I seem to write a lot of memorial columns these days. Fortunately, I’m not yet of an age where my own generation is dying a lot. My parents’ and aunts’ and uncles’ generation seems to be meeting the grim reaper with regularity these days, however.

I’m always happy to remember people with food. Food gives us a tangible way to cherish memories.

Last week I made an omelet inspired by Bill Shea, who died on July 12. Bill spent most of his life in Meriden, Connecticut, where he worked as a lawyer and a politician.

Several decades ago, he and his wife Janice purchased a seasonal home in Charlemont to share with their six red-headed children. Both Bill and Janice had red hair so the children’s hair color was to be expected. The kids also inherited their parents’ intelligence, sense of fun, and commitment to community, near and far.

I got to know Bill and Janice in the mid-1990s when I joined the board of Mohawk Trail Concerts. The two were enthusiastic supporters of Charlemont’s chamber-music series. Bill served as MTC’s president for several years.

Like many fans of the concert series, the Sheas loved not just the excellent music but the intimacy of the concerts’ setting in the Charlemont Federated Church.

Then as now, that intimacy gave audience members a chance to interact with the musicians. This interaction was a source of joy to the musicians as well as to the rest of us.

The Sheas were among the board members who hosted parties after the concerts. Bill’s culinary specialty was an omelet. He preferred the French spelling, ”omelette.”

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At party after party, he quickly and dramatically cooked and dished up individual omelets for his musical guests. His prowess with a frying pan was legendary.

When I asked for recipes from Mohawk Trail Concerts musicians and board members for my first cookbook, Bill gave me his omelet recipe. His wife Janice also gave me her recipe for zucchini bread. I made it last week and remembered Janice as well; she died in 2018.

My favorite memory of both Sheas is their smiles. Saying this is a cliché, I know, but those smiles could light up a room.

Even when they had health issues — and both did — they beamed when they saw me. They loved people, and everyone who met the pair felt special in their presence.

In recent years, when Bill suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, he still always had a smile for me. I remember him grinning as he sang along to “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at one of my concerts a few years back.

Musical memories last longer than most, and he made it clear that he was having a wonderful time and knew every lyric.

I last saw Bill a little under two years ago when his daughter Ellen Mendelson brought him to a book talk and signing I gave at a bookstore in Keene, New Hampshire, where Ellen lives. I don’t think he had any idea who I was at that point.

Nevertheless, what his children called his “1000-megawatt smile” was on full display when I greeted him by name and gave him a hug. He may not have understood my entire talk, but he was thrilled with the cookies I served at the event.

I asked Bill’s daughter Margo Shea, who lives in Greenfield and is terrific cook and baker herself, to share a little of her perspective on her charming, smart father.

“Dad had his share of setbacks,” said Margo. “He did not get everything he wanted. He never complained and he never acted disgruntled or hard-done by. ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset’ is an easy adage to say, a harder one to live by. He did.

“To have courage, grace, and gratitude as life does its best to grind us down is more than a gift — it is a skill and a practice. It takes courage, faith, and work. And he worked at it every single day of his life.

“Even in the final years, as he faced dementia, he met challenges with grace. Bill didn’t give up on life. Dad’s caregivers loved him; even more, they knew him: his constant compliments, his delight at the mere mention of ice cream, his gentle soul, his stubborn resolve, his moments of fire.

“For every day of his 94 years, he showed up as himself. How amazing is that?”

Bill’s omelets were mentioned with love at his memorial service last week, which took place in the same church in which he married Janice in 1959.

Bill preferred to use a pan consecrated to omelets for his creations, but he told me that any small round or oval pan or skillet will do. If you are not using a pre-seasoned pan, he suggested spraying the pan with nonstick spray before cooking.

I used my 10-inch nonstick pan, which doesn’t like super high heat. I set the heat just above medium and kept it there. Generally when I make omelets, I turn down the heat once the pan is hot. In this case, however, I followed Bill’s counsel and left it up.

My eggs cooked in record time — and they were pretty much perfect. Thank you, Bill.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tablespoon sweet butter (I tend to use a little more; I fear sticky eggs!)

thinly sliced cheese as needed (optional but delicious — Cheddar, Swiss, Gruyere, Provolone, or even American)

herbs to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bring the eggs to room temperature by placing them briefly in warm water.

Break the eggs into a small bowl, and beat them lightly with a fork or wire whisk.

Place the butter in the pan over high heat. When the butter melts and begins to turn slightly brown, pour in the eggs.

Let the egg mixture sit until you count to seven, add herbs and salt and pepper, and swirl the egg mixture around the pan until the mixture builds up and sets. (Bill used a fork judiciously to pull in the sides of the eggs just a little and let the wet part cook at the edges. I employed a spatula for this.)

Add thinly sliced cheese. Roll the omelet by tipping the pan and folding or rolling the side opposite the handle. Turn it onto a warm plate. Serves 1.

Bill suggested adding a bit of whatever sauce he had in the house as a garnish at the end. Margo suggested making a quick sauce with peppers and tomatoes; you could also use pesto, Hollandaise, béarnaise, or pesto.

When Bill was cooking for a crowd, he mixed 2 eggs per person in a large bowl with an electric beater and cooked approximately two eggs at at time. When he really got going, the omelets took only about a minute apiece, and he had to turn down the heat from time to time.

A cute Shea cooking story from Margo: “Mom was on the phone in the kitchen in Charlemont and shouted, ‘Damnit, the Béarnaise split!’ And I immediately popped out with, ‘Who are the Béarnaise?’”

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.