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Augustus John "Gus" Mitchell III

1937 - 2025

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Mark Mitchell uploaded photo(s)

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Many days I was helping with repairs or maintenance around the house. I didn't realize how much I was being taught until later. Hammer, nails, all because of Dad. He wasn't the best cook. He was in charge of dinner one night while Mom was out. Making stuffed manicotti. After he'd stuffed a few I said ," I think you're supposed to boil the noodles first." He grabbed the box, read it, mumbled under his breath (closest he ever came to swearing), and scraped the filling out.

Dennis Mitchell uploaded photo(s)

Friday, December 19, 2025

For the first 65 years of my life Dad showed me how to be a good father, husband, grandfather and great-grandfather. Here are some of my favorite Dad Memories Socks - right way to my put on socks. Bunch sock up to put your toe into the toe of the sock. Don’t put your foot into the open end and pull the sock all the way up your foot. Make sure you smooth out the wrinkles. And never pull the sock too tightly over your toes. He also always mentioned that Job Wooden, the UCLA men’s basketball coach instructed his players on the right way to put on their socks. Here’s a link: https://excellentjourney.net/2014/08/14/how-f friendsto-put-on-socks/. Here’s another: https://www.newsweek.com/john-wooden-first-how-put-your-socks-167942 More socks - before putting your sock on use it to wipe off the dirt, dust, pebbles on your foot. Badminton - look through racquet to line up birdy coming at you. Of course this only works with lobbed shots. Catch a baseball. Baseball glove in front of you to catch ball. Hold glove facing outward in front of you toward the person throwing the ball to you. Keep the glove facing forward as you move your arm in a circle. That’s the position your glove should be in to catch the ball. The first time I remember this was in the yard in Lake Hiawatha house. Catch football. Something about keeping your thumbs together and moving your hands in unison. That only works when you are facing the thrower. It doesn’t work for catching passes thrown over your shoulder while you are on the run. Squeegee - use your hands like squeegees to get excess water off your body after swimming, a bath or shower before you use your towel. That way the towel will be more efficient at getting you dried off. Towers and Lights - Sometime after we moved to South Orange Dad was taking Stephen, Mark and I somewhere. As we were driving north on the Parkway we passed a series of towers with red lights running the length of the towers. Mark asked “What are the lights for?” Dad replied “So planes don’t hit the towers.” When Mark asked the obvious follow up question “What are the towers for?”, Dad immediate replied “To hold up the lights .” Foot rubs - Dad said would grab two shoeless kids by their feet the. He’d rub them together and make them laugh. Bunk bed forts - Dad took a blanket and tucked it into the top bunk and let it drop down cresting in an instant fort. One time he, Stephen and I were in the fort and we noticed his eyes moved. We wanted to know how he did it. So he held our heads still and had us look at different spots. I guess it worked but it was the lack of actually feeling our eyes move that made us doubtful . Wild Blue Yonder - Dad would start humming this for a bit while driving us somewhere. Feeding the dog. Dad called me into DR in Boonton after dinner. He was under the dining room table. He said « I bet you thought Souci, was eating this! » Renault / Girls - Dad took Stephen and me for a ride somewhere and somehow the fact that we didn’t really like girls came up. Dad said « I bet by the time you’re 14 you’ll like girls. » I’m glad he didn’t remember that one because we would have lost that bet. Clapping - Dad would always clap his hands together and rub them before we’d start and activity. Honey - Dad, Stephen and I were sitting it the attic opening in the Lake Hiawatha house. He wanted to know why we kept calling him Honey. It was because Mom did, of course. Wet Willies and Dandelions. Dad would say «Put your hands on your knees and close your eyes.». Then he’d lick his finger and stick it in your ear. During dandelion season it was « Open your mouth and close your eyes. ». Then you’d get a mouthful dandelion seeds. Ishkabibble - Magic word used to open garage doors and store doors. Weird bets - Dad would say things like «Without looking, tell me