Eulogy for Metz Pachosa
(Written and given by Grandson Dean Pachosa
between 1035 and 1050 am on, Friday, 28 February 1997.)
Metz Pachosa is my grandfather. He was born in 1904 in Krosno, Poland and has
lived in Grand Coulee since 1936. His life spanned most of the 20th century and
his travels covered more than half of the earth. Metz lived a long full life and
experienced a wide spectrum of adventures, good times, and hardships.
As Metz became older and less able to take care of himself, his prior accomplishments,
goals, and dreams began to fade away in the minds of those who helped take care of him,
or stopped by to visit. Although he had physical problems which rendered him immobile,
Metz had an extraordinary memory for dates, times, places, and events. Each time I
would visit with him, I would ask him questions about his past and would sit back and
enjoy listening to him talk about his experiences. Therefore, I would like to refresh
each of your memories with a summary of Metz’s life, so that we may all remember the
man that he was.
Metz was six years old when he left Poland in 1910 to join his father in the United
States. He traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in a ship with his Mom and younger
brother Adolph. He remembers seeing the statue of liberty and getting some soup and
a sandwich when he arrived at Ellis Island in New York. The family settled in Davis,
West Virginia where his father worked in the coal mines and later as a stone mason.
Since Metz was the oldest of 9 brothers and sisters, he was forced to be responsible
at a young age. His childhood was cut short when he left school early to help provide
for the family. In his early 20’s, he decided to leave Davis and venture out on his
own to see the world. He worked on many large building projects up and down the East
Coast for over four years without going home once. He later said he wasn’t sure why
he stayed away from home, but that it was The stupidest thing that he ever did in
his life. During the Great Depression, he was forced to head West to find work and
landed a job building Hoover Dam in Nevada. Two of his younger brothers Adolph and
Jack joined him and they spent over 2 1/2 years working 7 days a week. As the job
began to wind down, he was ready to take some time off, but a new job opened in San
Francisco working on the Broadway tunnel. He flipped a coin and lost, so he headed
to San Francisco and worked for another 3 months.
At this point he was tired and had saved enough money to rent a house in Los Angeles
and loaf as he put it. Two more of his brothers Harry and Stanley joined him and
the five of them spent about 6 months just playing together. He recalls this time
as one of the best of his life, since he was able to get to know his brothers better.
Over this six month period, Metz spent most of his time looking for gold. He studied
enough Geology and Chemistry to understand where the gold should be and drew plenty of
maps, but never struck it rich. Soon the money was running out, and he had to go back
to work.
Metz was 31 years old when he and his brothers got jobs at Grand Coulee Dam. Metz
was hired as a laborer, but was quickly promoted to carpenter, then foreman, and
finally a walker foreman in charge of several work crews in a matter of months.
Metz was very knowledgeable about construction and treated his workers with fairness
and respect.
Metz and his brothers built a small house to live in and the five brothers were able
to save some money. Metz sent a Christmas card to a friend of his back in West Virginia
to join them in Grand Coulee. To his fortune (and mine as well) Ann joined him in Grand
Coulee and they were married in 1936. Metz and Ann bought some land and moved the house
to where it sits today. Metz began adding on to the house and began having children so
his brothers would move out. Matthew, Mary Jo, and Robert were born in the years 1937 -
1942.
As the Grand Coulee Dam project came to an end, Metz was forced to travel to various
job sites around the Pacific Northwest to continue working. He worked on several dams
on the Columbia river and also in Montana. Metz was not around much to help raise the
kids, but my grandma Ann didn’t need much help. She was a very practical person and
was able to live comfortably on the money that Metz made and managed to save enough
money so they could continue building their house and build a nest egg.
Metz’s life changed dramatically in the mid to late 1960’s. He was blessed with four
grandchildren, but also had lost his only daughter Mary Jo to an illness, and his
wife Ann became paralyzed from a winter driving accident. Metz was forced to quit
his job and came home to take care of his wife Ann. He spent the next 12 years of his
life taking care of Ann until she passed away in 1979. During these years, Metz worked
around the house and maintained Ann’s garden in tiptop shape. He also had the chance
to spend quality time with his grandchildren that he once sacrificed with his own kids
in order to continue working.
As Metz became older he began losing some physical abilities first due to a stroke in
1976 and then from a back injury that he suffered while working in his yard in 1983.
After his injuries, Metz was forced to slow down and was not able to do the things he
enjoyed most, although he would try and sneak in a small building project or two.
