Until recently, Weehawken Navy veteran Ralph Irizarry, 88, expected that on Memorial Day he’d stay home with his family or head to a local cemetery to put a flag on an unknown soldier’s grave. Never did he think that he would be chosen as the grand marshal of the 2015 Weehawken Memorial Day Parade.
But he’ll be there at 9 a.m. this Monday. The parade will begin near Highpoint Avenue, proceed down Park Avenue (past the Pathmark) and wrap up near the bust of Alexander Hamilton and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial. Activities will conclude at 11:30.
Grand Marshal Irizarry will not march in the traditional manner – on foot. He’s recuperating from a recent fall and he can walk only a few steps at a time with the help of a cane. Usually he depends on a battery-operated Rascal if he wants to go anywhere within a 15-block radius.
“What a great choice for Grand Marshal! He really deserves this honor.” – Kathy Gohde
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Barone, formerly of North Hudson Fire Department and Weehawken Parks & Recreation, has been a Weehawken resident of almost 40 years. He sits on a committee with Irizarry and during the monthly meetings they discuss and implement programs that will help veterans in need of safe housing, general services, and reliable transportation.
“Ralph is a great guy,” says Commander Barone, who will introduce his officers during the formal ceremony taking place at Hamilton Park. “I’m glad he’s able to take part in the parade and it’s an honor to see him serving as the grand marshal. Every year, we like to see as many veterans as possible taking part in the festivities. We’ve even seen a couple of the younger guys come out who were in the war in Iraq.”
‘A big honor’
“If the weather cooperates, the parade will run smoothly, but if it doesn’t, I’m still going to be there,” Irizarry said. “This is a big honor for me and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It also sounds like a lot of fun to see everyone I know and to meet new people.”
Personable and kind, the Puerto Rico-born father of two has three grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He has lived in Florida and New York, but Weehawken feels most like home. “It’s nice to be honored in your hometown,” he said. “Some of the guys have been telling me what to expect. Myself, along with town officials and members of The Elks Club, VFW and the American Legion, will have a role in the war veterans’ tribute. It’s a ceremony we do to give thanks to those who served. So many people enjoy the lifestyles they have because of the efforts of our armed forces.”
The road from the Marshal Islands, where he was stationed as a soldier during World War II, was a long one, but he says he wouldn’t substitute his route for an easier journey. The outcome just wouldn’t be the same.
“I met my second wife at the old Transfer Station in Union City,” he said. “It’s not here anymore. But a buddy or mine saw these two twins sitting at the bar and I told him that one of them was mine. And she was mine for the next 45… no… 47 years.”
He and his bride made a great home together, he said. Most of his friends from the war are gone now and he didn’t see many of them after they were discharged. But he’s got a lot to be thankful for, even though his hearing and eyesight aren’t working like they used to.
A fierce game of dominoes
Irizarry and a group of friends, who act more like extended family instead of neighbors, meet at the Senior Citizen Nutrition Center for a daily game of Mexican Train dominoes, where scores are seldom kept but the competition is very real. The group includes Irizarry; Eve Hodes, originally from Ohio; Rose V. Sardone, whose brothers served in the Marines and the Air Force; Sam Canzano, who did active duty in the Marine Corps along with his two younger brothers, and songstress Alma Segedin, the wife of highly-decorated veteran Frank A. Segedin. All of them enjoy living in Weehawken and all of them have one thing in common besides a thirst for board game victories.
“I was happy to hear about Ralph getting chosen to be grand marshal,” said longtime Weehawken resident, former Senior of The Year, Segedin. “We tease each other, but he’s a good friend, a good person. And we all care about our veterans. My husband had a career in the military and all of us at this take have veterans in our families – husbands, brothers or sons… Our little group gets together to play dominoes, cards and games but after the parade people come down to the Center to just socialize.
“Life is a gift,” Frank Segedin said. “A lot of the guys I met at the dance the U.S.O. sponsored before we shipped out for the Asiatic Seas didn’t make it home. The dances were fun but I hate to think of just how many men died during the war. Today we’re fighting wars that we [the U.S.A.] have no business in. We have to take care of home first – make sure everything in our own country is right.”
Advice to the young
After the war, Irizarry and his late wife raised a son, Michael Siegmund, and a daughter, Linda Siegmund. He found a job working for The Pennsylvania Railroad and stayed there for five years. Then he spent 25 years as a truck driver doing short-distance hauls so that he could stay close to his family.
In his 88 years, Irizarry admits to learning a few things about life and the value of family.
He gets the opportunity to impart such knowledge. Once a year, Kathy Gohde, director of Senior Citizen Services for the township of Weehawken, oversees a big pizza party where grade school-aged children come to the Senior Citizen Nutrition Center for pizza and the opportunity to chat with wise senior citizens.
Director Gohde was excited about Irizarry’s latest achievement.
“What a great choice for grand marshal!,” she said. “He really deserves this honor and we are all going to be there to let him know that we support him and all of our veterans.”
Irizarry offered this last bit of sage advice: “Watch the company you keep. There’s always going to be one kid in every group that doesn’t care about following the rules. I taught my kids to have respect for others and it will be given. Now I’ll tell my grandchildren and even my great grandson that the people you associate with should be good people.”
Then, he added, “The kids at the pizza party like asking the meaty questions, so even though they are told which types of questions not to ask us seniors, there’s at least one kid who will ask how many people did I kill in the war. But most of the kids ask what did I do during the war, and that’s a good question. Seabees were Navy soldiers who did everything that had to do with maintenance and construction. We paved roads, built a bakery and mess halls. We built huts and the quarters that the soldiers slept in and we built the officer’s club, piers, docks, streets…”
Even with so many tasks accomplished, he was also able to summarize what Memorial Day means to him in one word.
“Freedom,” he said, and smiled.