Ten years ago, my older sister, at the age of 44, as my mother would always say, "left us for a better world..." on breast cancer. At that time, that was the saddest day of my life. My sister, Renate Ann, left behind 6 children and a husband. Wednesday, January 13, has now become another saddest day of my life, because my Dad returned home to our Heavenly Father. I know that when he peacefully left us, that my sister was there to greet him and welcome him home. Renate was the leader of the crowd. And standing next to Renate was one of my Dad’s favorite sisters and Renate’s favorite, Aunt Mary, who passed away a year ago December. My Dad came from a family of 9 brothers and sisters. He has an older brother and sister who are 92 and 91, that are still alive and two younger brothers that are here with us today. The middle children have all now passed away!
When we were growing up and even as adults, my Dad would always tell us that he would live until the millennium. We had thought that our mom would probably pass away before my Dad. I am sure when he crossed over to the other side, he was confused and turned and said, "No, wait...Mom is suppose to me here, not me. This is wrong, you got it confused." I know that my Dad is missing my mom as much as my mom is missing my Dad. I believe he is probably doing all in his power to get them back together again. And as much as we want to see our mom stay with us for a very LONG time, I know there will be much rejoicing when they are together forever! In the scriptures we read, that neither is the man without the woman nor the woman without the man. This was truly written of my parents.
How do I pay tribute to my Dad in such a short time? I could probably talk forever but won’t. When you talk about my Dad, you also talk about my mom. They were INSEPARABLE! You didn’t see one without the other! Even in photos they were together. We don’t have too many pictures of either one of them standing without the other. In fact, many times, especially in the earlier years they wore matching or coordinating clothes! They truly became one in word, deed, service, action and love.
My Dad may have been on the more quiet side and a man of very few words, but when he spoke, like in the EF Hutton commercial everyone listened. The last time this happened was at Spencer’s setting apart Tuesday night. The stake president asked each of us to give Spencer a word of advice before entering the MTC. My Dad did so and at the end bore an extremely powerful strong testimony of the Gospel, the love of missionary work and the love for his family. We were telling this to my Uncle Heinz and my uncle’s response was, "...see all these people from Haiti were coming home and the Lord needed your Dad to help teach them the gospel. So He had my Dad come home." My Dad had a strong testimony of the gospel. He loved to teach the gospel and loved missionary work. He was so proud of Ron serving a mission and of his 8 of the 19 grandchildren who have served or are serving missions. We still have some who are too young to serve right now, but I know they will when they are of age.
We didn’t have a lot of money growing up and my parents felt we couldn’t afford to do a lot of things or go on big expensive trips! I never felt we were poor, but I always felt "rich." Not only "rich" but important and loved. My parents, and most likely it was my mother, made our birthdays very special. Our 8th, 12th, 16th, and so forth - my parents made them especially fun and memorable. I remember turning 12, in grade school, we could walk home for lunch. My mom told me to hurry home for lunch for my Dad was taking me for pizza! At that time people didn’t go out to lunch or dinner like we do today.
Now in looking back, my parents probably couldn’t afford for both to go to lunch and so my mom, being the unselfish mother that she is, thought to let my Dad go and enjoy this special time with me. I will always remember that birthday because not only did I have lunch with my Dad, but the unselfish act of my mom.
Wednesdays growing up, was my Dad’s day off! During the summer, that was a very fun day with the family. I think we spent those days swimming at Saratoga! We would pack up the car and sometimes it would be full of our friends and drove to Lehi. We sang and had lots of fun. Sometimes the drive to Saratoga was as fun as swimming. Now most of you know that one of the things my Dad lacked was a singing voice! But he loved to sing and he would come up with these fun and unusual songs! In fact, Robby wrote us an email yesterday and said:
"The Sunday drives were always good we would be in the middle of nowhere and he would see like a bird or a cow or like an empty house and he would start singing a song about birds, cows, or empty houses and they would always rhyme so perfectly! To this day I don’t know if he was just making them up or if they were actual songs!"
We all loved these songs, including our friends, and thought it fun that Dad and Grandpa would sing these songs! These songs would truly make us laugh!
I remember one of our swimming days, I was trying to learn how to swim. My Dad was almost to the middle of the pool and stretched out his hands and said, "Just swim to me. That’s it." I remember telling him to stay right there. I started swimming and swimming and swimming. I got to the other side of the pool and I was so angry, because HE MOVED. And every time I would interrupt him to point out he moved, he was always answered me back, "Yea but look, you did it, you swam across the pool. You did it." Until I would realize that the important thing was that I DID IT! My parents always encouraged us to "do it." And they were so very proud of us when we succeeded!
