Train of Life read by Kenny at cemetery
As a kid I remember coming to this very place when we would visit my grandmother. She always had to take a trip to the cemetery with us all in tow. As we walked about, she would let everyone know who was interned where and stories of each. So I as a little guy, I thought of it as just another outing. Amazed at the monuments. Some larger than life, others, plain and simple. As I grew older, I recognized that this would be my parents last resting place and possibly mine. Empty plots that had been purchased earlier by my uncle, now awaited their tenant.
As you have listened to earlier stories and the love for my Dad, rather than me telling you more about him, I’m going to pause for just a moment to let you remember your favorite memory of my father. Pause.....
What I'm going to read now is called "This Train of Life" It reminds us, we all experience life's journey during our many stops and starts in life. It is full of wise words to remind us of the important things in life. And it leaves us with the thought of what will people remember about us when we die. Do we take the time today to appreciate and spend time with those that have influenced and supported us during our life? Do we tell the people we love that we love them? Let the words of this poem be ones that you take to heart.
The Train of Life
At birth, we boarded the train of life and met our parents, and we believed that they would always travel by our side. However, at some station, our parents would step down from the train, leaving us on life's journey alone.
As time goes by, some significant people will board the train: siblings, other children, friends, and even the love of our life.
Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we won't realize that they vacated their seats! This train ride has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.
A successful journey consists of having a good relationship with all passengers, requiring that we give the best of ourselves. The mystery that prevails is that we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. Thus, we must try to travel along the track of life in the best possible way -- loving, forgiving, giving, and sharing.
When the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty -- we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who continue to travel on the train of life.
More importantly, thank God for the journey. Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train.
My Dad had a great life on that train for 97 years, sharing 72 of those years with my Mom! I am also thankful that I was on my Dad’s train for 70 years. I wish you a joyful journey on your train of life.
Prayer....
Death is not the end for the believer but just the beginning. It is not goodbye to those who pass away, but “See you later". For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Without life beyond the grave, life here and now makes no sense at all. And I know that the time will come when we, too, will cross over that divide, and we will see the white light, and hear the angels sing, and we will also join in that grand reunion with our loved ones and with God almighty.
.So now we offer and commend my father to our Lord our God. We say to you in the midst of our sorrow and loss, that we are grateful that you lived your life among us. We release you now into the Everlasting and Loving Arms of Our Lord. You may know Wholeness and Peace now and through all eternity. Love you Dad. See you later.
Eulogy read at Royce's funeral by Kenny
For those that don't know me, I'm Kennard Johnson, I'm Royce's eldest son. On behalf of our entire family, I want to thank each of you for being here today and it means that my father touched your life in some way or another. I also would like to thank my wife, my children, my siblings and my friends for their incredible love and support for me as I speak of my father today. A big thank you goes out to his three sitters while he was at Autumn Winds. Reba, Sarah, Jessica, and Marsette also known as Marcy, Marsell, and Marsella. My father could never get her name right as hard as we tried to help him. These ladies are the best at what they do. They took care of him as if he was a king. I can't say enough how thankful we were to have them. We won't ever be able to repay ya'll for everything you did for our father. We are forever in debt to ya'll. To the folks at Beaty Funeral Home, once again I needed your services and you came through for us. Thank you for all that you have done for my family these past few days.
I know my family and siblings will agree, speaking for them and myself, I certainly have a difficult task ahead of me. How does a son adequately pay tribute to such a significant element in his life? How do I say goodbye? How do I say anything of worth or value at a time such as this? I am humbled by this opportunity to share with you my thoughts and memories of my Father.
So now join me on this beautiful day, as I tell you the story of this remarkable man I called, Dad.
Each of you here had your own relationship with my Dad, each of you has your own set of memories and your own word picture that describes this man. I don’t presume to know the man that you knew. But I hope that, in this eulogy, you will recognize some part of the man that we all knew, the man that is no longer amongst us, the man who will never be forgotten until all of us here have passed.
The passing of Dad is one of the most difficult things I have ever experenced. While I hope you never have to experience such a life-altering loss, the truth is, we all will. Death is a part of life. And once it strikes someone you so dearly love, your existence will never be the same. If you have one parent you are closer to growing up, I was closer to my Dad. As I am standing here today, I realize how fortunate I was to have him as my Dad. There are no words to express his influence in my life. It is through his example that I learned to be the father, husband, grandpa and great grandpa that I am today.
