My name is Daniel Albert Hallback Jr. Thank you all for coming today to celebrate the life of my father Daniel Albert Hallback Sr. The author John Steinbeck has said: “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” My dad light had shone bright and I would like to share some words about him.
My dad was born in Philadelphia in 1955. He passed away on July 4th, 2019. As my god mother has said that was his day of Independence. My dad was raised by his loving mother Rosa Thomas and his Grandmother Amanda Hallback. My father had 1 sister Diane Thomas and 2 brothers Jeffery Thomas Senior and Kenneth Thomas. My father graduated from high school in 1973. After high school, he started working at Strawbridge and Clothier in 1973. He worked there until 1996 when Strawbridge’s underwent consolidation. After Strawbridge my dad worked at several grocery stores as a stocker and cashier. He retired from Great Value Market at the age of 63 in 2018.
My dad married my mother Joan Clay in 1983. They had their only son together Daniel Albert Hallback Junior in June of 1985. My dad was an amazing father to me and all his children. He helped to raise my brother Antoine Clay as his own son. As many of us know sometimes changes happen in life. My dad and mom split up but remained friends to the end. My dad remarried in 1995, he married Sarah Martin. He also helped to raise my step Sisters, Belinda, and Latifah as his own. My dad was a caring grandfather to their children.
My dad had a passion for Chicago. He loved the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. I just have to mention that he also was a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers. My father also had a passion for radios. He loved to tinker with them to improve their range so that he could listen to Chicago radio stations. He loved GE Superradios and RadioShack. He would get soldering kits and better quality wires and disassemble the radios and then listen, tune, and rewire until he was able to get the desired stations. At his peak, he would go through 1-2 radios a year. Just to give context to his ability, The average radio stations’ radio signals travel 50-100 miles. Chicago is 665 miles from Philadelphia. He was able to enhance his radio to 6 to 12 times the normal range!
My dads’ first time traveling via airplane was in 2017. He flew to Orlando Florida to watch me graduate from my MBA program. My mom was terrified of flying and was nervous the entire time but my dad was super excited. He enjoyed taking off and being able to see the earth from high above. Our time in Florida was great, my dad has a permanent smile the entire day of the graduation.
In 2018 as a retirement gift, I took my dad on a road trip to Chicago. It was his dream to go and I wanted to make it happened. My Dad, Sarah, Antoine and I drove from Philly to Chicago, making stops along the way in Pittsburg and various other cities. Once in Chicago, we took the train to Wrigley Field. My dad was excited to ride the trains in Chicago since he was a big fan of the movie Cooley High. We enjoyed the game and was able to have peanuts and cracker jacks and sing “Take me out to the ball game” with 41 thousand cub fans. During the trip, we visit lake Michigan and Soldier Field the home of the Chicago Bears. I will always remember how happy my dad was to see me succeed and to travel. I will honor our name and will continue to do both, Travel and Succeed.
My dad was a caring man who exhibited great patience, love, and dedication. He was a great listener. He is the perfect example of how we should love and treat one another. He was about more action and fewer words. He worked hard to provide for his family, even if it meant long days and sore feet. Daniel Albert Hallback Senior was great son, a great husband, a great father, and a great friend. I would like to leave you with the words of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross :
The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.”