I was one of the most liked student at Highland High School because of my Dad! As you know, my Dad was the store manager at Dan’s. How cool it was to be Marion’s daughter or to have Marion as your father, people would tell me. And yes, I was very proud to be my Dad’s daughter. The baggers and checkers all loved my Dad. They loved working for him because he was an honest, fair and hard working boss. Bruce had the opportunity of working for my Dad and loved his years at Dan’s. I think Dan’s on 21st was the most successful grocery store because of my Dad.
My parents taught us to be good hard workers. "An honest pay for an honest day’s work" would be their motto. I think in whatever jobs we had, we were the best employees because of our parents.
As I was completing my high school years, and thinking about college, my Dad finally got it out of me that I was too nervous about furthering my education and the U was too big for me. A college education was important to my parents and so my Dad suggested that I go to the LDS Business College because of my love of typing, shorthand, and other business classes. It was one of the best suggestions my parents had. After graduation I started working at the Church Office Building as a typist and moved myself up very quickly to be a secretary and then was promoted to Office Coordinator in the Missionary Department, a position that a young woman at that time could NOT achieve. I know I would not have progressed that far if it wasn’t for the encouragement and suggestion of my parents!
So many other stories I could tell you. My Dad loved serving our Heavenly Father. Every calling he had he served well. The saying goes: "Behind every great man is an even greater woman." That is so true. My mom was always there to support my Dad in all his callings. I thought it was cool that my Dad served as a bishop and my mom as the Relief Society President at the same time. My mom was called to serve as the Relief Society President several months earlier. When my Dad was called to be bishop, the stake president told my Dad that he talked it over with Bishop Theurer and they both felt that my Dad should not release my mom as Relief Society President. I believe it was a great idea. They served together for several years. Again, they were INSEPARABLE and they worked excellent together
My parents have a strong testimony of the gospel and have a lot of faith. Not only did they teach us but they showed us by example. Thursday morning my mom asked if I would give the morning prayer. I said in a sarcastic way, "Yea, how I can thank Heavenly Father for our blessings when He has taken Dad so quickly." My mom’s response was, "Yes you can, for Heavenly Father has truly blessed us." And our Father in Heaven has truly blessed us all. He has blessed me with two great parents, who not only love the Lord but loved each other and their children. They taught us how to be the best we can be. They taught us a love of the gospel and a firm foundation of gospel truth. I am so grateful for my parents. I am grateful, especially at this time, for my Father. He will truly be missed by all. As I continue to serve our Heavenly Father, I know my Dad will continue to be proud of me. I know that my Dad, my parents love me. I know that my Dad is in Heaven preparing for us to be together forever as a family again. This time there will be no separation, no heartache, no tears. But great joy and happiness.
Dad, I love you! I will miss you. I will miss your words of wisdom. I know that I will see you again. I will continue to keep the commandments, serve our Heavenly Father, and be there for mom so that we can truly be together forever! May we all live so that there will be a day of rejoicing when we all return to our Father in Heaven
When we were growing up and even as adults, my Dad would always tell us that he would live until the millennium. We had thought that our mom would probably pass away before my Dad. I am sure when he crossed over to the other side, he was confused and turned and said, "No, wait...Mom is suppose to me here, not me. This is wrong, you got it confused." I know that my Dad is missing my mom as much as my mom is missing my Dad. I believe he is probably doing all in his power to get them back together again. And as much as we want to see our mom stay with us for a very LONG time, I know there will be much rejoicing when they are together forever! In the scriptures we read, that neither is the man without the woman nor the woman without the man. This was truly written of my parents.
How do I pay tribute to my Dad in such a short time? I could probably talk forever but won’t. When you talk about my Dad, you also talk about my mom. They were INSEPARABLE! You didn’t see one without the other! Even in photos they were together. We don’t have too many pictures of either one of them standing without the other. In fact, many times, especially in the earlier years they wore matching or coordinating clothes! They truly became one in word, deed, service, action and love.
My Dad may have been on the more quiet side and a man of very few words, but when he spoke, like in the EF Hutton commercial everyone listened. The last time this happened was at Spencer’s setting apart Tuesday night. The stake president asked each of us to give Spencer a word of advice before entering the MTC. My Dad did so and at the end bore an extremely powerful strong testimony of the Gospel, the love of missionary work and the love for his family. We were telling this to my Uncle Heinz and my uncle’s response was, "...see all these people from Haiti were coming home and the Lord needed your Dad to help teach them the gospel. So He had my Dad come home." My Dad had a strong testimony of the gospel. He loved to teach the gospel and loved missionary work. He was so proud of Ron serving a mission and of his 8 of the 19 grandchildren who have served or are serving missions. We still have some who are too young to serve right now, but I know they will when they are of age.
We didn’t have a lot of money growing up and my parents felt we couldn’t afford to do a lot of things or go on big expensive trips! I never felt we were poor, but I always felt "rich." Not only "rich" but important and loved. My parents, and most likely it was my mother, made our birthdays very special. Our 8th, 12th, 16th, and so forth - my parents made them especially fun and memorable. I remember turning 12, in grade school, we could walk home for lunch. My mom told me to hurry home for lunch for my Dad was taking me for pizza! At that time people didn’t go out to lunch or dinner like we do today.
