Missy from California writes:
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Allow me to introduce you to my Hero.
His name is Gene and he is my father. My father worked very hard all of his life
to assure that we had all that we needed. He also made sure that his family came
first in his life. In doing so, without even realizing it, he made us the luckiest
family in the world. The memories that we all hold so dear are those that revolve
around all the family activities that were, at the time, common place and nothing
more than routine. His wonderful skill of making the routine special, has given
us a lifetime of wonderful memories.
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His faith in our Father in Heaven and our church was like a rock. He was always a pillar to us when we were weak. He was always there to help steady our faith with his. In 1976 when he was diagnosed with cancer, we were all devastated. Little did we know that this would be the beginning of intense suffering. After surgery and several years of treatment he made a list of things he needed to do. Each item on his list was something he felt he needed to do to make things easier for all of us. Each time he finished one of his projects he would cross that item off his list. The further down his list he got the worse the pain got for him. When someone mentioned how unfair it was for him to suffer, he would remind us of the story of Job, and how he suffered and that his pain was nothing compared to that of Job. Several of the things on his list were to write a letter to each of us kids. These letters will always be treasures to us all. Another item on his list was to wait until the birth of my child. This picture will always be special to us because it was one of the last ones taken.
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Along with his strong faith and his love of his family was his devotion to The Boy Scouts Of America. He had a very strong belief that if a boy's father was unable to spend time with his son, it was my father's duty and calling in life to do so. Many times a child approached our doorstep and asked if "Gene could come out and play." One family of boys from our street who spent their spare time at our house, after more than half the summer sat down for dinner and their father asked if they could please have one meal without Gene. It was this strong dedication to children that led him to become a leader in the scouting program for more than 15 years, always incorporating scout activities with family activities. The boys would spend months in our backyard and garage working on projects. The most popular was the annual Colorado River kayak trip. The boys, under the guidance of the leaders, would build their own boats from cutting out the patterns and pieces to complete assembly of the boats. While working on the boats they learned teamwork, the importance of following instructions and that every job well done has a reward. The reward was a week long trip floating down the Colorado River. This gave the boys a lifetime worth of memories and lessons that are as important today as they were then. Hundreds of boys were helped by my Father and today he holds a special place in their hearts. So strong was his love for the scouting program that it was his request that in lieu of flowers at his funeral donations be made to The Boy Scouts.
All of this is why he is my hero and why I feel that this is the type of person that movies are made of.
Page created on 5/30/2007 6:42:20 AM
Last edited 5/30/2007 6:42:20 AM