Daddy

I'm not a great writer at all, but for my last speech I had to write a commemorative speech. I chose to pay tribute to my father. I miss this man on a daily basis and it felt good to be able to tell people what kind of man my daddy was, even if they don't know him. He was a wonderful man and this is the Eulogy I wrote for him:


For those who don’t know me, My name is Jeanette and I am Larry’s youngest daughter. Thank you for helping me pay tribute to my father today.

My dad was an amazing man. He would give anyone the shirt off his back if they needed it. I knew growing up I could always count on my dad for anything. He never let me down. Even as I got older, married, and moved out of the house I knew he was only a phone call away and so did my sister and brother. Actually one of the very last memories I have of him was him putting antifreeze in my vehicle because I had a leak and he was worried about my vehicle breaking down on me. It was freezing cold that night and little did we know he was coughing so hard because he had pneumonia. The very next day when I showed up to the hospital because his pneumonia was bad enough to be admitted, he wasn’t worried about himself at all. The first words out of his mouth were asking me if my vehicle was still giving me problems. He was worried about me driving around. That’s just the kind of man he was.

My dad showed his family on a daily basis how much he loved them. He was married to my mother for 30 years and he treated her like every woman deserves to be treated. My siblings and I understood at a young age what true love was because we saw it everyday with the love that they shared. They never left one another without a kiss goodbye. My dad also always made time for his kids. Some of the best memories that I have I shared with my dad. It was the simple things. I won’t forget walking to the grocery store in 3 feet of snow when I was 8 just because he thought it would be exciting, or biking on the Huckleberry Trail with him while I was 8 months pregnant with my first child because he said I wouldn’t do it. I used to come home at night from doing whatever I was doing and just sit at the edge of the bed and talk to my dad while he was watching TV and I had the privilege of my daddy walking me down the aisle when I got married. I’ll never forget him being so upset about letting his little girl go. He was so excited to get grand kids though. He loved his grand kids so much! He would come over every day or at least every other day and give them some kind of treat or toy. He would sit on the floor and play with them for a while. He would take their pictures and show them off to everyone he knew.  I think he sometimes even showed them to people he didn’t know! They absolutely knew they were loved by their paw paw. We’re all going to miss that knock on the door everyday. His love for his family didn’t stop with his wife, kids, and grand kids. Since the day his dad passed away, he would take his mom a cup of coffee every day and sit to talk a while. My daddy was just a family man.

My dad was an example to all who knew him. He was hardworking and he showed us what it was like to earn a paycheck. He worked 60 hour weeks in a factory to help support his family and he raised us to know that you work for what you want and need in life.  He was an honest and simple man with great morals and values and he put more emphasis on the important things in life like spending time with loved ones and just being a good person. He enjoyed the little things in life like going to auctions, watching NASCAR races, taking his dog for a ride, and fishing.

I’m sad to know that he’ll never take my son fishing like he wanted to, but we’ll take him fishing and I’ll teach him everything my daddy taught me about fishing and life. I hope that I can leave an impact on my kids and everyone else like my daddy left on all that knew him. Our time with him was cut way too short, but we will hold onto the memories forever.