Now in looking back, my parents probably couldn’t afford for both to go to lunch and so my mom, being the unselfish mother that she is, thought to let my Dad go and enjoy this special time with me. I will always remember that birthday because not only did I have lunch with my Dad, but the unselfish act of my mom.
Wednesdays growing up, was my Dad’s day off! During the summer, that was a very fun day with the family. I think we spent those days swimming at Saratoga! We would pack up the car and sometimes it would be full of our friends and drove to Lehi. We sang and had lots of fun. Sometimes the drive to Saratoga was as fun as swimming. Now most of you know that one of the things my Dad lacked was a singing voice! But he loved to sing and he would come up with these fun and unusual songs! In fact, Robby wrote us an email yesterday and said:
"The Sunday drives were always good we would be in the middle of nowhere and he would see like a bird or a cow or like an empty house and he would start singing a song about birds, cows, or empty houses and they would always rhyme so perfectly! To this day I don’t know if he was just making them up or if they were actual songs!"
We all loved these songs, including our friends, and thought it fun that Dad and Grandpa would sing these songs! These songs would truly make us laugh!
I remember one of our swimming days, I was trying to learn how to swim. My Dad was almost to the middle of the pool and stretched out his hands and said, "Just swim to me. That’s it." I remember telling him to stay right there. I started swimming and swimming and swimming. I got to the other side of the pool and I was so angry, because HE MOVED. And every time I would interrupt him to point out he moved, he was always answered me back, "Yea but look, you did it, you swam across the pool. You did it." Until I would realize that the important thing was that I DID IT! My parents always encouraged us to "do it." And they were so very proud of us when we succeeded!
I was one of the most liked student at Highland High School because of my Dad! As you know, my Dad was the store manager at Dan’s. How cool it was to be Marion’s daughter or to have Marion as your father, people would tell me. And yes, I was very proud to be my Dad’s daughter. The baggers and checkers all loved my Dad. They loved working for him because he was an honest, fair and hard working boss. Bruce had the opportunity of working for my Dad and loved his years at Dan’s. I think Dan’s on 21st was the most successful grocery store because of my Dad.
My parents taught us to be good hard workers. "An honest pay for an honest day’s work" would be their motto. I think in whatever jobs we had, we were the best employees because of our parents.
As I was completing my high school years, and thinking about college, my Dad finally got it out of me that I was too nervous about furthering my education and the U was too big for me. A college education was important to my parents and so my Dad suggested that I go to the LDS Business College because of my love of typing, shorthand, and other business classes. It was one of the best suggestions my parents had. After graduation I started working at the Church Office Building as a typist and moved myself up very quickly to be a secretary and then was promoted to Office Coordinator in the Missionary Department, a position that a young woman at that time could NOT achieve. I know I would not have progressed that far if it wasn’t for the encouragement and suggestion of my parents!
So many other stories I could tell you. My Dad loved serving our Heavenly Father. Every calling he had he served well. The saying goes: "Behind every great man is an even greater woman." That is so true. My mom was always there to support my Dad in all his callings. I thought it was cool that my Dad served as a bishop and my mom as the Relief Society President at the same time. My mom was called to serve as the Relief Society President several months earlier. When my Dad was called to be bishop, the stake president told my Dad that he talked it over with Bishop Theurer and they both felt that my Dad should not release my mom as Relief Society President. I believe it was a great idea. They served together for several years. Again, they were INSEPARABLE and they worked excellent together
My parents have a strong testimony of the gospel and have a lot of faith. Not only did they teach us but they showed us by example. Thursday morning my mom asked if I would give the morning prayer. I said in a sarcastic way, "Yea, how I can thank Heavenly Father for our blessings when He has taken Dad so quickly." My mom’s response was, "Yes you can, for Heavenly Father has truly blessed us." And our Father in Heaven has truly blessed us all. He has blessed me with two great parents, who not only love the Lord but loved each other and their children. They taught us how to be the best we can be. They taught us a love of the gospel and a firm foundation of gospel truth. I am so grateful for my parents. I am grateful, especially at this time, for my Father. He will truly be missed by all. As I continue to serve our Heavenly Father, I know my Dad will continue to be proud of me. I know that my Dad, my parents love me. I know that my Dad is in Heaven preparing for us to be together forever as a family again. This time there will be no separation, no heartache, no tears. But great joy and happiness.
Dad, I love you! I will miss you. I will miss your words of wisdom. I know that I will see you again. I will continue to keep the commandments, serve our Heavenly Father, and be there for mom so that we can truly be together forever! May we all live so that there will be a day of rejoicing when we all return to our Father in Heaven
