It has been a couple of weeks since my 94-year old dad went to be with the Lord. He was much more than a father to my siblings and me. He was our mentor, our teacher, and our friend. I was privileged to share the following thoughts about him at his funeral:

Proverbs 9:10–11 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.”

My dad was a man who knew and feared the Lord. His reverence for God was evident when he prayed. I remember, even from my youth, the reverent tone of his prayers, a quality he maintained to the end of his days. His fear of the Lord served him well throughout his life, and was the foundation of the wisdom he demonstrated.

He was a highly respected leader in the church where he served as deacon, trustee, and adult Sunday school teacher. He was the one to whom many would go for wise counsel regarding decisions and difficulties. I, along with my siblings, turned to him often, confident that he would give us wise counsel. I have always admired and appreciated his wisdom.

Dad was a student of God’s word, and loved to teach or preach whenever he had the opportunity. He studied Bible for a couple of years at Bob Jones University, and even though he did not graduate, he made Bible study a lifetime practice. Because of his diligence and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, he gained a deep understanding of the Scriptures and was a skilled teacher of the Bible.

Dad was one of the hardest working men I have ever known. He had a strong work ethic from growing up on a farm. He worked forty-one years for the telephone company, and for many of those years he worked side jobs to provide well for his family.

For a time, he held a part-time job as the custodian at Central Baptist Church, where we were members, when it was located on Crump Boulevard. He would take us kids along to “help” him clean, but we usually just played in the baptistry while he worked.

After we moved to Collierville in 1971, he did maintenance at the local car wash that was owned by his friend and co-worker, Benny, and he paid my brother and me, ages 12 and 14, to clean the car wash bays and parking lot at night.

A year or two later, when the private, Christian school we attended increased tuition, he took on a large paper route for The Commercial Appeal, getting up at 3:00 am seven days a week and delivering papers for about three hours before going to his full-time job at the telephone company. The four of us kids took turns going on the paper route with him. Our job was to sit in the back seat and roll the newspapers and toss them into the front seat as he drove and tossed the papers onto driveways.

In 1977, purchased the Townhouse Restaurant in Collierville from another telephone company co-worker, and successfully operated that business as a second job! We all worked in the restaurant together as we continued to learn the value of hard work, of managing money, and of eventually providing for ourselves and our families. We are truly grateful for the sacrifices he made and the example he set for us.

Dad was always generous to help us as adults whenever finances were tight, or if something needed to be repaired. I don’t think there is anything that he could not fix! I remember a time that he took vacation time to pull the engine and transmission out of our station wagon and rebuilt them right there in our garage. He was never one to pay someone else to do a job that he could do himself!

When grandkids came along, he was eager to spoil them with candy and other forbidden treats. During one of our visits to Collierville, Cheri walked into the kitchen and saw our two-year old Austin digging into a huge bowl of M&M’s, and Dad sitting there grinning from ear to ear!

As Dad grew older, he was sometimes frustrated that he could no longer teach Sunday school. However, he enjoyed any opportunity to engage others in Bible study or simply in conversation about the things of God. He recently told me that whenever he had the chance to talk about the things of God, he was unaware of the pain that plagued him, so I tried to engage him regularly in biblical conversations.

Dad was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and church leader. He taught many people to know and love God. One of my lasting memories of him is from my childhood. I remember on more than one occasion, as we would drive home from church, Dad, who was not musically gifted, would sing the chorus to an old hymn, probably unaware that anyone was listening. The course goes like this:

I love him.

I love him,

Because he first loved me,

And purchased my salvation,

On Calv’ry’s tree.

We miss Dad already, but we rejoice in the assurance that he is in heaven, in the immediate presence of our Lord and Savior whom he loved and served so well. We will see him again … until then, let us follow his example and love and serve the Lord faithfully!