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I was not a lifelong friend of Tony\u2019s, but I knew him as a friend for more than fifteen years. During this time I learned much from him about being a better person as well as from his rich life experiences. That is why I frequently used the honorific Spanish title \u201cDon\u201d for him to suggest that he was a man of distinction and honor. In short, he was a gentleman, and he knew a lot. Besides, it seemed appropriate given his Portuguese heritage.<\/p>\n
His recent death was not unexpected, but it was more difficult for me than expected. With his death we have lost a decent person, the kind whom we need to have with us more than ever. We\u2019ve also lost a treasure trove of wisdom. For me, Tony, seven years my senior, was a mentor who taught me charity, patience, and good will. He was a wealth of information about so much: his ruminations about God and religions; his travel experiences around the world, flying one-eyed and landing his plane on the Georgia islands.<\/p>\n
Tony, the son of \u201cCaptain Charlie,\u201d a Portuguese shrimper, grew up in Fernandina, Florida. As a child he lost an eye in an accident but still went on to realize his dream of becoming a pilot, buying his own plane and flying for most of his life. He served 42 years as a civilian with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a career that took him across the United States and throughout Latin America, including a tour of duty with Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll miss Don Antonio as a mentor and friend. I will think of him as I raise a whisky to him in the White Pine Saloon at Potlatch where he and I spent so much time together. We will all miss him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tony Sousa, 1933 – 2021 I was not a lifelong friend of Tony\u2019s, but I knew him as a friend for more than fifteen years. During this time I learned much from him about being a better person as well as from his rich life experiences. That is why I frequently used the honorific Spanish…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n