The funeral service and celebration of life

Friends and family gathered this morning at St. John Fisher church for a funeral Mass. Five priests concelebrated and Fr. Casey Bailey gave an extraordinary homily. Fr. Casey has known Dad enough years to have distilled the essential pillars of his life and he was precise and wonderful in his discourse. The church was filled with Dad's family and friends going back through the years. The range of persons and attire attested to Dad's broad impact on people across our community. From the church, we motored to Mt. Calvary Cemetery for a brief ceremony prior to interment. And then those who could headed down the hill to World Forestry Center for a celebration of Dad's life that included food, music, testimonials, stories, and some tears. At the end of the afternoon, the fiddle was still keening as the staff urged us to gather our things and move on. And we went out into the gray afternoon, fortified in each other's love and our memory of Dad, a light bright enough to show us the way.