Walt: a Eulogy

Walt was the kind of guy everyone needs in their life..He was a great son, a great brother a great friend and a great husband.
He was honest, caring, conscientious and loving. When you looked up the word integrity in the dictionary there would be Walt's picture. He was the most unassuming and trusting person ever . He didn't put on airs or go out of his way to impress anyone...He was just himself and people were drawn to him. He accepted people at face value. He believed what people told him because he himself was so honest he never expected anything but honesty in return ..With Walt there were no hidden agendas,what you saw was what you got.
Rain or shine, whether he felt well or not he would get up before the crack of dawn every day and drive 50 miles to work so as not to" let the guys down".He would come home tired, sore and exhausted but he never complained. He was always ready to help out if any one needed a hand.
His pleasures were simple..a cozy home , watching tv, ( he was captain of the remote control) a little drink or smoke once in a while. He liked to go on gambling trips from time to time and play scratch offs and football pool but it was purely for enjoyment. He knew his limit. He loved listening to music..classic rock being his favorite.. He could play a really mean "air guitar". His possessions were meager and few..a shadow box from the Philippines with his name on it which housed a few unusual sea shells and other little items he had picked up through the years. A framed picture of an orange rocket against a blue sky taking off into space that had been given to him as a child..some photographs of his close friends and family, a bowling trophy, a large ceramic raccoon that I gave him when we first met that he carried around in his van for years... He saved every greeting card he ever received from family and friends and the ones he sent to others were carefully picked out to say just the right words for the occasion…. He was so sentimental..his things had had no monetary value but to him they were treasures. He had a closet full of his dads old clothes that he couldn't wear himself but kept them because he could not bear to part with them.
He was so strong he sometimes didn't recognize his own strength.He could carry heavy things that most people couldn't budge, without even exerting himself. Once, when he took a treadmill test for a physical exam, the doctor had to have him stop as he was wearing out the machine. He loved his family so much..He was always calling his Mom and sisters on the phone and he never failed to say "I Love you" to them at the end of every conversation.
When Walter and I met we immediately bonded. We were soulmates. I was afraid I was a little too old for him as there were a few years difference in our ages…To make me feel better , he went out and rented the movie "Harold and Maud" which is about an 79 year old woman and a teenage boy falling in love…I told him "Hey, I am not that much older than you." We had a good laugh over that one.
Walt with his big muscular build and long shaggy sun streaked hair, dressed in his dirty work clothes was quite a neighborhood sight each afternoon walking our snooty little poodle Zora on her rhinestone leash. They were quite a pair. He loved her and she loved him. He was her Daddy. She and I would both listen eagerly for the sound of Walt's truck pulling in the driveway every evening..it was the highpoint of the day for both of us when his smiling face came through that door.
Walt came from a large family and would often tell me stories about his life growing up. He told me how much he loved and admired his dad and how much he missed him. He told me about his grandmother who fixed Polish cabbage rolls and pierogies for him. He cared deeply for all his cousins and for all his friends both old and new. He loved his co worker Brian like a brother. He was so honored to be Godfather to Brian's daughter Cathy. He carried her picture proudly on his key chain. He loved his niece, Julie and spoke highly of her accomplishments. My 12 years with Walt were some of the best years of my life. We made a great team. We never went to bed mad ..that's not to say we didn't have our little squabbles..but we always made up quickly and were laughing again within a few minutes. Every morning before he left for work he would kiss me goodbye and tell me he loved me..I told him I loved him too. I would tell him what a lucky girl I was to have him and he would reply "no, I am the lucky one."
He told me when we first met, when I asked him what he was looking for in a relationship, that he wanted someone to grow old with..Our plan was for that to happen for us, but unfortunately it didn't work out that way…I will keep him in my heart always and hope that he is waiting for me when my times comes to cross over.
Walt never knew a stranger…He was a friend to all with whom he came in contact…He was fun loving, handsome, cute, likable.. he had a wonderful sense of humor, great common sense, was intelligent and fair, not to mention that adorable impish grin of his. He did have a little stubborn streak which only added to his charm.
Walt would not want us to be sitting around crying..He would want us to celebrate his life and enjoy the time we have left on Earth. He loved life and lived his to the fullest. Most likely, not a day will go by that we will not think of Walt..But he would want those thoughts to be happy ones about the good times that were had together.
Walter was one of a kind. A really cool guy...There will never be another Walt.
All who knew him should consider themselves blessed for having known him. He has enriched all of our lives.
On Walt's Myspace page he has as his theme song "Simple Man" by Lynard Skynard..He told me he chose that song because it reminded him of himself. He considered himself just an "average Joe"…a simple man.. That's how he saw himself and he was content with that image…However, to me and to all those who knew and loved him, he was so much more. He was an unsung hero, a wonderful shining star of a person….to be looked up to and admired. He was a perfect example of one of God's finest creations. Our darling Walter, we miss you terribly but we must take comfort in believing that we will all be together again someday .
We love you Walt……God Bless you……………And as Walt would say , "Right on!"©

My Grandfather

Clair Blanchard represented all that is right and good in this world.
When I hear the term, "the strong silent type", he immediately comes to my mind.
He was my hero and the solid foundation of our family. We could always count on him.
He was born on a farm on July 20, in Randolph, New York to Thomas Allen Blanchard and the former Frances Louise Meyers (Frankie).. His mother was small in stature and was said to resemble the actress Debbie Reynolds. He had two brothers Claude and younger brother Arnold who died in his teens from a horse riding accident. He had three sisters, Gertrude, Maude and Grace.
He attended Chamberlain Institute in Randolph, where a large charcoal drawing of a deer with antlers he had created remained hanging for decades .
He married his lifelong sweetheart Ethel May Cuffe on June 22. They had two Children Mary Florence(Virginia) and Donald Clair(Donn). They had four Grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren and many great, great grand children.
Clair was in the Army during the Spanish American War, stationed in the Philippines. He worked as an Engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad most of his life. During World War II he put his talents to work as an expeditor for Bell Aircraft supervising an all female crew.
He was a hard worker and a very good provider for his family. He was a wholesome unassuming gentleman of great integrity. He was very independent and self reliant. He took care of his family and any one else who asked for his help.
He moved his family south to live in Florida in 1950 after a serious operation the year before that cost him his leg and nearly his life. He didn't let the loss of his leg slow him down. He would climb on the roof to make repairs with out asking for help. He enjoyed a good game of poker and in his later years he loved to watch the prize fights and baseball on TV while enjoying a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
He was talented as a wood carver, carving the stocks of rifles with painstakingly intricate nature scenes with deer, etc. The guns were absolute works of art.
He enjoyed cars and usually had a new Cadillac every year or so.
He loved his family and his country. He was a great role model. The world could use more men like my Grandfather, Clair Blanchard.
He passed away on January 9, 1963 and is still greatly missed. VXA ©