Memories of My Dad

Dad talking to his "daughter girl"
before sending her
on a four-week trip to Puerto Rico
Summer 2001 (me--Age 17)

When I think of my Dad, I remember how much he loved to tell people about Jesus. He had been saved in college while studying to be an engineer, and his life radically changed after that. He quit engineering and went to Bible college, working his way through as a nurse's aid in the ICU. He told me once of an emergency situation and a dying patient. "Do you know Jesus?!" he earnestly asked, and the briefest smile came over the patient's otherwise suffering face.


Bible college was where he met my mom, and they moved together to Baltimore so that he could be involved in full-time street evangelism. After a few years and a growing family, he started his own home improvement business. He loved being in people's homes so that he could tell them about Jesus, and he still occasionally did some street preaching. When I was young, he sometimes took me and my brother with him to help pass out tracts.

As he grew older, the manual labor wasn't as easy for him. So, he went into sales. I remember him saying that he never used some of the phrases he was told to use, like "You deserve this!" He knew that none of us deserve anything, except hell.

He was full of memorable sayings:
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
"Don't worry about the 'what ifs.'"
"Don't let feelings drive the train."
"Love people more than things."

And nicknames for his family like "wife of my life," "Rita daughter girl," "Mercatroid," "Toobster"

I also remember my dad's enjoyment of nature and animals. A few times he took us fishing early in the morning. As a family, we often went to a nearby reservoir on a Sunday afternoon and threw bread to the ducks. Several times we tried (unsuccessfully) to hatch eggs in a homemade incubator. My dad had raised a duck as a young boy and hoped we could have that experience too.

In his driving around for work, he would often find box turtles on the road and bring them home. One of our box turtles laid eggs and hatched four babies! He brought home other things too--tadpoles, a conure. Once he stopped the van to move a snapping turtle off the road. I forget what he did with it but wonder if he put it in the trunk??

Sometimes we got to help my dad with his projects either at home or work. It was fun to rip wallpaper or take down a wall with a crowbar. However, most of the time it was painting, handing him screws, cleaning up. He built a sturdy deck on the back of our house to exceed the code, using screws instead of nails and larger beams and posts. Once Tom and I helped him roof a customer's garage. It was near water, and there were bald eagles flying overhead.

He loved people at church and enjoyed preaching when he had the opportunity. I often struggled with loneliness, and he encouraged me to be the one to say hi and shake someone's hand. He said that if he waited for people to come up to him, he might never talk with anyone.

Dad loved to sing, and he played a little bit of guitar. He used to sing on road trips to keep himself awake. He sang when he had cancer too. While Justin and I were on the phone with him, he spontaneously burst out into "He is Lord" and "I Cast All My Cares upon You."

Dad and Mom had thirty years of marriage together--many trials, but they were committed to each other. Dad loved his family and Jesus. About a month before he died, Dad told me, "I still want God's will, not mine."

I'm so thankful to God for my dad, the conversations we've had, the blessing it was that he was able to give me away at Justin's and my wedding.. He loved me when I was stubborn and ungrateful and cared about my soul.