Darrell Politte was a dedicated family man who loved nothing more than spending time with the two young children who called him “Paw Paw.”
“I have no children, my brother has no children, and my sister waited until later in life to have her two kids,” said his daughter, Kimberly Goulet, 53. “He waited a long time to have grandkids, and those two little girls were the light of his life.”
Mr. Politte died Oct. 26 of complications from prostate cancer.
He grew up in Old Mines, one of 12 siblings in a family that sometimes struggled to make ends meet.
“They were poor,” Kimberly said. “Their dad died when he was only 45, so their mom raised them pretty much all on her own.”
Mr. Politte was a standout athlete at Potosi High School.
“He ran high hurdles, and he holds a school record that still stands,” said his son, Brian, 48.
After high school, Mr. Politte joined the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1966 to 1970.
“He was a supply sergeant,” Kimberly said. “He was stationed in China, and they did fly missions over Vietnam. Two of his brothers served at the same time.”
While in the military, Mr. Politte learned skills that would prove to be useful in his later career.
“He learned to drive a forklift and got a lot of experience in shipping and receiving,” Brian said. “He ended up being a manager in the printing industry.”
Mr. Politte had known Patricia Gough in high school.
“They were three years apart,” Kimberly said. “When they first started dating, my grandmother made my mom’s niece, who was about 10 at the time, go along to chaperon. They used to tell us about that and laugh.”
The Polittes were married in 1967, while Mr. Politte was still in the military, so like many young family men in the service, Mr. Politte was away from home when his first child was born.
“I was 10 months old when I met him,” Kimberly said. “I don’t remember it, of course, but we have a picture from when my mom and I met him at the airport. I cried because I didn’t know him and didn’t want him to hold me. My mom said that hurt his heart.”
Father and daughter soon got to know one another, however, and Mr. Politte dedicated himself to giving his family a good life.
“He was a very involved dad,” Kimberly said. “I was a cheerleader and in a lot of clubs and stuff, and they both were active in bringing me to everything.”
Brian agreed.
“I was in Khoury League baseball for years, and my dad took me to all the practices,” he said.
Mr. Politte enjoyed more mundane activities with his kids as well.
“I have lots of memories of being out in the yard with him,” Kimberly said. “He loved making sure his lawn was perfect, and we have lots of memories of riding on the tractor with him, helping him shovel snow in the winter.”
Mr. Politte was an avid sports fan, especially of hockey.
“We’ve been going to Blues games since we were very little,” Kimberly said. “My dad made sure we went to games, and then we’d hang around the arena after the games and Brian would get autographs. He has books and books of them. It was a big deal for my dad”
Brian recalls being at a practice session and getting a goalie stick from one of the players.
“He reached it to me over the glass,” he said.
Both siblings said their father enjoyed sports on an even more local level.
“There was always a hoops game in our driveway,” Kimberly said. “My dad and my brother liked to wrestle on the floor; it was something they bonded over. He really just loved sports.”
Another hobby was heading for the local casino to play slots.
“He liked to go to Ameristar with my mom,” Kimberly said. “They did take a trip to Las Vegas, sometime around 1995 or so, and he talked about that a lot.”
Mr. Politte enjoyed robust health until 2016, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“But it was controlled with medication,” Brian said. “He didn’t really have to make a lot of changes in his lifestyle.”
Changes started coming in 2018, however, when Mr. Politte had a stroke.
“After that, he wasn’t able to get around as well as he always had before,” Kimberly said. “But he’d wheel himself out to the driveway and watch the cars go by.”
She said her dad became something of a neighborhood ambassador.
“He knew everybody and they knew him,” she said. “He always liked to have a piece of candy for the kids.”
Kimberly said her dad lived a “pretty normal” life, in spite of some challenges, until just a couple of months ago.
“In September, the cancer came back with a vengeance,” she said. “They discovered it had spread to his bones.”
He spent about a month in the hospital, then came home on hospice and died peacefully at home, surrounded by family.
“So it was a long time dormant; then he quickly succumbed at the end,” Kimberly said. “For our family and for him, it was the best way.
“He worked hard his entire life, and cared a lot about his family.”
“Life Story,” posted on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.