Antonio Joseph Glokner
A service will be at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008, in Willamette National Cemetery for Antonio Joseph Glokner, who died Oct. 19 at age 84.
Antonio Joseph Glokner was born May 31, 1924, in Jersey City, N.J. He served in the Army during World War II in Europe. He moved to Portland in 1954. He owned three locations of Tony's Crafts and Hobby for about 25 years. In 1957, he married Shirley Bixby; she died in 1997.
Survivors include his daughter, Ronni Reading; sons, Dennis Pyckowski and Tony Pyckowski; brother, John A.; and one grandchild.
Antonio was my Great Uncle Tone, a wonderful, wise man with a great sense of humor. I asked him one time how he ended up in Oregon. He said he had to stop there because he ran out of money. Then he met Shirley, and decided to stay.
Uncle Tone had macular degeneration. When I first met him in the late 90's, he had me stand beside him, while he looked straight ahead, so he could see me. He commented that I resembled his half-sister, Raquel, my namesake. She passed away in 1980, and I think of her often and miss her terribly to this day.
I came home this afternoon, opened my mail (I've got to stop doing that), and found I had received an invitation to a "Celebration of Life" in Memory of Antonio J. Glokner. He passed away on October 19, 2008. It took me completely by surprise, and the immediate, sharp and painful sense of loss took my breath away. Although I probably should have waited until I had stopped crying, I immediately called his daughter, Ronni, and asked what happened. He had lung cancer. It took him fast, and he was gone within weeks.
I loved him, and I will miss him. I wish I would have taken the opportunity to tell him so.
