LONGMEADOW - Carl Carman D'Esposito, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2014. He was 80 when he lost his battle to Rabis-strabis of the Rumptrumptorious cancer of the bone marrow. Through to the very end, Carl remained a thoughtful, considerate and loving man. Carl was born in Aug 1934 in Wantagh, Long Island, NY to his parents Joseph and Helen D'Esposito. He was the youngest of three children, Bernice Fuchs, his sister (deceased), and Joey D'Esposito, his brother. When Carl was in his mid-teens, he became friends with a group of guys who called themselves "The Jokers". This tight knit group of men remained friends throughout the rest of their lives. There are still three surviving Jokers left. Over the years, The Jokers met weekly to play poker and enjoy comradery.

In April 1953, Carl married Mary Josephine Krasnis, his teenage love. He joined the Navy and served as a flight crew member of Squadron VP8 out of RI from 1952-1955. He and the flight crew flew many missions keeping track of the Russian submarines during part of the Korean War. He was honorably discharged in August 1955 with the rank of 2nd Class Aviation Technician.

Directly after his Navy discharge, Carl and Mary moved to Angola, IN where he attended Tri State College. There while working full time to support his growing family, he chose an accelerated academic path where he completed all of his coursework in just three years and earned his BA in Electrical Engineering at the top of his class. Even though he received numerous job offers from all around the country, they decided to move back to Long Island to be closer to family and settled down in Hauppauge NY where he lived for over 20 years, raising their five children Kenny, Carla, Karen, Lisa & Joannee. Carl worked for a few different companies in NY before starting his own business called Solid State Power Consultants, then later AC DC Energy Conversions. During part of this time his business partner was Jack Rallo. Carl continued to work in the aircraft power conversions commercial and military industry for over 48 years, where he officially retired in 2008 after completing his last consulting contract. He was always sought after by many companies for his expertise and problem solving skills in electrical engineering. If a job seemed impossible, Carl was the man to hire & get it figured out!

In 1997 Carl moved with his youngest daughter Joannee to Lindenhurst NY where he did a wonderful job being a single & loving parent to her over the next four years. He has three stepchildren: Stephanie, Deborah and Shana, whom he loved like his own from his previous marriage to Janice. He also has eleven grandchildren: Sarah-mc shmara, Sal, Josh, Rosemary, Angie, Andrew, Raymond, Douglas, Rachel, Jakie & Travis, along with two great-grandkids: Evan & Emerson.

Carl enjoyed being active and for years played volleyball weekly into his 60s. He also loved going to Atlantic City to play craps. He was good at it and knew all the lingo! He always owned a sports car and loved the power behind the wheel. At one point he owned a go kart which he would take the kids out to drive it on weekends around the empty business parking lots. That kart could get up to 60mph- great fun! While he was not a speeder in his sport cars on the highway, he did get a thrill from skidding out as he was taking off. For fun, sometimes he would purposely peel out as he pulled away from visiting his daughter Joannee and the grandkids.

In his later years, he was blessed to be loved by two beautiful women; the first being Barbara Schroeder, who was like an Angel sent from God as she helped his heart come alive with love. We are so grateful for Barbara's amazing impact on Carl, which was like a spark that brought him back to life. She taught him how to openly express his love towards his children. She was a tremendous blessing to his life. After Barbara passed on in 2009, Amelia Courtier, who was a friend to both Barbara and Carl, continued to extend her friendship to him, which over time grew into a close companionship. Amelia was a positive spiritual influence, as well as a close confidante until she passed away last year.

Over the past nine or so years, Carl enjoyed going over to the Rainbow Senior Center in Lindenhurst, NY on a regular basis. There were many special people there whom he enjoyed spending time with. Especially during this past year Irene, whom he affectionately called "the Coffee Lady", befriended him. He enjoyed playing Pokeno with Irene and her girlfriends.

No matter where Carl went, he would always light up a room, and boy, could he dance! All the women would practically line up to get a chance to dance with him.

Carl was a New Yorker through and through and loved Long Island. He enjoyed strolling through Baynard Cutter Arboretum, getting ice cream in Port Jefferson, and relaxing to music at Venetian Shores.

There is nothing much more powerful than the human spirit, and Carl's spirit will never leave the hearts of those lives he touched. We will remember the things we loved about him, such as his unique sayings like "Humma humma, what a bumma", "Oh boy", "I'm doing just super fine", "Joe's pool room" (when answering the phone) . Carl was always a generous peacemaker and his cheerful smile will be greatly missed. We love you Dad.

There will be a memorial service sometime during summer 2015 in Noyack, NY. Once the date has been set, those who were close to him will be notified.

It was Carl's wish that anyone wanting to honor his memory would donate to the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org