Bob, Grandpa, Dad
My father was a Chemist
He knew that all things in life had weight, mass, properties and a lifespan.
My father was a Professor.He taught in a myriad of ways and on a vast variety of topics.Walks in the parks were always full of history, science, biology and natural history lessons. He could tell you what tribe walked what glacier area in what period and they ate what natural food to survive in the forest you were traversing. It was a most amazing thing.
This natural ability to teach about nature instilled in his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren a love of the environment and learning that will be carried into the future for the betterment of the world.
While he always had a book that he was reading most of this knowledge was in his head and in his heart and he shared them freely. Loving was a natural state for Dad.
My father was a professor. He taught a variety of Chemistry courses, Photography and he tutored his children in whatever class they happened to be struggling with at the time. In my case, I always have lived far away from home, when the children came upon a puzzlement we called Grandpa and if the call was before 11 pm you could guarantee the correct answer delivered in a way that would impress the information in your head but also in your heart.
Bob, Dad, Grandpa he taught you as an adult and let you walk through your lessons with gentle words and a full dose of worry on his part. He always had kind things to say about whichever sibling I asked about. He would just say that she is having her fair share of troubles. Leave it at that and let me find out the details on my own.
We three sisters are much the same. We weigh and measure things in our own fashion. I am an administrator trained in sociology and I measure things by process. Bobbie is a nurse and she measures things that reflect the human condition with a special love and affection for the geriatric set. Mary Ann is a pastoral and human care giver and records the lives of many people in her gigantic heart. We all like a certain amount of order and quiet in our lives. We all have learned that being respectable is a hard thing to attain, but worth its weight in gold.
Some of these words that I use here are a summation of statements that I have heard over the last few days. Words used by his grandchildren and those that came to love him over the last 82 years. I never heard a word against this man I call my father. He was respectable and respected.
Dad always had a lesson for you if you wanted to listen but never forced you to learn. Gentle and kind he gave us his character and when it is all said and done that is a great gift that can be handed over to his progeny.
My father, being a Chemist, kept records and journals long before it was the IN thing. When we were dismantling the homestead we found a variety of forms that kept the record of change over a lifetime. There were checks and bank records dating back to the mid 1960's. There was every possible warranty for every item that he and Mom owned. Didn't matter - it was kept for the record. Dad also was aware that he had a lifespan and started keeping the record of that change in his human coil everyday, for many years.
I found it quite revealing that the last place the calendar was marked was the week of his birthday, January 22, 2007. Pen in the book, rubber banded to the week of January 21, 2007.
Dad was aware that the changes that were happening meant the properties and masses and weights of his body were ending.
When the doctors told us that the body was not playing well with the world Dad said, "guess that they cannot fix me anymore." He asked for his time piece to be removed, he was done measuring time, weight and mass.
He then proceeded to give us the most peaceful lesson on Eternal life that anyone has ever seen.
His granddaughter said that his dignified way of going into eternal rest was so plain and straight forward that the words Eternal Rest will always ring with his dignified exit from this life.
Bob, Dad, Grandpa, hero, teacher, friend, inventor, counselor, husband, role model and gift to the world, you will be missed more in your human form than I can express, but we will always carry you in our hearts.
With love, Franny, Bobbie and Mary Ann
I talked to all my daughters and my sister today. One daughter was studying, one was getting ready to run a race, one was doing the Mom thing and my Sister was travelling to see Dad. I gave her directions left over from last weekend!! Finding your way to new places has never been my strong suit and obvioulsy not my sisters either.