My dad’s funeral was today. I was privileged to be able to speak at the service and wanted to share with you the eulogy I wrote for him. It was one of the hardest things I have written, simply because there’s so much I could have said; nothing seemed to do justice to the sweet and wonderful man he was. This is what I finally decided on.

“Hello, my name is Hannah. I am the oldest of Dale’s children. I want to share a few things about my dad. There is so much I could say, but this is just a little snap shot and some memories of who my dad was. 

My dad was a true example of a faithful husband and loving father. I am so thankful for my parents marriage and love for one another that gave us kids a safe place to grow up and be ourselves. Looking over old pictures this week I saw a man who was very present in our lives. Pictures of dad holding his kids as newborns, dad holding his grandkids, dad painting watercolors with Titus or walking down the street with Arthur, or even holding his newest grandchild, little Reuben, the morning of his passing…all point to a man who loved being with his family. 

He was truly a man who gave good gifts to his children. His favorite holiday was Valentine’s day because it was all about Love. Every year he’d buy every single person in our family a Valentine’s card and candy; even down to the littlest grandchild. It was a tradition he passed on to us from his dad, and I looked forward to it every year. 

When I was a kid my dad would always tuck me in at night, rub his scratchy beard against my face and tell me to ‘Sleep in God’s peace’. There was something comforting and reassuring about my dad’s presence and this nightly routine, even though for the longest time I thought dad was saying ‘peas’ and not ‘peace’.  

My dad instilled in his children a good work ethic. I remember one time when I was a kid we were doing some yard work outside with my dad, which included picking up trash and sweeping the alleyway behind our house. I honestly wasn’t too happy about it. I thought, ‘Why do we have to clean the alley? It’s an alley, it’s supposed to be dirty.’ For years afterward, I was like, ‘Cleaning the alley is the dumbest thing ever. No one does that.’ Except, when I became a house owner early last year, on one Sunday afternoon I found myself working outside and, you guessed it, cleaning up the alley behind our new house. Yep — that’s all my dad’s doing. So thank you, dad, for teaching me the value of hard work and making the places around me beautiful, even the alleyways. 

Dad always had a project going; whether it was doing home improvement projects, building a canoe, creating stained glass windows as a hobby and later as a business, keeping bees, playing the guitar or any number of creative and crafty things. I think my dad’s real hobby though was buying buildings and rehabbing them.  He was great at re-envisioning spaces and places. No matter what condition an old building was in, no matter how much work needed to be done, he had a vision of what it could look like and the end result was beautiful. 

One of dad’s favorite things was eating. Following his cancer treatment in the early 2000’s dad tried desperately to gain weight. My parents had just started their ice cream and snow cone business — The Stork Inn Creamery & Ices — not long after his treatment. More often than not, when I was working the Creamery dad would come in and say, ‘Hey, Hannah, can you make me a large shake?” And of course I’d say yes and make it for him. I’m pretty sure I lost count how many large shakes I made for my dad — I’m also pretty sure that my dad didn’t gain a pound. Where those shakes ended up, I’m not sure. 

I get my dry sense of humor from my dad. He thought that the saying, ‘Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad’ was really funny. He also thought a spam letter he got in the mail late last year was hilarious — saying that someone with the name of Preston in Canada had died and had left a bunch of money — the letter was sure they were related; they had the same last name. I thought he’d get a kick out of a spam voicemail I received in December telling me I had won 1.4 million dollars and a beautiful mercedes. I saved the voicemail so I could share it with him, because I knew it would make him laugh, but I never got the chance to play it for him. 

My dad’s faith was truly the bedrock of his life. Everything he did stemmed from his genuine and sincere love of Jesus Christ. His kindness, generosity, gentleness and humility were some of the trademarks of how he lived out his faith here on earth. His favorite prayer as of late was asking the Lord to ‘Bless us so that we may be a blessing to others’. He was always wanting to bless others, and he did. Last year he was so excited when he showed me a picture he found on the internet titled ‘First Day in Heaven’. The picture was of a woman hugging Jesus, a look of pure joy on her face. I really think that picture gave my dad the faith he needed to keep persevering through life, no matter how much he may have struggled with his health issues. He was looking forward to the day when he could throw his arms around Jesus, finally meeting the one he loved so much. I can only imagine the look on my dad’s face as he met Jesus last Friday when he passed. 

Dad, thank you for being you. Thank you for being an honest man, a man full of integrity, honor and love. Thank you for everything you did for your family; your selflessness, your patience, your hard work, your provision, your encouragement. It’s hard to believe that you’re not here, but I know you’re enjoying some good food up in heaven right now and taking a nice long canoe trip down a beautiful river. I can’t wait to see you again, but until I do I know you will sleep in God’s peace.”