Each February I write about my father, Thomas William Lampsa, as he was born February 15, 1909 â 112 years ago. And he has been gone since October 9, 1973, 48 years ago â he died at just 64, and his children have passed that age. But the memories of Pop â he was never called Dad â remain as vivid as they were way back when. I was just 26 was he died, and it would be many years until I started to write about him each February in my newspaper column. And most every year, I write about the same memories as the year before. From a column four years ago, in 2017: