Father was an unfamiliar term in our house. He would have it no other way than Dad. I signed the only way he would have wanted

HE WAS A BIG MAN BY STANDARDS OF MOST
A QUIET MAN NOT PRONE TO BRAG OR BOAST

THOUGHT HIGHLY OF BY ALL HIS PEERS
A WISDOM LEARNED WORKING HARD FOR YEARS

TO US CHILDREN HE GAVE US PRIDE
BY TAKING LIFES UPS AND DOWNS WITH EACH STRIDE

MY FIRST TWO WHEELER HE TAUGHT ME TO RIDE
CONSOLED THE FAMILY WHEN BROWNIE THE DOG DIED

AT MY GRADUATION TEARS IN HIS EYES I RECALL
BECAUSE FOR ME THERE WAS NO MONEY FOR COLLEDGE NEXT FALL

WHEN HIS COUNTRY WENT TO WAR HE WAS PROUD TO FIGHT
WHEN IT WAS MY TURN HE CRIED IN HIS SLEEP AT NIGHT

A EDUCATED MAN HE WOULD NEVER BE
HE WAS THE MORE DESERVING WHEN I ACHEIVED MY PH-d

FISHING AND HUNTING WERE HIS GREAT DELIGHT
HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE CONSERVATION FIGHT

TEN YEARS OF BEING RETIRED LIVING LIFE IN MANY WAYS
GRANDCHILDREN, CABIN AT THE LAKE, AND FISHING FILLED HIS DAYS.

HIS LAST DAY I MIGHT THINK THE BEST
AFTER A DAY OF FISHING HE TOOK THE REST

SO MANY THINGS HAVE HAPPENED SINCE HE HAS BEEN GONE
BUT IN HIS CHILDREN THE PRIDE HE GAVE US STILL LIVES ON

Dr. R. A. Genise