Happy Father’s Day, Dad

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! You’ve been gone now for 7 1/2 years. It doesn’t seem possible because I still miss you so much… You were a good dad to me. I always loved you and was so proud of you. In just four days you would have had your 96th birthday! You and Mother were married 72 years!

You were the youngest and the only one in a family of seven children to graduate from high school. You enjoyed being on the debate team. During your college freshmen and into your sophomore year you were on the college debate team. Your dream and plan was to become a lawyer!  This was in 1929 and that’s the year  America experienced the Crash…You dropped out of college and got the only job you could find, as a cook’s helper in a large hotel.   A few years later you met the girl of your dreams.      You married and as time went on, three children were born, I was the youngest. You advanced to become a chef!   Money was scarce and habits were formed that were bad and hard to break, but they were taking up much of your hard earned wages. Problems were developing.

Then one day you saw, in the newspaper, that some friends of yours were scheduled to sing in a church! You laughed as you told mother and suggested you both  go to hear them sing. They were friends who sang in the bars you went to!

So that evening you went and heard them sing so beautifully and then listened to a sermon like you’d never heard before! Your friends shared with you how their lives had been changed. Jesus could become personal to you, problems could become solved! After a few days of contemplating, you prayed for forgiveness and accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and Mother followed a few days later. What a difference it made in your lives and home!

As time went by you began to feel a tug and an urging to become a preacher! You followed the call on your life and became a pastor and later an evangelist.

Another baby was born, making us a family of six. Richard, Lorraine, Glen, Anita, Corina and Billy.  You also loved to travel and to write. I remember you telling Mother, one day when I was young, that when the children were raised you were going to take her around the world…and you did! You had 13 books published over the years.

You were very successful in life but not having a college education was a hindrance to you and an embarrassment! When you were 70 years old you graduated with a BA and a MA!  I was so proud of you!

Even though life was a serious matter you still liked to have fun!  Here we were in the Museum of Science and Industry, in Chicago in the early 50’s.  I caught you riding a Merry-Go-Round in Portland, Oregon in the late 70’s! Actually I was riding it too!  You couldn’t resist riding our son’s go-cart when you came to visit in the late 70’s or early 80’s!

You were a great man who influenced folks and made friends all over the world. But you were my dad! I love you and I miss you. I’ll see you again some day!!!