pTHERESA- Russell J. Monica, baker extraordinaire, master trapper, Navy Man, secret poet and offensive humor specialist, died of a heart attack Saturday, August 27, 2016./ppRussell became a quick study of Jacques Pepin and mastered the art of cooking and baking. You can ask his fan down in Syracuse that wanted a tub of his homemade buttercream frosting to binge on, or any of the fortunate souls that were lucky enough to even smell his 6-hour slow smoked ribs…your taste buds went straight to heaven on those days. And God FORBID you use the blasphemous lighter fluid or a gas grill…charcoal and chimney starter were the only grilling fuel allowed on the property. His famous from scratch oatmeal pies are secured in the freezer behind sophisticated padlocks for future, delectable consumption and reminiscing. /ppTrapping was his first passion, and to say it was a passion is a woeful understatement, but such is the English language. To prove my point, the younger 7-year-old version of this man, waded through ponds in the winter to check his beloved muskrat traps…WITHOUT boots. That my friends is true dedication. His skill and wide assortment of inventions and contraptions of his own devising for hair-brained trapping ideas was awe-inspiring. As you walked out to the trapping shed you could hear songs floating through wood slats from a skillfully selected playlist. “Santana makes those guitar strings sing,” or “Sing it Willie!” he’d say looking out from the tops of his eyes in his fleshing apron sipping freshly brewed coffee. He was blissful and in his element preparing fur for auction. He took a quiet pride in top marks on his fur lots. /ppHe always spoke fondly of being a Navy man. He travelled the world, made memories he spoke of often and got a true blue southern BBQ recipe from a well respected superior…he made that BBQ sauce his entire life and before you ask…No. That is one recipe he will never share. His grandson will eat it by the spoonful…that’s how good it is. Pete, Repeat and Ditto were the nicknames of the big guns on the U.S.S. New Jersey between him and his comrades and he of course had to crawl in one and drape his arms out the enormous barrel for a once in a lifetime photo opportunity. One thing always stuck out about his travels… the Sistine Chapel. You’d see a documentary on television or a picture in a book and his famous comment, “That doesn’t do it justice. Do you know what the tiles feel like under your bare feet? I do. It was so cold it burned the bottom of your feet even in the dead of summer,” would soon follow./ppHis stature and initial demeanor may be intimidating, but let me tell you he had a heart of gold, platinum and all rare gems combined. The Hope diamond ain’t got nothin’ on him. There are a few very fortunate souls that received cards with a poem written specifically for them…nothing like that Hallmark garbage. Each and every one of them has kept his cards…some even decades later sit on their nightstand./ppTrust me when I say this man loved to laugh! His quick witted humor and storytelling abilities always drew in a crowd. If you wanted a cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped hot dog while ice fishing you better bark for him or you’re going hungry. And if you even thought about getting snarky with him he’d remind you it really wasn’t smart to mess with the cook with a devilish grin. He loved watching the Red Green Show with his 2 grandsons so much they all became card carrying members of the Possum Lodge and they religiously recited the closing line of each Handyman Corner segment, “If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” And not one of them were without the Handyman’s Secret Weapon in various colors…duct tape. There are not enough lines to even begin to explain the ‘Adventures of Woody and Ernie’./ppHis favorite people called him Papa and he was their entire world and they were his entire world. If there were ever a love story written in the stars it was between Laurie and Russell…child-like, giddy and passionate to the end. There will never be a love as pure and deep as theirs ever again. Ever. His two girls were raised without limits on who they wanted to be. The love he gave as a father was so fierce and all encompassing that it’s amazing the world didn’t go silent as he left./ppThere are not enough words to express what the loss of him means to each and every one of us. They all fall short. They all sound weak in comparison to the great great man he will always be to us. The pain is unbearable, the nights long and the daytime a living nightmare and yet I can not think of trading even one millisecond with him to avoid this unspeakable pain./ppRussell, the man the myth the legend, is survived by wife and love of his life Laurie, daughters Megan and Miranda and 2 grandsons Blake ‘Elroy’ and Sully ‘Cletus’./ppA Memorial Service will be 6 pm Thursday, September 1, 2016 at Frederick Bros. Funeral Home, Theresa, NY, with Rev. Donald Briant, officiating./ppCondolence may be made online at www.frederickbrosfuneralhome.com./p
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