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Friday, January 17, 2020
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John Gebura posted a condolence
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Stanley Gebura had quite an influence on my life, starting when I was a young boy growing up on the east side of Buffalo during the 1960's. Although we didn't see him all that often, the impression he made on me (and my sister) is unforgettable. One of my earliest memories is when he came to visit one hot summer afternoon in what I recall was a large yellow convertible. Before he even entered our house to visit my parents, he saw me playing in the back yard and said "Hi there Johnny, let's go get some ice cream". And so we did - it was my first ride in a convertible at probably 8 or so years old. He always called me "Johnny" rather than John, I guess because his father was John. Another early memory was when we lived on Sweet Avenue. I recall that visit well because he brought me a Lionel train set, possibly for my birthday. I was in heaven because I never received anything like that before, and I was still way too young for something like a Red Ryder rifle. Another time he brought some stamps for my collection. He arrived in the middle of the night, so my parents woke me up to show me what Uncle Stan had brought. Not just a few stamps, but a large suitcase absolutely full of them, thousands and thousands, from all over the world. He must have been collecting them for decades because it took me months just to get them all off the envelopes. He always brought something fascinating, and he always made you feel special. One time it was an early integrated circuit, with the cover removed so I could study it under my microscope. He became rather upset when I held a light bulb too close to the object - "Johnny, that's real dangerous, if that bulb shatters you'll have shards of glass everywhere and they could get into your eyes". Then there were the postcards he sent to my sister and I from his trip to the Mayan ruins in Yucatan Mexico. I always thought of him as the "Indiana Jones" of the family, long before those movies came out. Uncle Stan was not one to just sit on a beach at some resort and sip on expensive drinks - no way, he was an explorer. An adventurer. A rock climber who could scale the flatiron. As I grew a little older and took even more interest in science and technology, he always provided strong encouragement. He brought me samples of all kinds of minerals, including a rare geode - one of only several specimens known to exist. I still have them all, along with his hand written descriptions which included, of course, their chemical formulas. And he always emphasized the importance of math, both for its inherent value to science and technology, and also as a mental challenge and exercise.
In early 1972, at 13 years old, he brought me along on a two week expedition to explore the Mayan ruins in Yucatan Mexico, long before it became a commercialized tourist destination. What an adventure for a kid who had never been far from Buffalo. We drove through the jungles in a Jeep, from ruin site to ruin site. We visited natives who lived in grass huts. There was no slowing him down - we had to make the most of this opportunity. Even when I came down with a bad case of dysentery we continued to push on. The many memories of that expedition will never fade, and I was amazed at how much detail he still remembered on his 90th birthday. Forty two years later I still think of that trip as a defining point in my life.
Stanley Gebura passed away just a week after I retired from a large company in the chemical process industry, after a 33 year career. He provided much of the inspiration that led me down a path to an Electrical Engineering degree and a long technical career that included some rather extensive travel. I would always recall that first adventure to Yucatan Mexico whenever I was overseas. I still remember calling him from Korea in the early 1990's just to mention that. There are few people who I've known who were so accomplished, and who have led such a remarkable life. Chemistry professor, explorer of ancient ruins, WWII veteran, airplane pilot, photographer, mountain climber, philosopher. And what a hell of a great guy. A true Renaissance Man of the mid-twentieth century. We were all very privileged to have known him.
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Karen Gebura posted a condolence
Monday, April 28, 2014
This poem was sent to me by the 493rd Bomb Group Historical Society. I think my father would have liked it. Many have mentioned that he loved to talk about chemistry-not a subject I could relate to very well to be quite honest. But I always knew that it was pretty easy to get him to change the subject. As soon as the word "airplane" was mentioned his eyes would light up and he loved to talk about flying and his days as a pilot. I hope he is flying his very own special plane right now.
"High Flight"
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,-and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of-wheeled and soared
and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew-
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee Jr.
