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Walter, Walt, Lee, Dad, Grand-daddy, Sarge - whatever you called him was ok. It made no difference to him whether you were black or white, young or old, believer or non-believer. The only thing he hoped he could change in you was to strengthen your belief in God. There are few people in the world that have such an impact on so many people but Dad was one of them. He saw the good in everybody and encouraged everyone he met to be the best they could without ever making you feel that he was better than you. I knew Dad for just 3 short years and in that time I never heard him say a harsh word about or to anybody We nearly lost him in March 2002 and the doctors gave him a slim 20% chance of survival. Dad showed his strength by pulling through despite the odds. We prayed as a family and we prayed alone that he would survive. I am sad that he is no longer with us but I remember praying so hard that I would have an opportunity to get to know him better and whenever I feel how unfair it is that he is gone, I hear a little voice in my head saying Hey - you asked for more time and I gave it to you. In those precious 3 years I came to know a little about the man that was Dad.. He taught me so often that it is not the deed but the thought, not the words but the heart. That loving was important but that more important was letting those you loved know how you felt. Our last words to him were on the telephone and telling him we loved him, hearing him tell us he loved us both and knowing without a doubt that he meant every word. He worked within the church and also Habitat for Humanity, within the Masons and around his home with people less fortunate than he was. I always felt that he wanted more time in the day so he could help more people. Yes, there were tears at his funeral but the overall feeling we were left with was joy for the life he lived. He had wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life and it was. We walked among probably hundreds of people, all wanting to share a joke or a story of when he had pulled a prank or just offered the encouragement they needed. We all tried to let the happiness which had surrounded his life shine through , as we knew he would have wanted, but at time it was hard. During those times we realized what a wonderful family he had raised as they all comforted the others. His masonic brothers were there to help and pay their last respects to him and one of the most touching times was when they gave him a service on the eve of Sun 5th December. He had chosen which of them was to play which part - again, trying to make it easier on all of us. Many of those men were people who had known him for decades and they did him proud. Dads family extended far from his blood family, He felt that everyone he loved was a part of his family and we did also. From Margaret and George who he had 'adopted' on their arrival in the USA to Robert and Derek, his friends who lived close by. Harland and Jack, his most talked about friends to Andy and Debbie, the preachers in his Church. When he had realized there were people in the church who were coming up to an 80th birthday, he arranged parties for them. If he wanted you to be there, you were! This was later taken over by the church but he was still a very active member. If he felt that something needed doing he did it, he did not wait around for others but would start at it like a dog with a bone until he succeeded, drawing others in to help along the way. He would give constantly to those less fortunate than himself - Helen told us once that when he was working, he gave money away so often she had to tell him to slow down - his response was to make sure she had the money she needed to pay the rent and the bills on theunderstanding he was free to give away anything that was left if he felt someone else needed it more than they did. He was a brave man, not just in combat but in the courage he showed in his life also. He raised his family with good, honest values and was proud of them all. He was a jokester, a prankster and the twinkle in his eye would tell you when you were about to be got , but having that knowledge did not save you! He will be sadly missed by all those who ever came into contact with him whether they are 8 or 88 because that was the kind of man he was. The world is a sadder place without him but somewhere I know he is still playing his jokes, still challenging people whether it be to live life to the fullest, play a game of checkers or golf or just simply to have fun. We love you Dad and we always will.. To give an example of his humor one day at Sunday dinner he was saying the blessing, his family knows how the blessing could extend depending on what was going on in the worlld, yet on that occasion he was asking the blessing on all those around the table. He asked God to bless his family by name and when he got to the end of the chain with Chrissie sat right next to him he, God bless Chrissie and God bless Wayne for putting up with her, the final Amen never happened the family was rolling in the floor laughing, even Mom was laughing, and Dad said "I don't know what got into me, I just said it" and his eyes were twinkling, and did he laugh, did he ever laugh. |