He had many titles throughout his life. Professionally, he was teacher, school psychologist, supervisor, guidance counselor, custodian, and probably more I don’t know of, or can’t remember. At church, he was teacher, deacon, Awana leader, etc. Educationally, he earned initials after his name – B.S., MS. Ph.D. To Mom, he was friend, husband, lover, provider, and handyman. But to us kids, he was Dad. Although we mourn our loss, we also rejoice, both in his gain and in the many good memories we have of who he was and what he did.

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One aspect that stands out in our memories is how handy he was. Perhaps motivated in part by economic factors, but I think also out of enjoyment in making things, he tackled many projects of widely different nature around the house. On the heavy side, he built two garages, did most of the work on an addition to the first house, bought a mold and made his own patio blocks (which I am told are still there at the first house), constructed many sets of shelves to store the multitude of things that Mom accumulated for crafts, sewing, and other things. He built a playhouse in one end of the basement for us kids, complete with siding, shingles, a window, and doors. He built dollhouses for Suzy and Wendy, complete with working windows and tediously made wood shingles (he and I put the table saw to good use making those). He also used those skills to use on several Saturdays helping to construct some other sister churches, and at various times at Heritage Christian School. He invested much labor to help make our lives a little better in material ways.

 

He also invested his time and energy in our lives. I can remember many times growing up at bedtime when he would sit on my bed and just talk, showing me in a simple way that he cared about me. Another example that stands out in my experience was shortly after a girlfriend broke up with me, he took me to see qualifying races for trucks at State Fair Park, just to help get my mind off of the emotional distress. We spent many hours together fishing, creating lasting memories of watching the fog lift over Pine Lake when the sun came up, pulling a seine net toward the Lake Michigan shore with waves splashing against our waders and raincoats, and baking in the sun on Beaver Dam Lake. He took us to fireworks, stock car races, parks, and of course the occasional walk that might just happen to end up at the ice cream store. When I developed an interest in cross country skiing, he offered to buy skis for himself so I would have someone to ski with. The memories he created with us will last a lifetime.

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Finally, we saw an example of love and faithfulness. He loved Mom and was faithful to her. He allowed her to have dogs for most of their married life even though he couldn’t stand them.  He provided for our physical needs (not always everything we wanted, but our needs were met), even if it meant sometimes also working a part-time job or making something himself. He provided for our emotional needs through his involvement with us. He was faithful to God and to the local church. He consistently took on responsibilities at church and school, serving others in many ways. He was willing to do whatever called upon, whether leading business meetings or crawling under buildings at school to check for frozen pipes on a day with -80 °F wind chills. As a teacher at church, he put in extra time and effort to create visuals that would help people visualize the concepts he was presenting. He also didn’t let the stuttering that plagued him most of his life keep him from taking on roles that required public speaking, deeming the task more important than his own comfort. He left us a good legacy. 

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We could go on at great length, but hopefully this brief summary will be a good representation of who he was. So, Dad, thanks, and we will see you on the other side.