how many buttons are on your shirt. » or « What color socks are you wearing? ». He must have gotten that from Guys and Dolls. Skye Masterson bet Nathan Detroit $1000 if he could tell him what color tie he was wearing. Nathan didn’t know so he refused the bet. Humor- Dad and Mom were attending something Fr. Phil was hosting. Dad asked a question to which Fr Phil «That’s a good question.». Dad looked at his watch and said « You told me to ask that question around this time if things got slow. » Dice - Dad was the one who first told us, maybe when we’re playing Monopoly, that the opposite sides of a die always add up to 7. Halfsies - When it came to dividing last piece of anything between two individuals Dad had a unique solution. “One of you cuts it. The other chooses first.” Ties - Dad’s advice was simple. When you knot your tie on your dress shirt, don’t button the top button until after you flip the collar down and adjust the knot. It’s much easier than flipping the collar down after you fasten the top button. My modification? Put the tie on your shirt collar before you put the shirt on. That makes it a lot easier especially if you have an Oxford shirt. Lists - Dad made lists of everything. Broadway plays he went to. Birthday and anniversary lists. Reversible Jackets- Dad really liked reversible jackets. Something about being able to turn it inside out appealed to him. Mom said he once tried to convince her to buy one for herself. Apparently it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing to her. But Dad only seemed to notice the practicality of it. He also liked the coats that had the ability to unzip from the bottom so that when you sat down your coat didn’t bunch up. Toilet paper & paper towel mounting - When you have little kids always put the roll on so that when you swipe down nothing gets unrolled. Slim Jims - Dad would every so often when we went to the liquor store with Dad he would get us a slim Jim. French Fries - We were on vacation somewhere. We waited in the car with Mom while Dad went into the fast food restaurant to get two burgers and fries and probably soda for all of us. Dad came out with double the order of fries. Why? The cashier knew the guy in front of Dad and told him the fries were free. So Dad asked if the fries were free for him too? Obviously the answer was yes. Refrigerator sitting - Dad would pick us up and seat us on top of the refrigerator. I don’t know if was something his father did or if he started it on his own. Either way I inherited it. All our kids and most of the grandkids have gotten to see the view from up there. High Pops and Kicking the football - When we’d play catch with Dad we always wanted him to throw high pops and to kick the football to us. One time he kicked the football over the two apple trees and it was heading to the front corner of the garden where Matt was sitting. This was when he stil had that curly head of hair. I managed to catch it before it had a chance to clonk Matt on the head. Holey t-shirt - Whenever Mom saw Dad wearing a t-shirt with a hole in it she’d call us. It was our job to help her tear it off him. It was a lot of fun. Playing catch on Mosswood Ave. - Dad was playing catch with a bunch of us on Mosswod Ave. We had frisbees and footballs. Paul and I were throwing left handed and Paul asked Dad to try throwing right handed. It wasn’t a pretty sight. With his back to Warwick Ave he was facing me and the errant throw went maybe ten feet and landed in the Gerland’s yard. Embossing - Dad love labeling things with Dymo label maker. It was popular from the 60’s - 80’s. The eagle bank on my dresser still has my name stuck on it. See link for more details: https://clickamericana.com/topics/home-garden/how-old-fashioned-dymo-labelmakers-made-embossed-self-adhesive-plastic-labels-easy-popular Cards - Samba, canasta, cribbage, old maid, hearts, solitaire, whist, go fish, war. Dad played with us and taught us how to play. He told us that solitaire was just a way to get the cards back into order and have some fun at the same time. He got the games from an According to Hoyle book they had been Grandma Mitchell’s possession. Eye lids - Dad told us that if something was stuck in your eye to pull you top eyelid down over the bottom one and the bottom lashes would catch the speck. It didn’t work so good the other way though. Hershey Park Vacation - We went on a tour of the actual factory when we went there in 1967 or 1968. As we went past the chocolate conching vats Dad asked “How’d you like to take a bath in that?” At the end of the tour they gave