Remembering my Father

William James Lohr

1907-1997

My Father's Eulogy

A long, long time ago when William H. Taft was finishing out his term in Office as president and before the Titanic started her maiden voyage, a small boy would sit on the sandstone steps of his home on Old York Road and wait patiently for his father to return from work. His father was a "huckster" and sold vegetables and fruit from the back of his horse drawn wagon through the streets and alleyways of Philadelphia. After what always seemed an eternity, the small boy would hear the sounds of the hooves on the cobble stones as his fathers wagon turned the corner and pulled up to the front steps. The father would pick up the young boy give him a hug and reach into the back of the wagon and pick out the best of his cherries and hang two connected cherries over each ear. These were "earrings" he explained and were the reward when the work of the day was finished. Together, they would lead the horses around the block to the stables behind the house and prepare the horses for the evening. The small boy’s job was to brush the dirt from the horses legs as high as he could reach....which wasn’t very high at the time. When the work was done, the boy’s father would congratulate him on a job well done and invite him to enjoy the fruits of his labor...the cherry earrings. That small boy was, of course, our father.

The small boy eventually grew into a man of strong body and strong character. He would meet and marry Rose, the love of his life, at the start the Great Depression. While some men were intimidated by that thought, Dad saw an opportunity for a better life and gladly assumed that responsibility. Together, they raised 5 children and enjoyed the love of 17 Grand children, 9 Great Grand Children and 1 Great Great Grand Child.

Self educated, he became an avid reader both of current and classical literature. He had an abiding interest in nature, science and history and always attempted to learn more. His life would span nearly 90 years....years that included four wars, and the great depression. Through all the turmoil of 20^th century life, he remained focused however, and the object of his focus was his family. No man worked harder for his family than did he. Part of this work was raising 5 children to be responsible adults. He had the ability to teach a little history and an ageless truth in one lesson. When faced with impatience of a young son, he would say; "Remember Bud, a man who can have patience can have anything". He would then ask who said that. After a small wait, he would explain that Ben Franklin said it. That would then progress into a history lesson about kites, electricity and Colonial America, a lesson that required the exercise of lots of .....patience. He could combine poetry and money management in one lesson too. One of his favorite little limericks was;

Eat it up, wear it out

Make it do, do without

Dad was the definition of frugal. He mainly taught his sons and daughters how to live their lives by his example. That example included perseverance in the face of adversity, humility when blessed with success and the patience he learned as a small boy waiting on the front steps for his father to return home from work.

Now Dad’s work on this earth is finally over and it’s time for him to enjoy the heavenly fruits of his life of labor.

Some of us here today will carry a part of Dad with us in our blood for the rest of our lives. All of us here today will carry the memories of one of the kindest and most gentle of men to be called Father.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow;

I am the diamond glints on snow;

I am the sunlight on ripened grain;

I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of birds in circled flight,

I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there; I did not die.

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