Dale Says

George was the uncle who stayed home and helped his father take care of the farm. That must have been a great relief to his father, who because of George could run the farm without hiring someone to help. It was one of the many good things George did with his life.

After high school, George served his country in the Marines during the Korean War. He looked very handsome in his Marine uniform, and I’m sure his military years were among the most adventurous of his life.

Following his discharge from the Marines George moved in with his mother and father. He didn’t marry for many years, and as kids we thought he would always be single. As the only unmarried son (and living on the farm) George’s job was to watch us kids when we visited our grandparents. That meant keeping track of us when we were in the basement playing pool, and making sure we didn’t pilfer Grandpa’s beers. George was good at watching us, too, and he was always patient with us — soft spoken and gentle, but firm enough to make us do what he wanted us to.

George let us help him with the farm chores, and we loved that. He let us help get the cows in and milk them. And I have a vague memory of sitting in his lap and steering the pick-up when driving into town.

George eventually did get married, to a lovely widow with three kids, whose husband was killed in a farming accident. Janice was the best thing that happened to George, because she completed him. He was no longer the batchelor brother, the childless sibling, and he had a family and someone to share his life. They had a son together, and George loved all four of their children equally.

Janice was very ill a few years ago, and that took a lot out of George. He did everything for her, in an incredibly loving way. During her long illness, he became even more soft spoken and he grew thin and pale. And I suspect that’s when his Altzheimer’s started.

It was ironic that about the time Janice recovered George got sick. I remember the first time I noticed it — Janice led him gently by the hand and helped him sit in his favorite chair. She kept him at home as long as she could, but eventually he couldn’t live there anymore. The first time I visited him in the nursing home he cried when we left. Altzheimer’s is a cruel disease, and it broke my heart to see my childhood hero a broken and sad man.

George is better off now, because he doesn’t have to suffer anymore. And his family is better off, too, although they will miss George for the rest of their lives. George is not a man you get over quickly. George’s family, like the rest of us who knew him, have many wonderful memories of a kind and gentle man.

Peace be with you, George