us big candy bars, the family sized ones! (When I went back with our kids you no longer got a factory tour. You rode on a Disney like simulator and they gave you a baby candy bar or a starburst.) We also visited a farm. I remember feeding the horses and one of them nibbling on our shirts. I think we have a picture of that. Lunch Bags- Dad said he and his friends used to see who could use the same lunch bag the longest. We took it to another level by using a plastic bread bag to cover the brown paper bag. Making sentences out of our names. - One night we were sitting around the orange kitchen table. I’m not sure if Dad was making dinner or just helping. He was going to make sentences using each letter, of our name, in order. I don’t remember the other’s but mine was “Dennis eats noodle noggins in soup.” Drive-Ins. - Dad would take us to drive in movies , probably to give Mom a break. Sometimes we all went. Baseball HOF - For my birthday Dad took Stephen, Mark and me to Cooperstown. It was the first time we saw Who’s on First? We couldn’t stop laughing. It was also when I remember him slowing down and speeding up the car while we were trying to drink our sodas. I need a volunteer. - I was visiting Dad in the hospital with some of the kids. The nurse came in to take a blood sample. Dad looked at the kids and said « I need a volunteer. » Holding your pencil - Dad told me to always hold your pencil on the yellow part just above where it was sharpened. Never down in the rounded part where the paint was shaved away. That’s about the same distance than goes for holding a pen. Humor 10/15/25 - John and I visited Dad. We were helping the aide roll Dad over so she could put a new sheet on the bed. She apologized to him for turning him so much. To which Dad replied « So stop doing it. » Wrapping Christmas presents - I remember helping Dad wrap Christmas presents when we lived in Chestnut St. That’s when I finally understood all those cartoons where someone would put his finger on the ribbon so the other person could make the bow. Car Heater - Never turn the heat on high until the temperature gauge get up past the 1/4 mark. Until the car’s motor warms up you’ll just be blowing cold air into the car. Knicks - Dad had a Knicks game on and he told me to watch Walt Frazier. I decided to play lie him. I learned to go left, shoot left handed layups and to play great defense. Little League - day before first game he decided to tell about rhe positions and what they all did. He even drew a picture. I couldn’t wrap my head around a player position called short stop. There were three bases and four infielders. It didn’t make sense. Thurman Munson. Watching a day Yankees game with Dad and Stephen. They had a new player named Thurman Munson Dad told us. All I could think about was Herman Munster. Books. Dad got me interested in spy novels, historical novels, and WW II history. He introduced me to Robert Ludlum and I returned the favor and gave him Tom Clancy’s Hunt for Red October. FMC. Dad was the first person I called when I lost my job at FMC. Married four months and out of a job. Coin Collecting. Dad had these little blue coin collector folders. We used to help him search through his change to add coins from every year. “Yello” - Dad always answered the phone this way. Drying off. Dad used to flap a towel and have us jump up and down to dry off after swimming. Spinning us. Dad would hold us by one arm and an ankle and spin around so we could fly line Superman. He also used to put us in a blanket, pick up all the corners and spin around. How Lucretia became Luke. Mom talked about if the next baby was a boy he’d be Terence Damian and if a girl Lucretia Lenore. And if it was a girl we would call her Tish. We kids weren’t having anything to do with it. And Dad apparently didn’t get the memo. One day about a month after she was born, Dad picked her up and said “Come here Luke the Duke.” It stuck. Angels We Have Heard on High. Miss Kennedy, our fifth grade music teacher got mad at the class about something and told us we had to memorize the aforementioned Christmas Carol. I remember Dad helping me pronounce rhe Latin and help me memorize the lyrics. Parallel Parking - Dad took me out practice parallel parking with the VW van. One car owner saw us so he came out of the store to move his car for me. So Dad said “Let’s get out of the car and walk around so it looks like we need the spot.”

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Augustus John "Gus" Mitchell III

1937 - 2025

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