In Praise and Thanksgiving for Dick Gries
I’m Joan Gries, Dick’s proud daughter and I’d like to share with you a little bit about my father. I’m the oldest of his four kids and although I have three younger brothers who are arguably better writers and speakers than I am, I did have the blessing of knowing my father for just a little bit longer than they did so I asked for this honor.
There are guides for writing a eulogy but I ignored them in favor of thinking long and hard about what my Dad would have told me if I asked his advice about what to say and how to say it today. I am certain he would have laughed a short laugh and then told me that he just couldn’t see any reason for me to be up talking about him at all considering he was just an ordinary guy with an ordinary life which is just about as far from the truth as could be.
Rather, my father was an absolutely extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life.
There was so much about my Dad that made him the man he was.
He was an accomplished engineer but that definitely didn’t define him although it could be quite fun when his engineering personality and our family life intersected. I remember one year when we brought home a Christmas tree that was terribly sparse in the middle. Dad decided it just wasn’t quite good enough for his family. He cut the center of that tree out and stuck the two ends together to make it look perfect. Granted, it took hours but that was who he was – a man who was driven to absolutely and unconditionally love his family and serve God and to deliver his best no matter what it took.
My father had a fabulous sense of humor and a quick wit. He could easily laugh at himself as well as laugh with others. And, although he would laugh at himself, he never laughed at any of his children’s or wife’s endeavors or dreams, no matter how goofy they may have been. Rather, he was always supportive without exception.
My father saw all people as children of God and didn’t have a bigoted bone in his body nor was he judgmental. A quick look at our international family shows just how well he passed this truth on to his children.
My Dad adored my mother and without question she was the light of his life. Their marriage was truly sacramental and the epitome of Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, beginning at verse 13. Their love was patient & kind and genuinely reflected all of the qualities that Paul mentioned.
In the past months, my father told me how blessed his life had been because he never had to deal with any of the hard problems that so many others face. But, in reality, he absolutely had many difficult challenges in his life. He worked for a company that went bankrupt and he lost his job, one of his daughters gave him a run for his money when she was a teenager and he had a cancer scare with a son when the son was little. He had a serious heart attack and fought brutal cancer three times. He also buried his parents.
But, he didn’t view any of these things as hard problems. They were just bumps in the road of his life. Recently, he told me that his last five years were his greatest gift in life, albeit a pretty weird one but a gift nonetheless. He said that the challenges reinforced what he already sincerely knew to be true – God was either going to fix it the issue or God was going to give him the strength to get through it.
For me and many others, how he lived his last five years was the strongest witness of Christian faith in action that I have ever seen. Of course he was my hero from when I was a little girl, but recently others also described him that way due to how he walked his journey with abundant humor, grace, quiet dignity and with no complaints. He was sincerely confused on why so many people would think he was doing something special. In fact, he would laugh and then point out that it wasn’t like he had volunteered for this duty. I’m sure we would all agree that it didn’t matter whether he volunteered or not, he was chosen to show us how to live according to the Gospels. He did that well.
Someone once told me that we are all in the departure lounge but none of us have any idea what flight we are on or when it leaves. My Dad boarded his flight without fear, anger, depression or regrets. He knew there would be extreme turbulence on the way and still said “Bring it on.” Knowing my Dad, his faith and his life, I have absolutely no doubt that his flight was a direct one and made a safe landing in Paradise where he was welcomed at the gate by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My father was dearly loved and we will miss him.
No comments:
Post a Comment