It's a surprise to all of us that we are here today. Our Dad seemed eternally youthful. At 77, he was sharper than anyone we know. My dad's passing caught us all by surprise. But, in some ways it should not have been a surprise. My dad was more comfortable taking care of others than he would have been finding himself in a situation where others had to take care of him. There is nothing he would rather, than to leave this world with his true love, Barbara, standing by his side.He would have been overwhelmed to see all of you here today. We could hear him now saying to our mom - Snookie, Look, I didn't bug them, they all came here today. We are honored to talk about my dad's life today. My dad had a huge personality. Underneath the joking and his big presence, there was a man, a husband, a father, a brother, a brother-in-law, a grandfather, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, a softball teammate, and a medical researcher who taught us many lessons on how to live a great life and a life of great importance.If you follow my dad's recipe for success, you'll be guaranteed to live a wonderful life.Lesson #1: Find a great partner and you will have a wonderful life. Our parents met when mom was 16 and dad was 21. Both lived in the Bronx but summers my mom would visit her cousin Bess in Minneapolis. Bess's husband owned a drug store. One day our dad, in town to attend his brother's wedding, came into the drug store, mentioned to Bess's co-worker that he was from the Bronx and the intoroduction was made and the rest is history. Whether they were strolling down the beach on Fire Island holding hands, walking down Broadway to see a show, or flying to Las Vegas, they knew how to live life together to the fullest. Our mom never left for a solo trip to visit her grandchildren without first preparing and freezing 3 meals per day for our Dad, complete with instructions. And, our Dad always made sure that mom's car was free of snow and full of gas before she left for work. Mom understood Dad completely. She got his goodness, intelligence, and commitment to her and his family. She allowed him to be free to be who he was. It was a true and passionate love story for 53 years. We know that deep down our father would be happy that we followed his lead and found our life partners. He didn't always make it easy and the road wasn't always smooth, but we know that he was happy with our choices. He loved Howie, Steve and Nick very much. He only wanted the best for his daughters and we loved him for that. Lesson #2: Do anything for your family.It is so fitting to us to have our dad's funeral on Father's Day because he was a truly great father and grandfather. He raised three daughters who loved him so much. He was so devoted to us and our success. When we were struggling with homework, he would stay up with us til three in the morning with a notebook and lead pencil in his hand. He made sure that we understood our work and developed good study skills to carry us through life. When video cameras became available he bought one of the first ones and proceeded to tape all of Eve's cheerleading games. He even hung a life size picture of her in our living room doing a cheer leading leap. There was no one more proud of his daughter Sue's broadcasts on the high school radio station, her tv news reporting and video news releases produced by her very own company. As much as he loved his children, boy did he love his grandchildren and they love him.Josh: My grandpa loved that I could speak up to him and give it right back to him. He loved that I go to a really good school and he loved attending my Grandparents Day even though I was worried about what mischief he might get into. He was very proud of my accomplishments at my Bar Mitzvah. I will miss him.Jessie: My grandpa loved having me write for him. He always wanted to be sure that I knew all my letters. But he wasn't just about the school work. He also bought karaoke tapes and insisted that we do karaoke when we visit. Grandpa really knew how to make me laugh and I loved him very much. I always asked grandma to bring him when she visited.Matt: Whenever I would come visit Grandpa, I always made sure to bring my baseball glove to play catch and my racquet to play tennis. The last time I visited, we played a match together. Grandpa insisted on keeping score, although it was no help to him. One time he asked me what I want to be when I grow up. Do you want to be a professional athlete, he asked? I answered, no, I'm going to be a musician. He then said, oh so you want to be a lawyer like your mom? By a long shot, my grandpa was the best grandpa anyone could ask for.Ellie: My Grandpa was very silly. One day grandpa asked me to show him my gymnastics skills. I showed him my best somersault. I wasn't really surprised when he copied me and showed me his best somersault. He got a little dizzy and had to lay on the floor for three hours and I think he realized maybe he should not be doing somersaults when he was 70.Rebecca: I had a very special relationship with my grandpa. He emailed me with advice all the time and he liked to know about my studies and what I was doing at school. I loved that he came to my soccer games and lived so close to me.Lesson #3:Be passionate about learning. Our dad believed one could never know too much. There was always more to learn. He had many careers. He retired from engineering when he was 57 years old. He took on retirement in the most energetic and inventive way: becoming a paralegal, learning the computer so well that he could help others with their tech problems, working at a financial investment company keeping their computers running as they transferred millions of dollars, studying the genome at Stonybrook and presenting papers at conferences, and, in the last years, volunteering in the medical library. He kept reinventing himself! His was a fertile retirement: creative, searching, constructive and ever engaged. Lesson #4:Always help others. This is probably the biggest lesson my dad taught us. If you knew my dad, you were probably on the receiving end of his advice, an article sent to your home, or advice on your love life. I remember my dad would visit his uncle in the hospital and give him a shave because he couldn't do it himself. Or he would go out to a singles event to help his friend find a girl friend after his wife died. Dad's friend did meet his second wife that night. Most recently he helped a doctor at the hospital who's son had cancer. Our dad found two places in the country that had a new treatment for that particular cancer and the doctor went there with his son. His son is still alive, perhaps as a result of our dad's efforts. We had hoped to be able to care for our dad as he grew old, return the favor, but that was not Dad's style.Anyone who met our dad could not help but be touched by him as he would give a little of himself to each person he met. He would be very happy to see everyone here, all of whom meant so much to him, his brother and his family from Seattle, his sister-in-law, his cousins, his softball teammates, his colleagues from the medical library, his neighbors from Leisure World, his extended family and all of his friends.When we remember daddy we will smile. Our favorite memories will be those nights sitting at the kitchen table with our mom and dad and our dad would do something very silly and he would make our mom laugh and laugh. We would laugh so hard we would have to wipe the tears from our eyes. His laughter, his love and devotion to his wife Barbara, his love of life, his caring for other people, his intelligence, his curiosity, his thirst for knowledge. Those are all things that we will remember and we will smile.Our dad, Stanley Edward Stolov, was a man who left this world a better place because he was here. And we know his memory will carry on in all the lives that he touched. To learn a little more about Stanley's interests visit: http://www.sestolovassociates.comArrangements under the direction of Edward Sagel Funeral Direction, Inc., Rockville, MD.