First, I want to say thanks to everyone who posted or e-mailed condolences on the loss of dad. Yesterday we held his memorial service at noon at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home with a reception for friends of the family an hour earlier.
We sang several of dad’s favorite hymns, laughed at his memories, and cried for his passing. Christa, the minster who gave the eulogy and also sang a hymn. On Friday Frances, mom, and I met with Christa at Frances’ house to talk about all the fond memories of dad. She used these remarks, based on the words of the Marine Corp prayer, for the eulogy. The local Marine Corp League was also in attendance and presented mom with a plaque during the visitation. The minister of music at the church where mom and dad are still members gave his reflections on dad’s life. We ended the service with the playing of the Marines’ Hymn.
Several items representing dad’s life and memory were placed in the front of the chapel. For the majority of his life if you saw dad out and about he was wearing his khaki shirt and pants “uniform” as we called them and his Marine Corp cap. We also put his Baptist Hospital volunteer jacket on display, his Marine Corp League hat, and his gold putter he won for the hole-in-one made about twenty years ago and an enlarged photo of the one I posted Thursday.
We invited everyone back to Frances and Al’s for a chance to visit with the family after the service.