Arthur C Trube Jr. Stories
Phill Lantis
I have a girl cousin in Ohio whom Artie would terrorize whenever we were together upstate. She also has some great Artie stories. I think back then she may have had a crush on him, but at that time, she was a girl, and we weren't into that stage yet.
Woody Ely
My name is Woody Ely, and I was a high school friend of your dad’s and lived just a few houses down the street from him. I was shocked and extremely sorry to hear about his passing. When we first met, we hit it off and used to enjoy spending time together. We shared numerous common interests including hot cars, especially Chrysler products, Ferraris, and other exotics. We enjoyed just having fun, whether it was going swimming, shooting his shotgun, or just hanging out listening to music or cracking jokes.
As is often the case with teenagers, we also enjoyed eating, so I thought I’d share this amusing story with you. One summer evening we had both just finished eating dinner, and your dad walked down the street to see if I wanted to do anything with him. Now, both of our moms were good cooks, so I’m sure we had both eaten well. Anyway, I remember the two of us standing in the driveway going through a dialogue that went something like: “What do you want to do? I don’t know, what do you feel like doing? I don’t know, what do you want to do?"" Finally, one of us said something about going down to Hideway Pizza. That was our local pizza joint in Landing. After that was suggested, it seemed like a great idea. They made good pizzas, and besides, it had been at least ten minutes since we had eaten, so it seemed like a logical thing to do. I remember we ordered a large, cheese pizza and enjoyed every bit of it, just as if we had not already eaten dinner. After we finished the pizza, we went back and forth again trying to decide what to do next. Since we couldn’t really think of anything, we just ordered another large pizza. After polishing off the second pizza, we decided that we had finally had enough.
Although we were good friends, we lost contact as life took us separate ways. After school and military service, I ended up in Illinois for many years. I did see your dad one more time roughly 35 years ago. I came back to New Jersey for a visit and ran into an old high school acquaintance. He had kept up with your dad, so he gave me his address. I took a chance that he’d be home and drove out to see him the next day. I recall, when I arrived, he was pouring cement, I believe to extend his garage. I also briefly met your mom during that visit. Then, as before, we again lost track of each other. I recently retired to New Mexico, but I occasionally thought about your dad and wondered how he was doing. Then one day I received an email with information about obtaining a CD with classmate information from Roxbury High School. I purchased one of the CDs and found your dad’s contact information. I decided to give him a call to try to catch up on old times. This was when he was working for the USPS, and as luck would have it, he was out delivering mail. We had a good chat, but couldn’t talk too long, since he was working. We exchanged emails and then wrote each other a few messages. After I sent the Christmas message, I had not heard back from your dad, so I was quite excited when I saw the response a few days ago. Sadly, it was not any information I was hoping to read. Although, it was many years ago, we were good friends, so his loss still makes me feel like there’s a void. Please pass on my deepest sympathies to your mom and the rest of your family.
Phill Lantis
Artie always had ideas—some very logical, as the story from yesterday suggests, and then others that didn't always end up as planned. One day, not very sure of our ages but certainly not old enough to know better, he talked me into going bowling at the new bowling alley that had just opened on 233rd Street. He said we could bowl all day for just 50 cents. It sounded good to me, and it seemed like he knew what he was talking about, so we put our pennies, nickels, and dimes together and went bowling. And we bowled all day! Finally, with our arms and fingers aching, we decided we had had enough and couldn't roll one more ball down the alley.
During the checkout process, before we were handed the bill, Artie started dumping our collective coin collection on the countertop. When he first saw the bill, I knew we were in big trouble. It's the only time I had ever seen him turn completely white. The bill was over $20, which was a lot of money then. The manager locked us in his office until we could decide who to call.
Funny thing is, I don't think I have ever met Artie's dad. He was a fireman and never home. Somehow, it was always my mother we went to when in trouble, which, thinking about it now, must have been his manipulating, as she would never lay a hand on him but would beat the hell out of me. Anyway, we called her, and she was really upset—first for interrupting her two-beer, six-pack, and four-cigarette-pack daily routine, and then, of course, the $20+ bill to be paid. Yep, she beat the living breath out of me, and to this date, I'm not certain if Artie's parents ever knew about what happened at the bowling alley that day.
I can only imagine what we would have gotten into had he not moved away and we grew up together as adults.
Phill Lantis
We had guns and holsters that we often played with. Again, this is a bit more about me, but Artie was always in the middle of it. My mom had a cabinet with a bookcase on top and a folding-down desk that you could sit at. I think they called it a secretary back then. After we had robbed the bank, we stashed the money in the locking secretary and removed the key just as the sheriff arrived. Artie told me to quickly hide the key. So, I put it in my mouth. Somehow, we got to jostling around, and I swallowed the key. I sat on a big pot with each bowel movement until I finally and thankfully passed the key. My mother was really upset, as she was the one who had to sift through it to find it. Artie and I laughed so hard each time we thought about it, but never in front of my mom!
Phill Lantis
Okay, I think we were about 8 or 9 years old. Somehow, we both ended up in the bathroom of his apartment, which later became our apartment after he moved away. I believe his mom had just cleaned the floors and told us to stay in there until they dried. Artie had to use the bathroom for a number two. So, I turned around to give him some privacy as he started to moan and groan. After a long period of silence, I turned back around, thinking he was done. To my surprise, there he stood in full view, wiping himself. I asked, "What are you doing?" He went on to explain the engineering dynamics of standing while accomplishing the task and the improved hygiene it offered.
