Henry “Hank” Meyer 1924-2009 Thank You Dad!
The past week has been a blur for me. A week ago my Dad was transported from Creighton Medical Center in Omaha to A.J. Merrick in Fremont for hospice care. He died Sunday night.
Monday we went to Ludvigsen Mortuary in Fremont to plan my Dad’s funeral. Please go to www.ludvigsenmortuary.com to see Dad’s obituary. It is quite a tribute.
Tuesday we visited with a minister from First Baptist Church, where my parents had been members for over 60 years. Wednesday was visitation at the funeral home and actually was a very nice event. Over 200 people signed the guest book.
I had never heard of this, but my brothers thought family members should be present the entire time of the visitation. Two of us were present from 2:00-4:00, two others from 4:00-6:00 and everyone was present from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Many people talked about working with my Dad and how he was such a hard worker. Others talked about his service with the church, or how he had been a board member of Fremont First Central Credit Union for over 50 years. I don’t know that it eased our pain, but it was nice to know that he touched so many lives and would be missed.
Thursday was the funeral, and it was a tough day. Family gathered in the church parlor about 30 minutes prior to the ceremony. My daughter and I went to view Dad one last time before they closed the casket, and on the way back to the parlor, I totally lost it. I went in another room and prayed for strength to get through the day.
The funeral involved two pastors-one who was retired but was close to my Dad, and the other who as an associate pastor of the church. The retired minister did the more personal part of the funeral, while the current pastor did the religious ceremony.
Part of the funeral was using words beginning with H-A-N-K to describe my Dad. Very nice. Then the minister totally shocked everyone when he told us he wanted us to do a cheer for Dad. He would call out a letter, and the congregation responded with the letter. Gimme an H, Gimme an A, Gimme an N, Gimme a K. What’s that spell-and everyone yelled Hank. He finished with Go Big Red, and I knew my Dad loved it. I can tell you until yesterday I have not been to a funeral that involved cheerleading.
The other minister promised to keep his message short. “Every time I was scheduled to do the sermon Hank would come up to me and ask if I was going to preach today? I said yes, and he always said keep it short. So I will today too Hank.”
My Dad was a World War II combat veteran and was given military honors at the cemetery. I’ve been to maybe a dozen such funerals, but each volley of shots still has me flinch, and the playing of ‘Taps’ always brings a lump to my throat, though this time it was also tears to my eyes.
There was a nice luncheon at the church and in the afternoon some relatives and friends went to my Mom’s house. The day was a great celebration of my Dad, plenty of tears, but lots of laughs too. He would have wanted the laughter.
Part of the funeral included comments by two of my brothers and me. This was not easy, but somehow I got through it. Below are my comments:
Thank you for coming to celebrate my Dad’s life. My family greatly appreciates you being here.
I also want to thank the congregation of this church for how you have treated my Mom and Dad, not only during the six weeks of my Dad’s ordeal, but during the six decades they have been members of First Baptist Church. Time after time you have proven this church is much more than brick and mortar.
While I come today to praise my Dad, I don’t think he would be very pleased with me unless I teased him just a little. If you knew my Dad well enough to attend his funeral, you also knew that on rare occasions he had an opinion he would share. OK, OK-my Dad had an opinion on any topic you might care to argue about, and he was not lacking in confidence that his opinion was the right one. I think a lot of times he actually agreed with the person he was arguing with, but took the other side just to argue. His arguing was never mean spirited though. He truly loved people.
For most of my 58 years Dad was a larger than life character to me. Yes, he was a big man, physically imposing. He never seemed to just walk into a room, he took over the room. He had a presence about him and when he was nearby you knew you were with a good man who cared about others. When he had the audacity to grow old, and we thought frail, it upset me. However, I watched this 84 year old man fight an unfair fight for 40 days and he showed strength and courage most people couldn’t imagine.
Many times in my life I have been asked if I was Hank Meyer’s son. He seemed to know everyone. I couldn’t deny it. I look enough like him that people would know I was lying if I said no. When I said yes I was Hank’s son, I always heard “I really like your Dad. He is quite a character.” He WAS quite a character.
I have thought a lot this week about my Dad’s legacy. Certainly it is his sons and grandchildren, and I hope we will all strive harder to make it one he can be proud of. However, his legacy is much more than his family. He touched thousands of people in his lifetime and we are all better because Hank Meyer passed our way.
I was very distraught that Dad died on Father’s Day. However, a friend of mine who is a freelance writer in Maryland sent me an email convincing me how wrong my thinking was. It read:
It is so appropriate that Hank died on Father’s Day, because men like him are the best examples of what it is to be a good dad. They aren’t flashy and the world seldom knows their names, but they are heroes. They make no pretense about being perfect. They just go to work everyday, put bread on the table, and sacrifice for their families. Hank was an honest man, a workman worthy of his hire, a friend to many, a good husband, father, and grandfather. Thanks be to God.
Hank Meyer-Thanks be to God.
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