Sunday, December 6, 2020
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My dad passed on Thanksgiving day, eulogy / obit below.
Hope you take a few minutes to read.
He will be greatly missed.
Was blessed to have him as a father.
Solider, husband, father, business owner, patriot, friend.
As I mark your passing onto your eternal reward on November 26, 2020, I reflect back with profound gratitude for the gifts of knowledge and discipline you’ve given me over the last 50 years of my life. Such much of who I am, what I believe, and what I do can be attributed to what I learned from you growing up.
When I was growing up, one of the things that I grew to appreciate about my father was his desire that I know to repair, and not just replace things. This was a trait he learned from his own father, himself a business owner. It was a trait that has come to serve me well over the last five decades, as I moved into self-employment, and business ownership, following the path set by my grandfather some 100 years ago.
My dad encouraged my own dreams and aspirations growing up, and especially when I first left college and started out in business at age 21. He stood solidly by as my best friend and advisor ever since. He was the best man at my wedding, always there when I needed him. He enjoyed visiting me at my business in Maine, and I even got him behind our service counter for a bit.
He was always a great fan of quoting poems around the dinner table, and none seemed to be more favored than the special one below. I likewise grew to admire and emulate his love for quotes and poems, and it took no effort at all to get him to launch into a full-throated and rousing rendition of John Greenleaf Whittier’s inspiring “Don’t Quit”, something I fondly remember doing often at the dinner table.
Though he was never in the automotive business, he served during the Korean War, on Okinawa, and continued on his service retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, where he taught command and general staff. Like myself, a Dale Carnegie graduate, and it was my dad's experience with, and high praise for Dale Carnegie, that inspired me to take the course.
After the war, he went to work for his father, running construction equipment, as the firm Jess Howes Inc, was very active in the region building roads and bridges. On his own father's passing, he purchased, owned, and managed the family building supply business in upstate New York. He was also an extremely gracious benefactor to the community, extending mortgages and credit to those who were in need.
We're all, in some way, echos of our parents, and in what we saw and what we learned growing up. I'm realizing more and more every day how blessed I was to have had, and have the parents that the good Lord granted me. I hope that I have in some small way been able to give some of that back to others.
The flag photo was taken a few years back at my home in Maine. 87 years old and he still hadn’t forgotten how to stand at attention. And he was just as proud of his service today as he was 70 years ago. Very blessed to be the son of this fine man.
I greatly appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes for him. His name was also Bruce, but I just called him Dad.
Respectfully,
Bruce J. Howes
Matthew 22:39 - Love your neighbor as yourself.