flowers
please donate to the Catalina
Conservancy.
Tom Curtis
Tom “Mr. El Segundo” Curtis
passed away Oct. 23, 2021. He
was born Nov. 6, 1938. Tom
was a resident of El Segundo
for over 80 years. He dedicated
30 years to working for the
El Segundo water department. He
was known for his never ending
support of girls Bobby Sox
softball and famous for his air
horns he would blow at the
softball games. He is survived
by his wife Bonnie “Julie”
Curtis, daughters Kristen Poulos
(George), Karrie Carpenter
(Brian), grandkids Preston, Bo,
Dallas and Gavin, several siblings
and many nieces and nephews.
Robert “Bob” Neschke
March 1947-October 2021
Bob was raised in El Segundo
and graduated ES High class of
‘65. He spent every free hour
fishing off the pier or Redondo
Beach barge. He worked in the
IT industry but his heart was
woodworking. He and his family
moved to Whidbey Island,
Washington, in 1998 where he
started his own cabinet shop. He
loved the peacefulness, privacy,
and freedom of his 15-acre
farm. He worked hard, could fix anything,
remodeled every place he ever owned, and
other peoples too, yet never complained
about his chronic pain from ankylosing
spondylitis. He died from complications of
a stroke.
He is remembered as a great dad who
homeschooled his girls to success, empowering
them with character and skills for life, teaching
them to be good and do good to others.
He cultivated and valued lasting
friendships, most for many
decades. He was a cool dude,
generous, willing to help anyone
who asked. He loved his wife,
family and country, but hated
politicians. He was loved and
admired by many.
Preceding in death were his
parents Rex and Lu Neschke;
Rex was born and lived in El
Segundo seventy-eight years. Bob
is survived by Pamela (Fry) Neschke; they
wed at St. John’s Lutheran in El Segundo
38 years ago. Together they welcomed into
the world the two loves of his life: beautiful,
amazing daughters, Alison and Kate, who
married incredible young men, sons-in-law
Will and Brian. They graced him with his
new loves: granddaughters Athena, Sterling,
and Elle. They all proved to be very good
medicine for Bob. Enjoy your new body, Bob. •
Community Briefs
Baby Snooks Radio Show
Cast for the Baby Snooks radio show at the ES Library this Saturday. (left to right) Dorothy Landreth, Music Director, Mark McCombs ,
Maureen Kingsley, Director Dolores McAllister, Constance Brenner, Molly Gaines and Phil “Gus” Ludwig. Call the library for more information.
See Travel, page 13
Happy Halloween