The Greatest Generation

"You know, fathers just have a way of putting everything together."  Erika Cosby

We laid my father to rest this week.  Dad had a pretty amazing life.  88 years with most of them healthy.  He and Mom were married for 67 years.  The turnout of friends and family was pretty overwhelming and was a true testament of Dad's effect on people.

Bern Kiser, the minister of their church, and Phil LaMaster, the leader of Living Hope Ministry and my cousin, jointly performed the service and both did a great job.  Phil especially given his family ties.  I had thought about saying a few words but quickly came to the determination that there was no way I could hold it together long enough to finish.  After all, my cousin Phil couldn't and he's a trained orator and minister.

So I'm going to use this forum to express those thoughts:

I grew up in a time of hero's.  Military hero's like Eisenhower, Patton, McArthur.  Sports heroes like Mantle, Williams, Gibson.  Space hero's like Armstrong, Aldrin, and local guy Gus Grissom.  Comic book hero's like Superman, Spiderman and The Fantastic Four.  And as funny as it sounds today even Political hero's like John Kennedy.

With all that I only ever had one hero.  Dad.  Dad was the strongest and bravest guy I knew.  He had been to Europe during World War II. He had been drafted while still in high school. Imagine trying to pull that off these days. He had served during the Korean Conflict.    He wasn't afraid of anyone or anything - with the exception being my Grandmother.  But I think most boys have a healthy fear of their mothers.

Dad believed in God, in Country and in Community.  But he believed most of all in Family and in Friends.  He was always there for people.  He never failed to help, to support and to encourage.  He never talked badly behind peoples backs.  He didn't have to because anything he had to say he said directly.

My parent's generation has been dubbed The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw.  This is the generation that grew up during the Great Depression, fought WWII then came home and built the United States into the Superpower it became.  One of his most important points about this generation, he argued, is that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do."

Doing "the right thing" is the best descriptor you could ever have for Dad.  Any decision he ever made was based upon whether it was "right".  It's the way he lived his life and it's the expectation he had for all of us who lived with and around him.

Now at the end I'm equally convinced of two things.  One is that the world shines a bit less brightly without him in it.  The other is that the universe is a better place because of what he left within all of us.

Alvin Bruce Strouse

January 3, 1925 - August 14, 2013

Post note:  My cousin Phil during his eulogy talked about the "time between the dash".  The dash he referred to is the dash between the date of birth and the date of death on the tombstone.  The dash represents everything the person did and who they were.  The question being what will people say about your dash.  Dad had a long dash, but more than long it was filled with a life of living and loving and leaving an indelible imprint on the people around him.