Funeral

It was a beautiful day for the funeral and I got to visit with many people I had not seen for a number of years some of the younger ones I didn't recognize. They grew up faster than my minds clock to keep up. My daughter spoke eloquently about her mother and offered prayers. The grandchildren were thankful for all the years grandma took care of them and spoke of her as their second mom. I wrote a eulogy to help others better know Eunice. Eunice was born March 11th, 1932 in a farm house in North Dakota, into a family of 16 children and all the babies were born at home. There was no running water, no indoor plumbing and no electricity. On windy winter days they had to follow a rope line to the out house to keep from getting lost in the yard. It was during the depression but they had a large vegetable garden and they had chickens and would butcher a hog so they had food. Each member of the family was assigned chores. Eunice and her sister milked 18 cows every evening and the butter was sold in town to purchase staples like sugar, flour, salt and pepper. On birthdays the only present was a cake which was shared with the family. This idea of sharing was the mainstay of the family culture and stayed with Eunice her entire life. She went to a one room school house and rode in a horse and wagon or during winter a horse and sled. Her mother sewed all of their outfits and the closest they got to store bought clothes was the Sears catalog which served a dual purpose. She graduated from high school and moved to Grand Forks where she got a job as a waitress. She loved this kind of work and started to save her money and in time she was able to purchase a four-plex. She and her sister lived in one unit and she rented the other top unit to a young couple and the lower level she rented to college students since the four-plex was close to the university. As a young girl she sang in church and later she had friend who was a voice teacher at the university and Eunice took four years of voice lessons. This led to her singing at weddings and funerals. She sang at her mother's funeral. On one occasion some members of the family were gathered together for a fun day and they had one of those reel to reel tape recorders. Eunice had encourage her youngest sister to study piano and she became an accomplished pianist so they recorded some songs with Eunice singing and her sister accompanying her on the piano. Two of the recordings, the Our Father and Ave Maria will be played here today. It was in the fall of 1967 that I was sent to Grand Forks on a project and one morning I went for breakfast and Eunice waited on my table. She was very busy and forgot my order and came back apologizing. It was no matter to me as I was just reading the paper but all the while I was watching her. The following Saturday night fate intervened. I went to a local dance hall and spotted Eunice with her two girl friends and so I asked her to dance. We danced several times and I made a date for the next Saturday night. At that time I had a new Ford Mustang and they sent me a stainless steel piece with a mustang on it and my name. Although my official name was John my family and friends all called me Jack. When I picked her up she noticed the name and started calling me John but I didn't say anything and from that day on I became John. Perhaps there was some significance to that sort of thing like when Jacob became Israel and received something special from God. We saw each other on a regular basis and I met some of her family members but soon my job was over and I was going to Georgia for my next assignment. I said good by and left in early February of 1968. I drove straight through to Louisville and stopped for the night. I clearly remember going down to the bar for beer and while visiting with the bartender and told him that I think I just left the girl I was supposed to marry. He said you better go back and get her. The next day I continued on and spent that night in a motel in Gainsville, GA. A couple of days later I called Eunice and we talked and that led to more calls and we decided to get married. I told her she would have to make all the arrangements and I would be busy for a few weeks but could get up there in early March. She set the wedding date for March 11th and she picked me up at the airport the day before the wedding. She had been one busy lady and made all the preparations. She lined up the bridesmaids, and grooms and selected her brother in law to be the best man. She bought all the bride gowns, selected her church, her pastor, the music, the flowers and the reception cite. Best of all she paid for everything. You know how the paper prints wedding stuff. There is a long column with the names of all the brothers, sisters and other relatives. Well this was a very long column and at the very bottom it said, and the groom is. I think I could have missed the wedding and no one would have noticed. Eunice sold her fourplex and her car and the wedding went off without a hitch. There was some concern on the part of her family as to who this stranger was and what would happen when she left