I cannot begin to imagine not having Dad on the end of a phone talking about how or what I'm doing, be it any project great or small, or just needing advice. From how's that yard looking son, to... did you make any money in the market last week. I can hear him asking those questions even now. My father was a teacher of all things. His method was simple. He taught by example. At any age, when faced with a problem, after reflection, study, or even good reason, I find myself coming back to one simple thing. What would my Dad do?
My Dad was a god fearing, hardworking, strong, loving, gentle man but he also could be stubborn as a mule at times. We just call it the Johnson gene and it seems all of his offspring also have that gene...including his grandchildren, his great grandchildren and possibly even his great great grandchildren. He loved his family and was deeply devoted to us and I am so incredibly grateful and happy to tell you this.
My Dad was someone to look up to, someone to follow, someone to admire, someone to be proud of, someone to brag about, someone to hold and someone to cry with, someone to learn from and someone to respect, someone to listen to and someone to talk to, someone to try and impress, and yes, sometimes rebel against, but most of all, someone to share everything this wonderful life has to offer.
To say I loved my dad would be an understatement - and to say I’m going to miss him would be an even greater understatement. I loved my Dad so much I would have fought a bear for him. I know as a little tike I told him I loved him but I wished I had told him I loved him more later in life even though in his heart, he truly knew I did.
My Dad was always there for everyone, family, neighbors, colleagues, church and friends. He treated all of our spouses with respect and he loved them as his own. He loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren dearly. He would always ask how they were doing and how old are they now? ....I think he loved them even more if that is possible, though sometimes he couldn't get the names correct but we just let it slide.
I remember one time I asked my mother when I was a little guy, why does Daddy work so much ? She looked at me and said, Honey, every one's Daddy works a lot. I didn't realize it then, but that was one of the biggest lessons I learned from my Dad - the value of hard work. He woke up everyday around 5am, ate breakfast, put on his boots, and drove 25 miles to work to provide for our family. I could count on one hand how times my dad was sick. Even if he didn't feel good, he would get up and go to work with a little "babying" from my mom of course. Dad was hard working, compassionate towards everyone, and deserved the success and rich life that he enjoyed. He taught me many things but I think most important thing he taught me was the ability to know that if you really put your mind to something, anything is possible, and never to be afraid to give anything a go. Now that was within reason though.
His attention to detail was second to none. I can remember when I was playing basketball in high school, in a game we should have won easily.... but somehow we lost. I came home and he came into my room as I was going to bed and he asked what happened? He said "You can play better than that". We discussed the game in detail for the next little bit as to what I could do different next time to help our team win. I knew in my heart he wasn't an athlete in his younger days but he was willing to help me be.... the best I could be.
As some of you may know, my dad was also a story telling machine. He just had that knack of telling a story and you could imagine being there just by the detail and delivery he used. I would give him a PHD in story telling if there was such a thing. Most were real life tales when he was a boy, playing with his brother Jack, getting into trouble, talking of his grandparents, his life growing up and his work experiences. Stories of his youth were always told with a warm sense of nostalgia and a twinkle in his eye.
Some of you in attendance today might not know, but I believe my Dad was the coldest person on the planet. Now I'm not talking of being cold hearted, I'm talking of he never felt warm. If it wasn't 85 degrees or above, it was cold to him. I really don't know how he was able to survive in the Texas panhandle with the low temperatures they have there. Most of us think he just never warmed up from working and living there. Dee and I would come to visit them at the farm and when you walked into the house during the summer, it was almost unbearable it was so hot. Not that they didn't have AC, he just didn't turn it on. He was comfortable. At night Dee and I had to have some relief so after Dad and mom went to sleep, I would turn the thermostat down to be comfortable enough to sleep and then get up early enough to put it back to normal before he got up. Worked many a time.
I'm not really sure how it got started but I believe it was Dee my wife. We as the kids, would share expenses for things my Dad needed or maybe we wanted him to have something that he could use. Anyway, he would always ask how much it cost. Dee would always tell him she had a Coopin. Got to be a funny thing when something was bought for him, she always had a Coopin. Now after awhile he finally caught on about the Coopins and it got to be even funnier because everything seemed to be bought with a Coopin. He even asked if Dee had a Coopin for something one time he wanted. Sure enough, she did. One of the few ways we could begin to repay him for all the things he did without or wanted.
