My Father

[dan_s]

I found out around 1PM that my father died this morning. He was 90+ and has been failing, so this is not a surprise. IMO it is a blessing. Susan's mother lingered on for months after her broken hip and I was praying for my father would not to have to go through that.

I just wanted to let you know because I may be tied up a bit this week and not able to get as much work done.

My father was a fireman and a good dad / provider. Worked hard into his 70s, with a life anyone should be proud of. We all die someday. It is what we do during our brief stay that defines us.

[larrysmith]

Dan,

I am sorry for your loss and had deep sad feelings when it was my father's time.
Know that you were proud of your father as he was proud for you.

You were probably smarter than me, because I did not realize how smart my
father was until I was much older +/-22 YO.

Hope everything goes well and your family can remember the best of times
you were able to share with each other.

Larry

[bearcatbob]

My most sincere condolences. It is a tough time. I second the comments of Larry above about learning too late just how smart my dad was and how dumb I was not to see it.

We only have my wife's now elderly aunt from that generation left in our family.

Bob

[petrohawk]

Dan, Let me also send my condolences. My Father passed at 91 some time ago and I recall all the mixed emotions. He had lived the 15 years as a widower, which is hard after a long marriage.

[dan_s]

My father was born in 1926. The family owned a dairy farm in SE Missouri and they had a rough go of it during the Depression. They eventually lost the farm and move to St. Louis to get jobs in factories. My father never graduated from high school. He worked on a truck assembly line at age 16, joined the navy at age 18 near the end of WWII. He was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered. He stayed in the navy for 5-6 years, spending much of the time based in Hawaii. He often said how wonderful that time in Hawaii was. I think his unit was something like McHale's Navy. He joined the St. Louis fire department after the navy.

My mother was Catholic and insisted their three children ( I have two sisters ) go to Catholic grade school and high school. My father always had a second job to pay for tuition, so he worked about 60 hours per week for much of his life. I was not real close to my father because he was working all the time. He was active in the Boy Scouts and my high school football program. He told us early on that we were on our own after high school. I was lucky enough to get a full scholarship to Tulsa University for football, which definitely changed the course of my life.

Side note: The thought of my father buying me a car never entered my mind. I purchased not one, but two cars for each of my son's.

After getting the kids "off the payroll", my parents did a lot of traveling. They had a good life. Mother died at age 80 and Dad remarried a couple of years later. His new wife Betty is a "tough character". She was good for Dad.

We're all going to die someday. All we can do is enjoy the trip and stay faithful to God and our families.

[Wolfdog2]

Dan, sorry to learn of your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

Ken