the safety of her family. Their fears were allayed when her mother found out that I liked lemon pie. I have no explanation for that. In a few days we were on the plane on our way to Georgia. I left town with a new bride and a dowry and cash from the sale of the fourplex and the car plus her substantial savings. Now many people ask me what it is that I brought to this arrangement and according to Eunice what I brought was, "potential". She felt with the proper training and molding she could get a reasonable return on her investment. Our son Johnny was born on December 1st 1968 in a hospital in Atlanta. Eunice's mom and dad came down to help us. In October of 1969 I was transferred to a small town in Indian and there on January 20th our daughter Michele was born in the hospital in Louisville, KY. It was somewhat frightening as she was a premie and weighed only 4 pounds five ounces. But she quickly grew and on April I was transferred to Alabama. In July of 1971 I had the assignment under control and knew that Eunice was getting home sick and tied of moving so I resigned and we moved back to Grand Forks. During our travels we bought several houses and the process showed how we handled financial matters. We would sit down with the sellers and the broker and I would ramble on about interest rates, taxes, location and cost per square foot all the while keeping one eye on Eunice. At some point she would nod and I would announce that we would take the house. You see since I was the man of the house I made all of the important decisions. Back in Grand Forks we raised our children and when Johnny graduated he left for Arizona to pursue a career as a golfer. Michele stayed on and went to the University of North Dakota where she graduated in 1993 as a chemical engineer. About that time we celebrated our 25th anniversary by renewing our vows. It was the same church with the same minister, the same bridesmaids and groom along with the same organist, flower girl and ring boy. Our daughter made up a video of our lives and presented that at the church where we had a party. Michele accepted a job in Illinois and left home. The next year she came home with her husband to be and they were married in the same church. Eunice then took up oil painting and there is an example of her work on display here. In April of 1995 our son needed our help. He was living in Florida and we packed up and moved. There was only one thing that could get Eunice out of Grand Forks and that was Johnny needing help. We were in Florida two years to the day when Michele called to announce a new baby was on the way. We had always told her we would help with baby sitting so off we went to Illinois. In 2000 Michele was transferred to St Paul so off we went where she had three more children. From the time the first child was born until the youngest started driving we spent our days with them. In 2005 our son married a wonderful lady and they lived in Eagan. On January 28, 2008 our son died suddenly. This was easily the saddest day of our lives and our beautiful daughter in law along with our family help us through this crisis. Strangely enough our daughter in law died some 12 years later in an accident. We know our son is now back with his wife. It was during this time the Eunice wrote a book about her life and it is on display here. We had a truly good life together and these last years spending time with the grand children has been the frosting on the cake. We would spend time in the evenings rehashing the days events and all of the cute things the kids did. I recall one instance when the two older boys were outside playing waiting for the bus while Jacoby in second grade and Sawyer in kindergarten were getting ready and Jacoby came and told me he had an ear ache. I called his mom and she said he should stay home so I told Jacoby that because he has an ear ache he would stay home today. Then little Sawyer piped up and said Grandpa, I have an ear ache too. I said how long have you had that and she said 26 days. I told her to get on the bus. Over the years I wasn't often that in touch with my feelings but once in a while something would happen that awakened my inner soul. I recall once when we had been married about 20 years and we attended a wedding. At the reception I asked Eunice to dance and when I put my arm around her, I suddenly couldn't breath. In a few seconds it passed but I realized how I felt about her. On several other occasions I found my self feeling a little down when I would come home from work and her car was not in the garage. As a part of my daily prayers I ask God to help Eunice and I to leave this old world in a dignified manner and he answered our prayers as Eunice died peacefully in her sleep. In the stillness of the day While in her bed she lay A messenger from heaven came And whispered her away As I look back over the years we had a very good and exciting life with all the moving and raising children and finally helping to care for grandchildren but all good things come to an end. Her time was over and God called her home. She is gone but the memories linger on and n o w I'm e a s y.