Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! This is a great day to celebrate all of the awesome dads out there as well as to remember the dads like mine who we no longer have with us. I decided to publish my newsletter this week in honor of the special day!

I will be honest and say that Father’s Day is a bittersweet day for me as I was never able to be a father myself and I wonder what it would have been like or how I would have been as a father. I feel fortunate that my coaching has given me the opportunity to be a “father figure” to a lot of young people and I have always tried to be a role model for kids and mirror the qualities hopefully their fathers have.

The day is also bittersweet as it has been almost 9 years since we lost our dad and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him or think about him. He has been on my mind a lot lately as I have spent a lot of time outside and have been using some tools of his that I inherited after he passed. He LOVED being outdoors and would find any excuse to be outside. I definitely inherited that quality from him!

I thought I would pull up the eulogy I put together for his funeral on October 12, 2015 that talked about the great qualities he had and I have shared parts of that speech below. We were beyond blessed to have him and I continue to try and honor his memory through modeling the positive traits he exhibited.

What memories do you have of your dad, whether is still with us or not? How have you learned from him and modeled those qualities for others? As you celebrate today, I hope you will honor your father by leading the life and modeling the characteristics that he has always wanted for you. Have a great week!

Coach K

First of all, he was HUMBLE-Dad was very quiet most of the time and never talked about himself-it was always about everyone else.  One of my good friends at Cherokee once said , “your dad doesn’t say much, but when he does, you know it is something important.”  We always said he was quiet because mom was always talking and dad didn’t have a chance! 

Secondly, dad was TOUGH-Everyone is aware that he spent from 1951-1953 in Korea.  It was something he never really talked about, even to mom.  A few years ago, when my social studies classes were talking about Veteran’s Day, I had mom check with dad to see if he had anything he could share about his experience.  He opened up and shared a number of stories, including on his 22^nd birthday, he watched a good buddy get killed right before the buddy was to go home on leave.  He described the bunkers they spent their time in-basically, a couple guys would stand guard while the rest tried to sleep in sleeping bags on rocks with mice and rats running around.  Dad never considered himself a war hero, he was just a guy doing his job.  Mom shared that he had numerous nightmares once he got home and I’m sure there were many other difficult memories he didn’t share. 

The next qualities I will combine will be how POSITIVE dad was and how often he used HUMOR.  Dad was popular with all of the doctors, nurses, and caregivers he met over the years, mostly because he stayed positive, no matter what the circumstances, and in fact used humor to make others feel more comfortable about the situation.  We never heard him complain (although I’m sure mom did!) even when he was diagnosed with cancer and had to carry a bag for urine for over 12 years.  When stricken with a heart attack in April, he never complained of pain and carried on with his life.  Marianne shared that just last week, mom was feeding dad ice cream and he was sleepy and not swallowing.  Mom kept telling him to swallow.  Marianne told him to swallow so that mom would quit nagging him!  He sat straight up, gave a big swallow, then opened his mouth real wide to show her!  He then looked at Marianne, winked, and smiled!

 Dad loved to joke around and have fun with his grandkids and great grand kids as well.  He loved to tease them by calling them names other than their own, like Jake or Dude.  When I was at Cherokee, I had a player who looked remarkably like my niece Kelsey.  Dad started calling her Kelsey from that point on!  That player sent me a message on Thursday reminding me of that and how she always loved talking to dad because of his humor and how caring a man he was.

 Another important quality dad had was LOYALTY:  Dad was well known for sticking with things.  His car had over 200,000 miles on it.  He lived in the same house for 53 years.  He hardly ever bought new shoes, instead recycling ones from anyone who would give him a pair.  Most of the time, you could find him in his favorite overalls or later in life a t-shirt from one of our sports teams as that’s what was comfortable!  You also found him very seldom without a hat-it made for easy birthday and Christmas gifts that’s for sure!  He always made sure the hat he wore matched the event that he was attending!

 Obviously, everyone knows about Dad’s life long love for John Deere tractors.   We could start a business with all of the John Deere merchandise he had and he was proud of all of it.  Earlier this summer, Margo and I gave him a John Deere shirt with a cool looking John Deere on the back of it for his birthday.  In June, we travelled with her parents out west and stopped to see dad’s brother Harlan and wife Dottie in Phoenix.  Once there, we decided to Skype with the folks, and once we started, dad suddenly started walking toward the bedroom while removing his shirt!  As we quickly tried to let him know what we could see-he continued into the bedroom.  Unfortunately, the mirror next to the bedroom let us continue to see him change clothes but nothing stopped him.  He proceeded to put the John Deere shirt on backwards so we could see the back, and went back to his position behind mom while just smiling and saying nothing! 

 Nothing was more important to dad than his FAMILY.  He loved getting together with people, eating good food, and having a good time.  On mom’s side, there were numerous gatherings with her brothers and spouses to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.  On dad’s side, there are so many memories of getting together with Uncle Harlan and Uncle Roger’s families with the 3 brothers always having great laughs and listening to polka music. 

Dad and mom were always amazing supporters of any and all activities their kids, grandkids, and great grandkids were involved with and they were always worried when we had to travel somewhere.  Dad would always say, “be careful” no matter how far you would have to drive!  It would be interesting to know how many miles dad drove over the years to various activities and through a large variety of weather conditions, particularly sporting events.  You knew if the folks were coming to a game, they would be the first ones to arrive-usually before the teams-as they would say “you have to get a good parking spot you know!” 

 One of my favorite memories was when I was at Cherokee and our radio station would do games on their AM side which had limited power.  If the folks could not go to the game, they would listen to the radio in the house.  If it didn’t work, they would sit in the car, in the middle of the winter, and listen.  If it still didn’t work, they would start driving a bit toward Cherokee until they could hear it.  Talk about support!

At games, dad was mostly quiet, but did occasionally let his feelings be known, right mom?!  Granddaughter Megan remembers hearing grandpa at grandson Kevin’s games yelling out “pretty boy” at an opponent who fouled Kevin!  Throughout my coaching career, I never really heard dad yell much, although I know officials heard him at times yelling at them in German-only mom knew what he was saying-which was probably best for everyone involved!  As long as a family member was involved, he was going to support them no matter what!

 Nothing shows how important Loyalty and Family were to dad than the almost 64 years of marriage he spent with his life partner.   They would both admit that there were many trials and tribulations along the way.  Early in the marriage especially, there were a number of things that probably would have derailed most marriages today.  I know us kids (well at least my siblings!) certainly gave them many of the gray hairs they have!  Instead, the folks stuck together and just look at the legacy they have today.  Watching the interaction between the folks and the love and caring they had for each other was a blessing for all of us.  What they lacked in material things, they more than made up for in qualities that really matter.  As Steve said, “dad’s wealth came in the enjoyment of his family”.  Our family has truly been blessed as what a role model we have had!

There’s no doubt that dad is looking down from Heaven today very happy and very proud of what he has done here on Earth.  Although we are all sad to no longer have him with us here, we can rejoice that he is no longer in pain and look forward to seeing him again some day. 

 I want to end with a Bible verse that sums up dad’s life well:

Matthew 25:23 says: 

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;  you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

 Well done dad, indeed.  It is our job to continue your legacy with everything we do and everyone we meet.  We love you and we’ll see you again down the road.  Thanks again to everyone for coming and for impacting dad’s life in some way.