412 Fighter Squadron, RCAF, 1941
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Lois (Szeliga) Sherry posted a condolence
Friday, April 18, 2014
(That was Rio Clemente, the jazz pianist I referred to in my previous message.) Each person's input on this site brings back even more memories and attributes of Stan. He definitely enriched our lives. I like to think of him joining his sisters, brother, grandnephew and parents who are now all experiencing the afterlife. Someone gave me a poem that resonates: "God saw you getting weary. He did what He thought best. He put His arms around you And whispered "Come and rest." He opened up His golden gates On that heartbreaking day, and with His arms around you, you gently slipped away. It broke our hearts to lose you. But you did not go alone; a part of us went with you the day God called you home."
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Carolyn Ross posted a condolence
Friday, April 18, 2014
Stan Gebura was my Uncle and I say that with pride. My earliest memory of him was that he was a joker, as a small child he told me that the kiddie swimming pool that he was putting together in the backyard was really a boat. When he'd laugh his shoulders would rock; that was a defining trait and something that everyone will remember - it was given often! He was eager to enlighten us, whether it was a sight-seeing excursion to the city or paying for us "girls" to see the Monkeys in concert or giving a detailed scientific explanation, albeit too detailed for me. He was also an expert photographer, with many excellent black/white compositions. He was the go-to person for the family whenever there was a problem and he always helped generously in any way he could. I remember him as a perfectionist in the kitchen. His steak had to be cooked to his high standard, the lamb in shish-ka-bob had to be the most tender and the leek soup, creamy and delicious. That was the way he was and it was a privilege to have known him and to have been part of his family.
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Susan Szeliga posted a condolence
Friday, April 18, 2014
I'll always remember Uncle Stan as one who took on the role of introducing us to the finer things he found in life; like making the perfect shish kabob, learning about history, astronomy, the Mayan ruins, or a Mozart opera (a favorite of both of ours: " Die Entführung aus dem Serail" - he always said the title in a thick German accent) and riding in to New York City in his Edsel convertible over the George Washington Bridge! What a life!
Pilot. Soldier. Mountain climber. Scholar. Chemist. He was startlingly generous to me as a child: at a time when my allowance was probably a quarter, he'd slip a twenty dollar bill in my palm ( saying,"Don't spend it all in one place!). And he paid (the ridiculously expensive price of $6.50) for my first concert - to see The Monkees at Shea Stadium! I loved how he cared about my mother, especially after my father passed away. He would call her regularly (but not stay on too long, "Let's not make the phone company rich!") and always ask if there's anything she needed. And later he was there for me too.
Uncle Stan had a huge passion for life, a love of the environment and a deep appreciation for art and music. And he could tell a good story -- and these usually ended with his shoulders jumping up and down as he delivered the punchline. I've never seen anybody else to this and it always made whatever he was saying jollier when he did that thing with his arms. I loved talking to him about politics and current events as well as hearing his stories about the past. In the more recent years, he seemed more than ever to embody a lost time: a time of youth and optimism and so many fun and interesting family outings. We had some good days and we were lucky to have Uncle Stan in our world.
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Steven Burtt posted a condolence
Thursday, April 17, 2014
I want to also express my sincere condolences to Karen, and Stan's extended family, of which I know there are many! Reading your reminisces makes me wish I knew him sooner! God Bless him wherever he may be.
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Lois Sherry posted a condolence
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Stan Gebura was a visionary and a genius with a photographic memory. He was always interested and absorbed in a particular science or hobby, I remember a time when it was the music of a contemporary pianist named Rio. He could speak intelligently and technically and to me he was practically a walking encyclopedia! I recall the last little research project he was working on to extract silver from used film. I have many fond memories of him as my favorite uncle as I grew up in the 50's, a family vacation to Springfield, Mass., his crazy abbreviated tour of NYC with a bunch of us, mountain hiking in the Colorado Rockies with my parents, and especially my last visit to his unique home in Mountain Lakes, NJ when my mother and I watched the fireflies on a summer night in the trees on his property. And I can't forget his pet Canadian goose, Gertie, who spent at least one winter being spoiled in his garage. Uncle Stan, I will miss you and never forget you, but I do want you to know you were wrong about ignoring the termites in my basement!
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Steven Burtt posted a condolence
Thursday, April 17, 2014
What an amazing and unique man has passed from this world. I was fortunate to have known Dr. Gebura for about 2 years, and had many interesting talks with him. He surely lived a very full and varied life. He may be the only person I knew who could tell me about the cell structure of bread! (not kidding) He accomplished so much in his career and his long life and I'm very sad that this terrific gentleman has left us.
