In Memoriam

In Memory of Peter P. Rosaschi, Jr.

May 24, 1931 - December 8, 2020

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Pete Rosaschi, Jr. Pete was one of the initial emeritus members of the club and, with his lovely wife Florence and his beloved dog Bouy at his side, always made time to attend club functions, long after he gave up his boat. He was a generous man, helpful to all, with an broad knowledge of boating and the skills it required. If you were lucky enough to be the recipient of his often barbed and always witty email observations, you gained an insight into this genuine servant of the people around him. After leaving the Navy, which he loved, Pete became a professional educator. His work with special needs children deserves particular mention. His many contributions to and presence in our club will be sorely missed. You can read his moving and heartfelt obituary here: Published in Times Herald-Record from Dec. 11 to Dec. 12, 2020

In Memory of George R. Guy

On the evening of October 1st , 2019, at just 62 years of age, our friend George Guy was senselessly taken from us. To say he was a good man, while surely true, was perhaps to understate what he meant to us. George was a big man in so many ways; bluff, congenial, gregarious, large in physical size and in spirit. He worked in and around West Point for most of his life, serving with the West Point Fire Department, driving busloads of cadets for the transportation department, and as a volunteer fire fighter with the Highland Falls Fire Department. He was a hard-working man, who never shirked from the task at hand. His sense of humor, while often ribald, was contagious, and many of us will surely miss that. From playing the part of “Poseidon-rising from the deep,” to helping a fellow club member clean and cover a boat for the winter, George was ever present. We will always be grateful for the time he gave us and mindful of the emptiness left by his passing.

“…And when great souls die,
after a period, peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.”
-- Maya Angelou

In Memory of William "Bird" J. Vacek

It is with great sadness that we say farewell to William "Bird" J. Vacek, from Highland Falls, NY, who left our company but never our hearts on June 23, 2019 at his home. He was 64 years young. Bird was a Retired Ferry Boat Captain for the United States Military Academy at West Point and, for many years, the quartermaster of our West Point Yacht Club. A good man, whose knowledge was great and energy boundless, always ready to lend a hand or a kind word, we will all be the better for his fellowship and the poorer for his passing.

"This be the verse you 'grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."
— Robert Louis Stevenson