John J. Scala (aka The Weekend Chief) passed away on Tuesday November 12. He authored several railroad books, and produced various railroad calenders for many years. Below is the obituary written by his daughter Lauren:
Subject: John Scala - WNBC traffic reporter Lauren Scala
Yesterday afternoon I lost my father. For the past 373 days, I have woke up every morning with a pit in the depths of my stomach dreading this moment. It was exactly that many days ago that I stood in front of a team of neurosurgeons at Stony Brook Hospital as they diagnosed my 64 yr old Dad with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive terminal brain cancer. Today I held his hand for the last time just hours after receiving the call that he had passed rather suddenly.
I could tell you how awful it all was, how exhausting, how difficult it was to hide the pain and to put a smile on my face everyday when all I wanted to do was hide... but all of that is NOTHING compared to what I had watch him endure for this disease that there is no cure for. I will focus on the wonderful memories and on the positive lessons I learned from him and from this experience because life makes us no promises.
My Dad, John Scala, was funny, adventurous, creative, and he gave the best advice. He was a man that was never afraid to cry and he gave me more hugs in my 31 years than some people get in double that amount of time. He once said that the only reason he went through with treatment was because he made a vow to be my father and he needed to be here for me and my brother. He will ALWAYS be my hero and words cannot describe just how much I am going to miss him.
He was a good friend, and I know that all of us who got to know him will miss him very much.
Stuart