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Kathy (Callahan) Smith posted a condolence
Thursday, April 17, 2014
I would get so excited for Uncle Stan's annual visits to Boulder. On one trip, when I was 9 or 10, Uncle Stan told us he would take us to climb the 3rd Flatiron. As a kid, I had no idea what this would entail, but it sounded so fun. We had a cookout at Chataqua Park. After hours of pestering Uncle Stan about getting started on our climb, the sun started to set. It was at this point that Uncle Stan told Ann, Susy, Jane, and me about the bears and mountain lions that come out at night. Climbing the 3rd flatiron suddenly became less appealing. I realize now that he probably had no intention of taking 4 little girls mountain climbing, but I'll always remember how he brought a sense of excitement to Boulder on his visits.
One time, when we visited him in New Jersey, he took us into New York City. He thought it was pretty funny that Jane wanted to see a mugger. Fortunately that didn't happen, but he did take us to the top of the Empire State Building. This was also the trip where the four of us took turns using his cigarette rolling machine. I'm pretty sure we built up a substantial inventory. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to know him, and will miss him very much.
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Jane Callahan posted a condolence
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
I will always remember Uncle Stans visits to see his family here in Colorado. He was always great to Susy, Ann, Kathy and I. I remember a trip where he took all of us up to Nederland, CO for ice cream and on the trip up the mountain and down the mountain he would talk to us about chemistry. It was way over my head at the age of 7 (still would be). I also remember having lunch with him at a restaurant called Sebastians here in Boulder, where I was the lucky recipient of his maraschino cherry from his Manhattan. May his soul rest in peace in heaven. He will be greatly missed here on earth.
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Tom Ross posted a condolence
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
I met Stan Gebura for the second time in September of 1970 when, after marrying his niece Carolyn, we visited him and his family in Mountain Lakes. We arrived after a long drive, late in the day, and I had brought a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label as a thank you gift. Stan and I stayed up until 3AM finishing the bottle. I don't remember everything Stan told me that night but I remember he climbed mountains in the Rockies and explored the ruins in the Yucatan on several expeditions. I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and Stan taught me the Raspberry syrup in Berliner Weiss beer cure. He showed no effects from the previous night whatsoever. That day we visited the Infrared Spectroscopy lab that Stan oversaw. I remember his bookshelves were full of technical, anthropological and psychological texts and journals. I only saw him two other times which is sad because he was one of the most intelligent and interesting men I have ever had the privilege of speaking with.
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Karen Gebura posted a condolence
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
My father was a very unique and dynamic man, very much a person formed by the life circumstances and values that we have come to appreciate in our "Greatest Generation". The son of immigrants from Poland who came to the US shortly before WWI, he grew up in the depths of the economic hard times that gripped the country during the Great Depression. When WWII broke out my father tried to go to Canada to enlist in the Royal Air Force, but he was turned away as he was under age. When he finally could join up he had aspirations of becoming a glider pilot and signed up for flight school. He subsequently washed out after taking his instructor on a roller coaster ride which included a "zero gravity" simulation, simply because he was irritated with the instructor. He then trained to be in armament and was deployed to Debach, England with the 8th Army Air Corp's 493rd Bomb Group in the 3rd Air Division. He served as an armorer under Captain Otto Steinbrenner in the 863rd Squadron. In later years my father enjoyed talking about his memories of his time in England during the war and also of his CO. After almost 60 years, this summer we were able to locate Captain Steinbrenner who now resides in Sacramento CA and my father was able to talk to him on the phone. One of my fondest memories will be the joyful look on my father's face as he was talking with Captain Steinbrenner. They were discussing their memories of a time when the two of them had to diffuse a bomb that had fallen from a rack in one of the B-17's. All the missions were cancelled during the time they were at their task. I thought that it sounded like something from a James Bond movie. Fortunately they were successful at their task.
After the war my father went on to accomplish a great deal in his life,including earning a doctorate degree in chemistry. He had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for reading his scientific journal long after retiring. I will miss his unique stories I hope that others will come to this site to light a candle and also to share their memories. Thank you!