As I reflect on Metz’s life, I see a man who was adventurous, hard working, and would
strive for perfection in whatever he touched. If it was worth his time to do it, it
was worth doing right. His penmanship was amazing, the craftsmanship that he put into
his house was remarkable. Every piece of wood was cut with perfection. Metz made many
friends in his lifetime and was well respected in the community. He was generous with
his family and was always willing to help. He still believed in a persons integrity
and would accept a handshake instead of requiring a signed contract. Metz lived what
many people refer to as the American Dream. He arrived in America with little to
show, but through years of hard work and dedication, he created a nice life for himself
and helped mold the personalities of his children and grandchildren so that they too
may be successful in life. We all thank him for his guidance in our lives, and will
miss his many stories.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I referred to Metz as Papa when I was younger. I used to ask my mom if I could
go see "grammy Ann and Papa". I was very fortunate to have grandparents living next
doorduring my youth and I realize how much of my personality was shaped by them. By
the timeI was born, Grammy Ann was bedridden from a car accident and Papa had stayed
home to take care of her. Grammy Ann liked to play cards and games with me and taught
me about competitiveness, winning, and losing. The lessons were easy, because she
always let me win. Papa helped my Dad with finances for Rapid Robert's drive-in and
would teach me how to count money.
Most of the time, Papa was busy working on something around the house or garden. I
used to help him with his projects and he didn't seem to mind if I was around. I'm
sure it took longer for him to complete them when I was there, but I think he enjoyed
the company. We would tend hisgarden, pick fruit from the trees, mow and rake the
yard, and make the trip around town to the bank, post office, and grocery store.
Sometimes he would be working on something in his basement. I used to love being
in his basement. There were tools galore to play with and he would always find
something important for me to do. My favorite project was mixing this big can of
putty on the wood stove. He would usually build a fire and then place the putty
on the stove. I would spend hours stirring this stuff because it was important
and Papa wanted me to do it. Little did I know that this was a good way to keep
me out of his way.
Sometimes the neighborhood kids would come over and we would play on the swings and
sandbox that Papa had put in the yard after Theresa was born. The sandbox was the
most fun. We would run our trucks through it and dig holes. Every so often we would
pile the sand in the middle and make our own version of "Grand Coulee Dam" just like
papa did during his working years. We filled up the sandbox with water (when papa
wasn't looking of course) and then kick holes in the dam and flood out the towns below.
This usually made a big mess, and I'm sure papa didn't appreciate it. However, he
would spend the time to clean up the mess and bring in new sand so we could do it all
over again.
Papa was also a self-made utility man. He used to give my brothers and I haircuts
once a month or so. He had an old pair of barber shears that he would use on our
necks and by the time he was done I remember my neck being really raw. He noticed
it too, and would slap a little skin bracer after shave on it. YOWWWW!!! that would
hurt, but I figured papa new best.
He became an interim dentist when I would have a loose tooth. "What are you doing?",
he would say as I was wiggling my tooth. "Let's see if we can get that out."
Papa would grab on to my tooth with needle nose pliers and yank it out. I didn't
think it was much fun, but he enjoyed it. One time I was rinsing off my tooth and
accidentally dropped it down the sink.. I was really sad because the tooth fairy
wasn’t going to give me a dime if I couldn’t put the tooth under my pillow. After
I went home, papa had taken the sink apart and found my tooth and gave it to me.
I was really happy.
He also practiced a little bit of medicine on Jim and I. Any time that we would get
cut he used to get out the iodine which he would call "the red stuff" and slop it on.
Needless to say that wasn’t much fun either, but once again papa knows best.
Papa would fix Jim’s bike and my bike when they had flats or when we would wreck
them. He would help build snowmen and would rake leaves for us to jump into. He
would make us breakfast and bologna sandwiches for lunch. He always remembered our
birthdays and would give us some money to spend how we wished. Papa would teach us
a few Polish words Debraunets meaning good night and Gene-W meaning good
evening so we could humor him trying to use them.
After we moved to our new house and Grammy Ann passed away I shortened his name to
pop and that is how I have referred to him ever since. I became more involved in
school, sports, and friends and did not spend as much time with pop. The time we
did spend together was usually working on some projects that he wanted help with or
playing cards at Dad’s house.
After I left Grand Coulee for college and later on to Seattle for my first job, our
visits were less frequent. I suddenly became old enough to become interested in
finding out more about my roots and would spend time with pop each time I came back
to Grand Coulee to find out more about his life. I am thankful to say that he lived
long enough to tell his many stories and that I will be able to tell my children
what a wonderful great grandfather they had. Each time I would leave, he would
thank me for stopping by and would always wish me Good Luck. Needless to say,
I am sad to see him go, but I am thankful for all the wonderful things that he did
for me and my family and just want to wish him Debraunets one last time. 6 pm PST.