Today is the 106th anniversary of my father’s birth. As of today he has been dead for as long as he had been alive.
He was a wise, courageous, and virtuous man, a skilled and trusted lawyer, a valued friend, a beloved husband, and a loving father. I have never met a man like him and I never expect to.
Over the years I’ve posted many pictures of him. None of the pictures really capture his essential quality which was his enormous energy, his zest, his enthusiasm. He was nearly always in motion. He was 5’10”, had broad shoulders and a barrel chest. His hair was fine and light, his complexion slightly ruddy, and at the time of his death he was somewhat overweight. I do not know how much of that can be attributed to the pancreatic cancer that killed him.
I strive to be like him but it’s a very high standard and, sadly, I fall short.
You were lucky. May the memories provide comfort.
What did he believe? I mean in virtues, morals. and ethics.
From the standpoint of faith, he was much a free thinker. Although his family had traditionally been a Catholic one, he was not raised in any religious tradition. He chose to become a Catholic after marriage (I think).
He believed in the law. He believed in doing the right thing regardless of personal cost. He was very frugal, spartan even. He believed in standing up to challenges. He believed that any woman capable of holding down a paying job had a moral obligation to do so. He believed in the equality of the sexes which from his standpoint meant that women had the right to be as stupid as men. He believed in the dignity of all human beings and, to the best of my ability to discern, he didn’t have a bigoted bone in his body. He had friends of all races and religions. His reaction to people different from him was more one of curiosity than of suspicion.
He was frequently characterized as an amalgam of the 19th century with the 21st century. He loved technology and was always what is called an “early adopter”. He was the first lawyer in St. Louis to use a dictaphone, the first to own a copying machine.
Sounds like a great man – he certainly did a fine job raising his son.