
My dad, Dick Ike, Jr., would have turned 104 tomorrow, August 8th, an age his own father had reached. But Dad’s colon cancer was higher up and more invasive than Grandpa’s, and he only lived 9 years after diagnosis and resection. But he died a happy man, as he had lived. Just as his retirement years exceeded his Fisher Body working years (by one), he spent many more years with the burden of a son (nearly 51) than without (only 34). Regardless, I’m so happy he and Mom brought me home from that Grand Rapids hospital in ’52.
One of my duties right after he died was to compose and deliver his eulogy. Others would deliver remarks, but mine were to be committed to a pamphlet put together by undertaker Jon Durham, who happened to be my best friend’s little brother. I reproduce that document here, so you can all read about what a great man my dad was.






Nice bio
My Dad would have been 108 in Nov. this year. Same vintage Americana as yours. But perhaps your Dad was more attached to the Old Country, being a 2nd generation immigrant. My family crossed the pond a hundred years earlier and that story is lost.
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My dad never shed his Dutch roots, but was an American all the way. We had no wooden shoes in our
closet
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