My Papa

I got a call on Sunday morning from mom letting me know that Papa had passed away.  Thankfully he hadn't been sick very long, just had a stroke on Saturday and passed away on Sunday.  We will all miss him but know that my Nana and Dad were glad to see him again.  Another piece of my heart is in heaven!
Here are a few pictures from the memorial video that I wanted to share.

My Papa - always smiling, joking and easy going 

His retirement from Lenox China as a security guard - where we heard several say at visitation that he was the "best guard ever".  He only stayed retired from the post office 6 weeks and had to go back to work because he was bored.

My grandpa loved cowboys, westerns and Tombstone, AZ 

At his retirement party from the post office where he was a mail carrier for 30 years - for the dinner they had Bill's BBQ cater, one of his favorites! 

My Papa was always there for all the important events in my life 

On my wedding day

Kent's wedding

Coming to meet Caleb 

I loved all these old photos of my Nana and Papa 

Church directory photo - this is how they will also look in my mind 

One of his buddies, Mrs. Mary, who we all love 

He loved the great grandbabies and we would often mail him pictures, when he didn't get some he would call and ask "Is your camera broken?  Hadn't gotten my pictures in a while!" 

Old photo when I was a baby 

With their traveling buddies - Uncle Tom and Aunt Carolyn and Mr. and Mrs. Wiley

They took a 30 day trip around the US and saw lots of sites 

The kids loved this picture - they even went to Disneyworld 

More traveling, carrying my Nana's pocketbook 

Loving Papa - we would always stop by and see him on our way to the beach 

Papa's 75th Birthday party 

At one of his favorite places - Deadwood 

This past Christmas with all the great grandbabies 

Ella teaching Papa all about the princesses 

At Brooklynn's 1st Birthday  

The funeral was very nice - Jeff, Papa's favorite pastor spoke along with my Uncle Tom (who shared some family memories and some of their traveling stories) and his old boss at Lenox (who shared what a great man and worker he was).  We also played one of his favorite songs "With His Hand on My Shoulder" by Marty Robbins.

Kent gave a quote that summed up Papa well "He always had a joke to tell, not that it was always funny, but I gave the joke a laugh because I loved him"

Thing about my Papa - he loved his garden, he was a handyman and would research things at the library if he didn't know how to fix them (even though he didn't have any tools), he never met a stranger, he was always easy going and no one we talked to ever saw him mad, he loved his family and church, he loved all things cowboy, western and Civil war related and he loved to travel but his favorite spot was Tombstone, AZ.

Happy Trails Papa til we meet again in heaven!