There Was More to Uncle Willie than Just Wit

Like the Yankees, the Monetti's had a very deep bench. I had so many aunts, uncles and cousins to rejoice in at family get together's, that it was almost dizzying. And then out of nowhere, we'd go visit Uncle Willie. I was reminded he was a star in his own right, and a telling moment from his 80th birthday party revealed that he could roll as well as the rest of the roster.

Me : Hey Uncle Willie, can you shoot your age in golf?

Uncle Willie : Only on a bad day.

What a deadpan and the mischievous smile said as much. But there was much more to my great uncle than the ability to return a good quip.

The youngest Monetti left in a lurch by his father's abrupt departure, Willie was front and center for the siblings. "He was the baby in the family," said his daughter Gay Maguire. "They all tried to protect him."

So while Uncle Willie could obviously keep up as the meatballs flew, he wasn't so rough around the edges. "Sensitive is a good way to describe him," said his youngest daughter Marie Lemme.

Thus, the trait made a pretty good segue for his career path. "He designed jewelry and ladies handbags," said Marie.

At home, the handiness was certainly helpful if the wallpaper or paint had to go up. But the soft side meant that any family disarray was left to his wife Catherine. "My mom handled the discipline. That wasn't in his nature because he wasn't confrontational," Marie added.

That couldn't have been so bad from my memory of Aunt Catherine. She had an incredibly kind voice, endearing smile and sweet demeanor. I guess the pairing made perfect sense.

Otherwise, Uncle Willie's part didn't go unnoticed outside of his immediate family. I know that "Unc," as my father called him, was a very important factor in my dad's life, and he expressed the the sentiment perfectly at the above party.

Not falling far from the tree, I would come to revere Uncle Willie, and he became someone I wanted to emulate. An epiphany that came about in my late 30's.

I'm not sure how it started, but I started to call my uncle periodically. Yes, I remembered the sense of humor from the old family visits, but I leave it to Marie's son to encapsulate how the easy going playfulness was still there. "Brian used to call him 'stud' because he had a few companions after my mother died."

More importantly, though, his grandson often sought out his grandfather when he needed advice about girls, while Willie Monetti still had the parental touch for Marie. "He was a mother and father to me after mom died," she said.

As for me, we talked about golf, my writing, life and his love for a team that was not the Yankees. "I think he liked the Giants, because they were underdogs," revealed Marie.

However, it was how the calls ended that meant so much. "I love you," Uncle Willie would always conclude.

I would, of course, reciprocate. But the words were not easy, and I'm obviously not the only Monetti male who had difficulties in that area.

Still, Uncle Willie's open heart did not make me think any less of Monetti males like me - especially since the loving care of his older brothers and sisters helped make him the man he was. So I was in awe of my remarkable uncle and realized that the world would be a better place with more men like William Monetti.

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