So, to this day, I have practiced his technique without fail and have added some additional features that were not available back then, which would make him proud. So, if you ask if I think about him, I can honestly say a minimum of twice a day. I know I already told you about the shoelaces, so once when tying my shoes and the other time as explained above. Depending on my digestive system or if I'm wearing slip-ons, that will determine how many times I will think of him that day. That is a true Artie story.
Well, I'm sure he continued the technique as I did because Artie could always make you believe him with a logical and detailed explanation, which is further demonstrated in the next story.
Phill Lantis
The first story is about our first encounter with girls. We were upstate at my grandmother's house in Rhinecliff, NY, overlooking the Hudson River, which was very beautiful. As it was a small town, the "NY Boys" were very popular with the girls. I think we were around 10 years old. We didn't have any experience with girls at that time. One day, we collectively talked these two admirers into playing a game with us. We were under a two-story porch of an abandoned house.
These two girls didn't have much knowledge of the game we chose. They were getting unbelievably good hands. Using our NY style, whenever they showed us their cards, we would always identify a card they were holding in their hand as an immediate losing card. We were determined. The game ended with a slight revelation, which at that age didn't amount to much. But we did have our official girl experience!
Alan Lacki
I worked with and for your Dad at Jersey Central Power & Light when he was Area Supervisor of Transportation and later, when he was Manager of Fleet Services. When he was Manager, he hired me to be his Transportation Engineer. Back then, the parent company, General Public Utilities Corporation, (GPU), centralized and decentralized its operations almost every other year. They drove us crazy!
Back when Art was Area Supervisor, the Transportation Department was managed by people working out of JCP&L's offices in Morristown. Then, around Year 2000, they centralized the Transportation Department out in Reading, Pennsylvania. Then, in 2004, they decentralized again, and that's when Art landed his job as Manager of Fleet Services. It was a nice promotion for him.
Art had to rebuild the staff of the Jersey Central Power & Light Transportation Department from scratch. Sure, the garages remained intact, but he had to hire new people to fill all the staff positions at the JCP&L Morristown General Office, where Art had his new office. Most of the folks who ran the Jersey Central Transportation Department in years past took the opportunity to retire when the last reorganization occurred, so they were not available to work for Art. All of us were new at our jobs. Our group included Darryl Tuxhorn and Roy Cooper, who were Area Managers for the garages. It also included Jim Curtin and a young lady whose name escapes me; they took care of all the budgeting and accounting for Transportation. The budget was in the millions of dollars because our group was responsible for all the garages and for procuring all the new vehicles. Dale Toth, Bill Carey, and I took care of the engineering, technical specifications for new vehicles, and special maintenance programs where we needed to get the manufacturers involved. We had a couple of bargaining unit clerks, too.
We had a great group of people, and Art was a wonderful boss. I really enjoyed working for him, and it was the most interesting job I ever had, but it didn't last long. After only two years, in 2006, the bosses at GPU decided to recentralized all of the staff groups again out in Reading, PA, including not only transportation, but many other departments. A guy named Jeffrey Sturm, who was the GPU Director of Administration, appointed one of his favorites from Metropolitan Edison Company, a guy named Ed Earnest, to be the Manager of Fleet Services for the centralized operation, which included not only Jersey Central Power & Light Company, but also the other GPU subsidiaries, Metropolitan Edison Company and Pennsylvania Electric Company. Ed hired a buddy of his to be Transportation Engineer. Our department at Jersey Central was eliminated.
Ed offered Art a position as a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor, and Art accepted it. In the mean time, Ed offered me a job as a junior engineer reporting to his buddy, but I found a new position in the Power Contracts group, which bought and sold electric power on the grid. It was a completely different line of work for me. Darryl and Roy found jobs in the Jersey Central garages. Dale and Jim also found new jobs, but not in Transportation.
But consistent with GPU's never ending policy of creating chaos in its ranks, the powers that be decided to reorganize everything once again, and so Ed's new organization was wiped out. In 2001, the CEO of GPU, a guy named Fred Hafer, decided to sell GPU to FirstEnergy of Akron, Ohio. Basically, he sold the company down the drain in exchange for a golden parachute reputed to be worth $13 million. Shortly thereafter, in 2002, FirstEnergy eliminated the Ed Earnest's Reading-based staff group and centralized the Transportation Department out at the FirstEnergy headquarters in Akron, Ohio. I believe that's when Art left the GPU companies for good. Ed Earnest and his buddy left, too. I left about a year later, in 2003.
I will always remember Art as a great guy. When he was Manager, we were just beginning to get everything in ship shape, but we just didn't have enough time, thank to the idiots who ran GPU. I wish I could have worked for him longer. I'll never forget his smile."
Phill Lantis
Okay, this is a story more about me, but Artie played a big role in setting it up. In one of the pictures I sent, there is a girl with dark curly hair wearing what appears to be an Easter hat. Well, that was Jackie. That picture was taken years after the story I'm about to tell. She was a real tomboy and could literally beat up any of us at will. One day, she sent me home with a black eye. My mom asked how I got it, and I told her Jackie did it. So she asked me what I did about it. I said "nothing," as she had always told me not to hit a girl. She then gave me permission to give Jackie her due if she attempted to hit me again. That's where Artie comes into the story.
For the next week or so, he created many crazy scenarios and situations where she would normally have belted me, but nothing. He made up unbelievable situations, but not until he intentionally hit her with the ball while we were playing stickball with her back turned and I in a perfect position to have been the culprit. She turned, stormed towards me, screaming all kinds of vulgarities, and threw a glazing punch. Knowing my inability to respond due to my mother's rule, she just stood there totally unprepared for what I was about to do. I hit her so hard I thought I broke her nose. Artie just stood there and laughed as hard as ever. He set it all up.
She never hit me again!