Tuesday, November 25, 2025
I met Tony Winig in September, 1969, at SUNY Maritime College's two week Indoctrination period before the rest of the student body, The Regiment, returned for the fall semester. That year there were 320 plus incoming freshman, or Mugs as they are called (only 108 graduated). That group was divided into eight sections, 4 deck and 4 engineering. Each section had three lines, I was in the middle line of the 4th section, towards the back, and Tony was over my right shoulder in the next line. My first take on this guy Winig was that he was a serious character, very deliberate (he even walked with great deliberance) and most endearingly, he was Lithuanian. (In my lifetime I've never met another Lithuanian and I've lived all over the Eastern US and Louisiana).
SUNY Maritime College at Ft Schuyler is a 4 year institution dedicated to training men and women for careers in the marine industry. As part of that training, the school has its own training ship, ours the Training Ship Empire State IV (TSES IV - tough s*** every summer), a 500 ft., WWII converted troop transport. The training ship made two 6 week cruises every summer. The seniors made both cruises and the underclass, split into two groups, made either the first or second cruise. Though there was adult supervision, it was the cadets who operated the ship from NewYork, across the Atlantic and back again. All those cadets were just kids. It was during these cruises that Tony started is love affair with boilers (He had a long and successful career with them
).The school administration thought so highly of Tony and his engine room knowledge that they bestowed on him the position of Fuel Oil rate. This Rate was the most important engineering position on the ship that a cadet, a kid, could have. Without fuel oil, there would be no steam from the boilers for propulsion, making fresh water, hot showers, the ships whistle (think fog horn) and more. Tony was responsible for all aspects of fuel oil, from the temperature of fuel in the storage tanks, tank levels (ship's ballast), filtration and many more details - he was the man. During those summer training cruises, the ship made two ports-of-call on each cruise. In each port, along with other provisions, the ship would take on fuel oil. The ship's Bursor made arrangements for the fuel oil but Tony was responsible for bringing it on-board. It was truly remarkable to watch Tony, this 5ft 8", 20 year old Lithuanian kid, tell grown men, some towering over him, in a foreign county no less, how they, in no uncertain terms, were going to bring fuel onto his ship.
Tony was more than a classmate, he was a friend. After graduation, the class of 1973 all went off in different paths, each seeking life's rainbows. In 1979, I was living in New Orleans and Tony contacted me (not sure how he knew I was there) and told me he was coming to NOLA and asked if he could stay with us. It was during this 9 or 10 day stay that I really got to know Tony, his view points on politics, life, the US and the world. I was fascinated with the books he read one of which was the Greening of America. Though Tony was a conservative, that book tended to lean toward more liberal aspects of life in the US and its counter culture. This book made for great discussions over way too much wine. New Orleans is a fun city and by the time Tony's first week had past he went from this well buttoned up guy to a more of a go with the flow dude. After that first week, he asked if we wouldn't mind if he stayed longer. Sure, no problem Tony, here's your list of chores. Tony was a great house guest.
After that visit, we traded Christmas cards, an occasional letter and maybe a phone call or two. But then there was the internet and emails! I would struggle to quickly compose an email of 4 or 5 lines to Tony. But i would get back an email response containing paragraphs. I was so jealous of Tony on how he could so quickly concoct an emai, and a long one at that. His brain and fingers were incredibly connected. Or did his fingers have AI in them? I learned at Tony's memorial service that many, many others were the recipient of Tony's emails, long emails that were more like short stories. How did he have the time to send all those emails? I'm telling you, his fingers had to have AI.Tony was the only classmate that I had regular contact with since graduation, the only one. I'm going to greatly miss those emails Tony! Just send some fair weather clouds to show your thinking of us, but not too many now, ya hear!?
Fifteen years ago, I married an Irish women with red hair (the red hair is the Lord's warning label - risk of injury if not handled carefully), and she has this view point about judgment day, the day one is before the Lord and presents a case for the worthiness of entering through heaven's gates. What evidence does one submit that they were loving, caring, thoughtful, our brothers keeper - what evidence? Well, I think Tony has a good case and with over 100 some odd attendees at his memorial service, he definitely has a lot of witnesses to call on.
RIP Tony, I will miss you.
