At the visitation, all of Ron's kids and step kids were there, standing in the receiving line with Mary Lou. There was a great video that covered Ron's life from childhood to recent times. Your class's flowers were prominently placed. My message to the kids was that the flowers and the presence of several of Ron's classmates should make plain how much we thought of him.
Your classmates who paid their respects were Carolyn, Jim, Karol, Nancy, Helen, Thom and I. Dwayne and Bobbie were part of the group. Joe is on the road to recovery from some serious health problems, and has some days that aren't as good as the others. He wasn't up to coming with Helen.
Everybody but Carolyn made in to the Corner Cafe for a lite bite (that's what Jim Harris calls the giant tenderloin sandwich that is the specialty of the house) and more socializing after the visitation.
Fred and Ruth were at the funeral service, along with Karol, Dwayne and Thom. The music was toe-tapping hymns we all knew the words to. A stepdaughter spoke movingly about how much better her family's life was made when Ron came into it nine years ago. She lightened it up a bit by revealing that Ron had required the whole family to call him "Senator" after his second surgery. His reasoning was that the diminished brain capacity brought about by the two surgeries surely qualified him to serve in the legislature.
A daughter went on and on about the loving attention Ron's kids got while growing up. It was obvious that Ron must have approached being a father like he approached being a bowler. Yes, his ten 300 games were mentioned in the service. More than once. That's the way he would have wanted it.
The preacher worked in just enough scripture and prayer to meet legal requirements. Lots of stories about the ways Ron brought smiles and laughter into the lives of others. Ron's competitive spirit got mentioned, with a story about an episode not all that long ago that served as the sermon. The preacher said he told Ron he was a winner. (This was at a time when happy thoughts were few and far between.) Ron's "What do you mean?" gave the preacher the opening to tell him he was either going to get well or be with his Lord and Savior. Ron studied on that briefly and said, "You're right. I am a winner."
The preacher's best story about Ron was an occasion when the preacher was having a "senior moment" during a Sunday morning service. He had gone blank on just where they were in the service. He spotted Ron in the first few rows and tried to get out of it by asking, "Ron, what should we do next?" Ron was direct and to the point, "Let's sing a song and go eat!"
If you want to help on the flowers, Thom Weddle's address is P.O. Box 582738, Minneapolis, MN 55458-2738.
Mike
Ron's Page Obituary and Guest Book Retirement was just the beginning!