Our amazing Dad was welcomed into his forever Home in Heaven on the afternoon of  Monday, June 15th. On the morning of Memorial Day - May 25th - Dad endured a severe stroke and, after a series of complications and many tough days in the ICU, our family had to make the brutal decision to bring Dad home on hospice care.💔😔 Dad made clear to us that these were his wishes  - we were there to be by his side and honor his wishes to go home. 

God has been incredibly gracious to give us 92 beautiful years with our Dad. When he came blazing through his open heart surgery in 2021 - at the age of 87 - we saw his resilience more than ever and knew God was giving us more time with him - time that we’ve never taken for granted. We’ve cherished every heart-to-heart conversation, every big bear hug, every late night phone call, every story on repeat, every Aggie ballgame, every meal together at his favorite spots - Gate 12, CJs BBQ, around the table at sister Laurie’s house, and the Arbor Oaks bistro and dining room where he could proudly show us off to all his friends there, telling them who we were, what we were up to, and how proud he was of us.

One of the things Dad most hoped and prayed for is that he would outlive our Mom and be able to take care of her until the end of her life. Well, he did just that, even if only by 288 days.

There is no giving tribute to Dad and his life without also giving tribute to our Mom - and Dad’s beautiful love and devotion to her, every day of their 71 years of marriage. Dad and Mom were a beautiful pair - there truly was no one without the other. They were high school sweethearts, married in 1954, and then created a beautiful family legacy of 7 children, 14 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, with 2 more little great grandchildren on the way. Mom was initially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1975, when I was 8 years old, and my siblings were… Sherry 19, Laurie 18, Lisa 15, Donnie 5, Scott 4, Bradley 2. It’s impossible to imagine how that news must have hit my parents, with a house full of kiddos to raise. But, like our parents could and would, they rose up, stared down that cruel, debilitating disease and forged their way through all those years of raising us, seeking treatments, and managing Mom’s comfort and pain as best they could. Dad retired early in 1998 to come home and be Mom’s full-time caregiver. His extraordinary love and devotion to her was witnessed by all of us through his daily care of her until Mom was finally called Home to Heaven last year on August 31st, 2025. There has been no greater privilege than to have witnessed our Dad’s unwavering devotion to our Mom. Those two were a pair made in Heaven, and now they are reunited - side by side - right where they belong.♥️

After Dad’s stroke, during those early days in the hospital, as we learned of the severity of of his condition and we were communicating all of this to him, in one sweet, clear-headed, so-like-Dad moment, he sat up as best he could, looked at us and said: “I’m not done yet.”  As we navigated the next hours and days ahead, it became clear that, given the ramifications of the stroke, there was nothing more his medical team could do to help change the trajectory of his condition or prognosis. In many honest, heart-to-heart conversations with Dad, we made sure he knew exactly what was happening, and he made it clear to us that he was ready to go home. One of the most brutal and beautiful parts of this journey for all of us was - over those next fifteen days - watching our Dad make peace with all of this - to go from his feisty, fighter nature of “I’m not done yet” to gently coming to know and trust that this was his time. Those days were such a gift, as our family was at Dad’s bedside 24/7 - caring for him, loving on him, laughing with him, and honoring him - as he was courageously wrapping up his journey with us here on this earth.

During those days and nights, we squeezed-out every bit of goodness we could from those moments we had with Dad. We built and flew paper airplanes with him. We played rap song “Ice Ice Baby” as we fed him tiny bits of ice chips, while he belly-chuckled. We gave him teeny-tiny sips of Diet Dr. Pepper on a little sponge - which was supposed to be water only, but we broke the rules so we could at least give him something with a bit of flavor (duh).  We watched the SEC/Aggie baseball regionals together and had him decked-out in his fan gear. We shaved his scruffy beard and trimmed his hair that had gotten way out of control - lordy, our Mom was surely proud of us for tidying him up for guests and for his glorious entry into Heaven.

God so blessed us with those hours to have many one-on-one, heart-to-heart conversations with Dad - telling him how much we loved him, how grateful we are for him and all he’s instilled in us, and promising him we’d be okay and would continue to make him proud. We welcomed countless friends and family from far and wide to come visit and sit with him. We sang and played his favorite songs, and we all spent many hours praying with and over him. Every single hour with him was incredibly rich and beautiful and sacred - time each of us will hold with us forever and ever and ever. 

And then on the morning of June 15th, it became clear that Dad was entering his final hours. All of us kids were gathered around him for that final bit of time - we loved on him, held his hands, kissed his forehead, told him how much we loved him, how grateful we all are for him, told him we were all okay, that we’d be okay here without him, that he could let go when he was ready - that he could go be with Mom in Heaven. And just before 1pm on that Monday, he opened his eyes one last time, looked up at my sisters, peacefully drew in his final breath, and then his spirit left his body and soared off into Heaven. It was the most profound and beautiful experience of my life that will be with me forever and ever.

Among the many great hallmarks of Dad’s life were…

🌿 His unwavering commitment to his integrity and his faith

🌿 His deep convictions about what mattered most to him in life

🌿 His wisdom and clarity of purpose in the work that he knew was his to do here on this earth

🌿 His generosity, his kindness, and his self-sacrifice for the good of others

🌿 His eternally optimistic spirit and belief in the good in others

🌿 His ability to be fully present, to really listen, and ask the kinds of questions that made you dig deep, to reflect, to see new possibilities, new ways of seeing life and the world

🌿 His constant and quiet pouring into relationships, and investing in those he loved and believed in

🌿 His profound impact for good on thousands upon thousands of lives across the globe

🌿 His big, tender heart and the way he’d get choked-up in an instant when talking about what mattered most to him - our Mom, our family, all that he was so proud of in us kids and all the grandkids, his many loved ones, his love for and belief in the good of America, and his deep faith in God.

It has been the greatest honor - the greatest blessing of a lifetime - to be my Dad’s daughter and to be part of his extraordinary legacy. No one has had more of an impact on my life - shaping me into who I am today - than my awesome, awesome Dad. His presence is woven into every thread of my being and guides me every single day. His life was such a gift to me and to so, so many.

I so love and miss you, Dad.♥️ You were the best Dad this girl could have ever dreamed of having, and I’m so so deeply grateful that I was so blessed to be your daughter. We all find such comfort in knowing you're at peace now - that you’re reunited again with Mom, little brother Bradley, and sweet sister Lisa. If anyone has ever fought the good fight, it was you, Dad. No doubt, on Monday, June 15th, when God called you Home, you were welcomed through Heaven’s Gates as one extraordinarily “good and faithful servant”.

Dad, we promise to hold you close every single day. We will always and forever continue to look up toward you - for your guidance, your steadiness, your clarity, your devotion to all that is good and right and just, your belief in the good in the world and all humanity, your hope in the future, your wholehearted faith in the goodness of the next generation of leaders and those that follow. Mostly, Dad, we’ll keep looking up toward your big heart of gold, your love and belief in each of us, and the wisdom with which you’ve always helped us find our way.

With all my heart - always and forever - I so love love love you, Dad. We’re all so deeply grateful for you, the extraordinary life you lived and the legacy that you’ve given all of us to carry forward. 🙏♥️🕊️