Who better to pay tribute to this Father's Day Weekend than Grandpa Ward! We miss him & think of him every day! We also can't help but think that he & Grandma Olga helped hand pick Baby Kate just for our family! Thanks Grandpa~we love you!
Below is Don's eulogy to his Dad...
I’d like to echo my sister’s thanks for the support our family has received over the last few days and for helping us say goodbye to my dad today. Your kindness is very appreciated and has helped make a tough time a little easier. Dad was many things to many people, but he was my father, so I’d like to say a few things about that part of his life.
The last few days have been hard, but even the saddest moments eventually leave me with the same word summing up my thoughts. That word is “fortunate”.
We were fortunate to have a dad that put his family at the top of his priorities at every turn in life.
We were fortunate to have a dad that cared enough to be tough when we made big mistakes but was gentle enough help us fix those mistakes and learn from them.
Garth and I were fortunate to have a dad that introduced us to the outdoors and sacrificed many of his own hunting opportunities because the little boy next to him was cold, or wet, hungry, or too noisy in the woods.
We were fortunate to have a dad that gave us the gift of a strong set of values that would carry us forward when we left home.
We were fortunate to have a dad with a sense of humor and a belly laugh that would fill the house.
We were fortunate that dad married Dorothy and we were blessed with a whole bunch of new family.
About 10 years ago dad had a close call with his health. We were fortunate to have the years since then making up for lost time and watching his eyes light up as he met new grandkids and great grandkids.
I miss my dad…a lot…but he’s not really gone. There are parts of him that live on in everyone who was lucky enough to be a part of his life.
On a document, filed in a cabinet somewhere, it states that dad passed away from a bad heart. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think my dad was given about as strong a heart as a man can get…he just worked it really hard loving all of us.
Below is Don's eulogy to his Dad...
I’d like to echo my sister’s thanks for the support our family has received over the last few days and for helping us say goodbye to my dad today. Your kindness is very appreciated and has helped make a tough time a little easier. Dad was many things to many people, but he was my father, so I’d like to say a few things about that part of his life.
The last few days have been hard, but even the saddest moments eventually leave me with the same word summing up my thoughts. That word is “fortunate”.
We were fortunate to have a dad that put his family at the top of his priorities at every turn in life.
We were fortunate to have a dad that cared enough to be tough when we made big mistakes but was gentle enough help us fix those mistakes and learn from them.
Garth and I were fortunate to have a dad that introduced us to the outdoors and sacrificed many of his own hunting opportunities because the little boy next to him was cold, or wet, hungry, or too noisy in the woods.
We were fortunate to have a dad that gave us the gift of a strong set of values that would carry us forward when we left home.
We were fortunate to have a dad with a sense of humor and a belly laugh that would fill the house.
We were fortunate that dad married Dorothy and we were blessed with a whole bunch of new family.
About 10 years ago dad had a close call with his health. We were fortunate to have the years since then making up for lost time and watching his eyes light up as he met new grandkids and great grandkids.
I miss my dad…a lot…but he’s not really gone. There are parts of him that live on in everyone who was lucky enough to be a part of his life.
On a document, filed in a cabinet somewhere, it states that dad passed away from a bad heart. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think my dad was given about as strong a heart as a man can get…he just worked it really hard loving all of us.
2 comments:
What a beautiful tribe to a great man!!!
Those pictures are worth a thousand words too!!
Love you all!
What beautiful words!
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