Dave

My father-in-law passed away today at noon. He was 89. He had an amazing life. He traveled all over the world for work, meeting many interesting people. He brought his camera with him everywhere he went, and there are literally thousands of slides covering the many aspects of his family through the years, as well as glimpses of foreign places and cultures at a time when distant travel was far less common than it is now. He made friends everywhere with people from all walks of life.

Happily married for 60 years, he raised a close and loving family. His interest in even the little details of the lives of his children and grandchildren was truly heartfelt. We used to tease him a bit for being so careful about labeling everything and for hanging on to the darnedest little bits of hardware. But you could always count on him to have just the perfect little widget to fix nearly anything. And he would know just where he had put it too.

He was the personification of a gentleman, both in the courtesy sense, and in the literal “gentle man” meaning. Although my husband and his siblings claim he ruled their family with an iron hand while they were growing up, my experience of him was of one of the truly kindest people I have ever known. My life has been vastly enriched for knowing him. His memory has been failing for years, but all through it he kept a sense of humor and acceptance.

Dave, we’ll all miss you.