Ashburn's family fondly remember Kalas

Ashburn's daughter, Jean, wrote to the Daily News yesterday to express her thoughts about Kalas' death.

"My family and I are devastated by the loss of Harry Kalas. Since the death of my father, I've never seen Harry but that he wrapped me in a hug and whispered, 'I think of His Whiteness every day.' And he talked to Dad, too, saying, 'This one's for you, pal,' if a particularly good play was made.

"There is one thing I am grateful for in all this and it is, oddly, that Dad died first. He very nearly didn't survive the death of my sister Jan in 1987, and the death of Harry would have crushed him. Harry was friend, brother, confidant, family.

"My favorite memory of him has nothing to do with baseball. I went to college in Connecticut and when the Phillies played in New York, I always took the train into the city to see Dad. The Phillies then stayed at The Essex House on Central Park. After a game - and I think I was 19 - I was in the bar without my father's approval and Harry and the Pope [Paul Owens] were sitting next to me. Somehow, Harry figured out that I had never been on a hansom cab ride through the park and he fixed that right away. He went and grabbed a cab, handed me up into my carriage as if I were Cinderella and then gave me a rose. 'Every girl needs to do this once,' he said. There was nothing in it but his pleasure in delighting a kid, his beloved friend's daughter. It was unutterably sweet.

"We are mourning with the rest of Philadelphia but so grateful to have had this dear gentle man in our lives."

Jean

Here are comments from Richard Ashburn, made this week, regarding the death of Harry Kalas:

"Our first thoughts go out to the entire Kalas family, we love you all and always will. We loved Harry in so many ways. He was like a father to me and my brother John. He was my father's best friend in life.

"My four sisters loved him dearly. I can honestly say he was a true friend to us, the Phillies and to the entire Delaware Valley. He will be missed but never forgotten. He kept my dad's spirit busy, I can tell you that. I want everyone to know how much time and energy he gave to the Richie Ashburn Baseball Foundation. His love for my father was endless. He made sure we got what was needed to make the foundation a success, and for that we will always be in debt to Harry.

"He was a gracious and kind man. He cared for all the people that were close to him and it showed.

"The Phillies have lost the greatest broadcaster of all time, but we will have some of the most spectacular memories to replay for years to come. Harry, we love you and all of Philadelphia loves you and always will."

Richard Ashburn *