It was a fantastic celebration of my father's impact on the world.
Below is what I shared:
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Born September 7, 1929, dad grew up in the midst of a world wide depression, and world wide war. He was a young member of what Tom Brokaw calls, the Greatest Generation.
At that time In Australia, exceptional students were differentiated and placed into an accelerated program. Dad graduated at 16 from what we would call high school and was encouraged to go to medical school - with his intellectual capacity and incredible dexterity, Dad could have been a talented surgeon - but that was not to be in post WW2 Australia. This was one of those defining moments in dad's life - and I believe this, along with deeply personal faith in God is part of what forged three of his most important values. - education, justice, and service to others. But i'll get back to those.
To me, above all, he was Dad. Boiling 80+ years down to a few short paragraphs is virtually impossible - so beyond the countless soccer games, hockey games, rides up and down the hill at our house in Australia, serious and private "chats" about some behavioural deviance of mine, hours spent on Sunday afternoons watching and imitating Ernest Angley (can you say "baby"? - Say "baby!"), countless renovations to basements, bedrooms and back yards, please allow me to tell three stories.
My dad was an Australian through and thru... if you've ever seen the Crocodile Dundee movies, Australia is the land where men are men and so are some of the women - Ruggedly individualistic, self-reliant and always had to be "right". Over the years, dad and I would struggle over this one - because of course - I was right... therefore he couldn't possibly be... :) To put it in tech terms - I'm a Mac - and he was definitely a PC - and true to the analogy - I may have been cool and creative - but he had the market share on the whole "right" thing.
Mom and dad travelled the world in the late 50's, sailing across oceans, scaling snow covered mountains in their old VW bug, and almost getting arrested in Mexico when they cheered for the bull as he gored the matador... Having returned from their extended "walk about", they adopted me in 1961 and Linda in 1963 and proceeded to build a family in Kirrawee - a suburb of Sydney. Those were great days! Cronulla beach, bush fires, the Toronga park zoo, the pink - actually coral colored car he brought home one night (I never thought I'd recover from that one)... Dad's stories every Sunday morning after he spent all night rescuing and caring for people as an ambulance attendant. Wow - some fantastically gross stories... and the look on his face when I carved a huge Z for Zorro in their headboard with a key... (I'm sure you can appreciate that I barely survived that near death experience...)
In 1971, dad announced to the family that we were moving to Canada... and that began one of my favorite memories. - our 5 week trip across the Pacific.
As we got ready to board the ship, the last thing mom said to me was: "Don't climb the railing on the ship..." But when we got there, and it was time to say goodbye to our family on the shore - I couldn't see them.... (I told a story here)
Hawaii - governors chair. (again - a story of how I got to sit in the governor's chair and hold a rock from the moon - pretty cool in 1971!)
2. One of dad's highest priorities was making sure that we got a good education - and he was not above stepping in to make sure that was happening.stepping in to make sure I got a good education -whether it was taking a high school chemistry teacher to task over some misunderstanding to calling the academic dean at Cedarville University and impressing upon him the need for me to finish up and graduate instead of taking an extra semester... something I heard about when summoned to his office. To allowing me to attend Dallas Theological Seminary for 2 masters degrees and come out with no student loans...
3. Like so many of his generation, dad's faith in God was intensely personal. While there was no mistaking his commitment to God as a Christian, he didn't talk about it as much when we were younger. We always attended church as a family, were involved in tons of things, but his was a quiet faith - He let his actions speak for themselves. So when dad came into my room the evening of march 5th 1972 to pray with me.... It was a big deal. At around 10:57 that morning, I was saving chairs for my family as normal in the over-crowded building where Churchill Heights Baptist church was meeting... When dad sat down, I whispered in his ear that I had asked Jesus into my heart in sunday school... Coming into my room to pray with me was his way of showing me how important that decision was....
What I find to be fantastic about my dad is the way he changed over the years. His personal faith in Jesus Christ was something he started talking about - outside of teaching Sunday School (something he excelled at...) From huge missions trips, to the conversations many of you had with him... there was no question about who his faith was in, where he was going when he died, and whom he served while on earth. And in case you didn't get it - let me make it plain. My dad loved Jesus - it permeated through to every part of him... from his desire for excellence in everything he did and from everyone around him... to his love for serving others. No - he wasn't perfect - but he was and is a man who knew his sins were forgiven because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - and that freed him to be a true servant of others.
I mentioned earlier some of the values that dad held dear - education, justice and service.
Let me address the 2nd one for just a moment and then I'll close.
Dad was gifted - intellectually he had a sharp mind and could often see the forest when others were still staring at the trees. Dad was gifted with his hands as well... both in major jobs like building a garage or an addition to a house or just about any maintenance project - to the fine motor skills necessary to compete at the highest levels of Japanese needlepoint as you can see from this artwork. He once wrote the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer on the back of a postage stamp! His Bible is filled with notes he's taken over the years - with text so small you'd need a magnifying glass to read it all ...
For all dad's giftedness, he had a passion for justice... not only for being "right" - but that the right thing should be done. When employees had no pension plan - he created one. When he saw safety issues that weren't being addressed, he went on a crusade. - there's so much more to this part of Dad's story - but I'm going to let Art tell you about it in just a moment... suffice to say - he was passionate about helping people in need.
In Matthew 20 we read.... But Jesus called them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
So while dad may not have had fame nor fortune, his life produced something far greater - his was a life of justice and service to others in Jesus name, and in God's economy, that makes him not just a member of the "greatest generation", but a great man in the truest sense of the word.
In 1985 I did an internship for my masters program in Australia - teaching at a college just outside Sydney. When I arrived, passport in hand, the customs official looked at me, looked at my Australian passport, smiled as she realized I hadn't be there in 14 years and said "Welcome Home" I smiled at her and was somewhat overwhelmed with the thought that I was... home.
On Saturday afternoon at 3:40 pm, dad heard those same words - but he heard them from his Savior in surroundings much more glorious than an airport... - welcome home. Welcome home good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.
These were taken before the service...
Dad was an expert at Japanese needlepoint - these are just a few of his "Best of Show" pieces.
Before the service - Sue and mom sharing a moment while Sue rehearses.
Following the Honour Guard (mom is on the left)