Now as a kid growing up, I can say looking back, that he gave his family all they needed and more. Family was number one. We grew up in the church and had the most modern things at that time. Like color TV, nice place to live, new car, and nice clothes. I was fortunate enough to have fast cars and motorcycles. Something every teenager boy would cherish. Every now and again I would get what I called "a little rowdy" and he would say to me "sonny boy we need to have a talk". He didn't do it to be mean, he did it to better me and I thank him for that guidance.
Some of my sisters' memories of our dad were how he would sing around the house, sitting in his lap watching Gun Smoke on the TV while putting peanuts in their Dr. Pepper. He gathering wild plums while he was at work and bring them home for us to enjoy. But most of all, leading the singing at church. He just had that way of doing it like a symphony conductor.
One of the funny things that my younger brothers remembers, is he went to work with him one day. During one of his many stops during the day, my Dad was out doing something and my little brother was wandering around while Dad was busy. Seems as if my Dad got into the pickup and started driving off leaving my little brother. Dad must have realized that something wasn't right when he looked at the empty seat next to him and looked in the rearview mirror and my saw little brother was running along the road behind him hollowing DAD STOP. Stop he did and all was well.
Some of memories of my Dad were going to work with him in the summer also watching him performing his work duties only later in life to find out it would advance my future career in the oil and gas industry. We would also work leveling the yard it seem like every Saturday morning during the summer. Why I don't know to this day, but he had a yard as level as a pool table but brown grass because of the heat. Now during those times of dirt mowing, Dad committed that I could out shovel two men when I was a teen. He has called me the "human mole" many times for my shoveling abilities. Seems as if I had plenty of practice.
He would help me work on my car when I needed a hand. He was at all of my school functions no manner how far or how late it ran. He sacrificed so much, so I could have the things I needed to grow as a young man. All the things a dad was expected to do.
My dad was truly proud of his children and the way we all have approached life. How each of us had a great career, a nice place to live, healthy children and a good wife or husband to care for them. He knew in his heart he had done his job well. His paradise here on earth was his family.
Now my dad didn't have much of a formal education after high school he was able to exceeded in the life of hard knocks while growing up. He was a man who knew what an honest day’s work was and delivered it without complaint or failure. He grew up in the great depression raised by his mother and grandparents and he pushed himself to exceed expectations on every job he had. He had an old truck when he was a young man delivering goods, working wheat harvest and other odd jobs. He served his country in the Navy, he sold pots and pans door to door, sold cars, and sent some time in the mountains of New Mexico with El Paso Natural Gas. He finally found his life long career with Transwestern Pipeline in the Texas panhandle for 40 years retiring as a field supervisor.
My dad did what he knew best. To give his children a different life--a better life and he succeeded in so many ways. He instilled in me the following things...to save for a rainy day and retirement, only spend what you can afford, it's more fun to desire or dream about something than buying it, always tell the truth no manner how hard it might be, that hard work is rewarding, and he told me life would be a struggle at times but keep my head up and move forward. My Dad gave me everything he was, and I couldn't be more grateful. I am so lucky that he passed on so much of his knowledge and skills to me. I'm sure this is one of the many reasons why I am as I am.
Dad was also always there for our mother. For 72 years they have shared everything life can offer - together. They were a great team supporting each other in every way. He was there helping and supporting my mother up to her final days. Dad taught us all what it means to be a great husband. He married his sweetheart. He adored her. He laughed and cried with her. He was dedicated to her totally. He loved my mother with every bone in his body.
My dad's love was unconditional and this is something I will cherish from his character – and take with me forever. His kindness and generosity will be remembered by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.
Dad showed strength and love right up until his last days on this earth with us. I hope that one day, when I die, my children will look back, talk of my accomplishments, tell funny stories about me, and know that I loved them. Then, like my father, I will have led a complete life, just like my dad.
Nobody can be perfect but my Dad was as close to being the most perfect Dad anyone could have ever asked for.
My Dad was my best friend and my role model. He was my mentor and hero. Your decency, sincerity, and kind soul will stay with me forever. So, through our tears, let us see the blessings of knowing and loving you – a great man, and the best father a son or daughter could ever have. And in our grief, let us smile knowing that Dad is chatting with old friends and relatives passing before him, telling stories, and most of all... holding mom’s hand again.
Dad, thank you for your example, for your kindness, love and generosity. You have made me a better man for knowing you, and you have helped me learn some of the hard lessons of life with grace and dignity. You will be missed more than you know.
I believe the following poem sums it all up.
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagles flight,
The joy of a morning spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
when there was nothing more to add,
He knew his masterpiece was complete, and so, He called it DAD.
Love you dad. Always have. Always will.
