Randy D Gibson

remarks I made at the funeral of my dad, who passed away just two weeks after my mom

Well family and friends, wow. Just Wow. Here we are again already. In a way I’m at a loss for words. I should be in total shock but actually I’m not. I’m not surprised at all. My dad never could stand to be without my mom. His love for her was really strong, and the fact that he joined her after only two weeks is not really that surprising.

To all of you, thank you for being here with our family today. Like my mom, my dad, too, was an amazing person and you can tell by the people here today just how loved he was.

Like my mom, my dad grew up in the late 30s, 40s, and 50s. Only instead of growing up in town he grew up on the river. When I hear the stories of his childhood, frankly I’m quite surprised he made it to be 80 years old. All I can say is my poor granny.

There are so many funny stories – again I could spend hours.

His brothers and sisters always called him runt. Now understand to me he was always big and strong, and for a long time I could never figure out why they called him runt. I learned though that he was little compared to some of the others. What he lacked in size though, I guess he made up for in speed and street smarts.

One of his favorite stories was in the first grade he climbed up a tree during recess and when it was time to go in he wouldn’t come down. He wanted to stay out and play. It took the teacher getting someone to go get grandpa to come to the school and get him down out of the tree. He always laughed about that.

Another one he always laughed about is there was apparently a game ranger named Blackie that the people out in Punkin Holler didn’t care for too much because the people there were hungry and often had to hunt and fish for their meals regardless if something was in season or not. If I have the story straight, dad, Bob, Louis Trapp and someone else were out hunting as young men and they saw Blackie off in the distance. My dad said watch this and cocked his rifle and shot up in the air toward this guy. Supposedly the trajectory of the bullet was such it came down through the trees and hit Blackie’s hat and knocked it off. Dad said Bob shouted out “you’ve killed old Blackie” and the boys took off running through the woods. The story goes Blackie went back into town and said the people up in Punkin Holler were crazy and resigned right then on the spot.

When he got a little older he said he saw this gorgeous blonde girl at a dance and was totally taken by her. He asked her out three times before she said yes and when he got her he never let go for over 61 years. In looking at their wedding pictures it’s no wonder she was so taken by him too – she said he looked just like Elvis. In their wedding picture there he was with that dark wavy hair, blue jeans rolled up, white t-shirt and leather jacket smiling big as he put the ring on her finger. I can remember once looking at that picture and saying dang mom you married Fonzie.

My dad taught me all the things a dad is supposed to teach his son. Taught me about sports, about the outdoors, how to hunt, how to fish, how to swim, how to ride a motorcycle, how to drive, everything – and I always appreciated that and always told him, even when I was very young, how much I appreciated everything he did for me.

My dad also taught me to have fun with kids. Wendy, Aurora, I have a confession to make. When you were little and I would make your dolls and animals like Jessica, Blue and Elmer come to life – I actually learned that from papa. I also learned how to make up and tell stories on the fly. He was really good at it.

My dad was a good dad. One of many examples of what he would do for me –

When I was about 3-4 – I was old enough to remember – he was on the police force and he and mom got me this little police car with peddles – had the light and siren and everything. He brought me an old police hat and I had it all – the cap gun in the holster, the hat, the badge, the handcuffs, and even the old empty can of Aqua Net hair spray for mace. We lived on a corner lot and everyday he would pull up out front, I would go get in the police car, flip on the light, blow the siren, and he would pull around to the back and drop me off and tell me to patrol the neighborhood and he would come back and check on things later.

He also taught me about sacrifice and that you do whatever it takes to provide for your family. He would work all day and for Gary and Rex would coach their ball teams. I was more into music than sports and so he and I would go fish or swim several times a week in the summer when he got home from work. He never complained about taking any of us anywhere anytime.

If I could only say one thing about dad – it would be that he loved his family. This past January mom and dad celebrated 61 years of marriage. I mentioned at her service about her listening to an Elvis CD just a couple of weeks before she passed and asked him if he wanted to dance. He said yes and he wished they could go to the round up club. About the last thing he said to mom was that he didn’t want to be here without her and that he would be close behind and maybe they could find an old 1979 brown van to drive around in. So again, while I should be in complete shock today – I am not. He was not about to stay here without mom.

And, Regardless if it was his wife, kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, nieces or nephews – dad absolutely loved his family- each and every one of them.

Family is what it is about. At mom’s service I mentioned that in our church we have a saying, Families Are Forever. That’s what dad wants – to have his family be with him forever. I know that thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, and His death and resurrection, He has made that eternal bond of families possible.

Let us be happy today in knowing that God’s plan of salvation is real, and if we hold onto the Savior we can have our families forever. Let us be happy that dad is with mom, Gary, Rex, Granny, Grandpa, Jake, Loretta, Sambo, Betty, Bob, Johnnie, Sue, Brenda, Janie, Glen, Levi and all of the other members of his family – each and every one of whom he cherished.

To my girls Wendy and Aurora, and to my niece and nephews – Cori, Zach, Colton and Josh, and your families I say again– you – each one of you – are Neannie and Papa’s legacy. Go forth, live life, learn to work through the trials and do good.

To dad – Thank you for everything. I look forward to being part of our eternal family. I love you and I will be with you again.

In Jesus name – Amen.