"Dear Vic," I had typed in a letter dated January 15, 2016. "It was nice to visit with you on the phone today, on this frigid, bone-chilling day ... I can't believe the postal service couldn't deliver the card to you because of 'insufficient address'! Buffetta is a Mountain Iron name if I ever heard one... And I still love the story about you telling your brother when you saw each other during the war, 'Let's go Bon-Air and have a drink. It's only 9,000 miles away.' Sincerely, Linda Tyssen."

The reference was to a Christmas card I had sent unsuccessfully to Victor Buffetta in 2015, and to a story he had told of meeting his brother Frank when they were serving in the South Pacific in World War II. He loved hearing a good story, and he loved to tell a good story. And oh, how Victor Buffetta would have beamed at the number of people from his beloved Mountain Iron who turned out to say goodbye June 7 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Virginia. Victor died May 31, 2017, at 92.