The Obituary in Lake Charles Press

The picture.

 

 

 

My Dad’s Eulogy. Presented by Josh Mayer

 

If you knew Bob, or as many of you called him, Mr. Bob or Beanie, you knew how interested he was in life.

 

He was a simple man who enjoyed simple pleasures, like chocolate ice cream, French bread, fancy cars, pocket knives and nice clothes.

 

He loved his wife first. I think he woke up every day of the 59 years they were married and couldn’t believe he was really married to her. How had he gotten this lucky? Their love affair was epic. They made each other better.

 

He loved his family, and though he didn’t express his emotions freely, he would let you know how he felt in other ways. He liked to use quotes to express himself. My wife’s favorite is- “It’s a long and winding road” Some others “I’m just riding my bike and shining my shoes” “Got to get your mind right” “A fool can loose tomorrow looking back on yesterday.” And “we’re only just passing through’ He loved music and would quote Billy Joel’s “Don’t go changing to try to please me, I love you just the way you are” frequently. His high school senior quote was, “The only way to have a friend is to be one”

 

He loved his friends, they were his sounding board and his daily joy. He called you Captain, Padner, Birmingham, Leon, and many more. (Join in if you have one to add.) He and Wendall were called the Odd Couple of Welsh. Riding around in a trash truck. From looking at the crowd here, you all can attest, he was a friend to all he met. He liked to talk and was very curious. He listened. He made us all laugh with his charm. 

 

He loved this town. He had an amazing report with his customers at Dupre’ Drugs for some 30 years. Taking only a couple vacations in all that time. Jill tells me he was like the town Doc. If there were emergencies in the middle of the night he would be there to help. He dropped off medicines to customers after hours and on the weekends, If his customers couldn’t afford to have the whole prescription filled he would just give them what they needed. He dispensed wit and wisdom with every prescription filled.

 

Bob loved to work. I think some of the best years of his life were in his retirement. He enjoyed physical labor and keeping yards mowed and raked. He loved his job with the town of Welsh. But mostly he enjoyed doing whatever Claire told him to do. Building a deck, hanging wallpaper, painting trim.

 

To be honest, Bob loved doing whatever Bob wanted to do. He was a determined man. (My wife said that was a nicer word for stubborn). Yes, Bob was determined. He did things the way he wanted. (Sometimes to the annoyance to those in the front row) However different he may have been to others, he didn’t stray too far from what he called his “rut”. But he was happy in that decision. And in a time, when so many of us are looking at our devices to see what others are doing. Bob didn’t do that. You have to respect that. Maybe he was old school, or in a rut. But it was HIS rut, it was his and that was what made him so special, so unique, so loveable. He focused on what HE loved and WHO he loved. His family, his friends, his town, his work, his life with Claire. 

 

He had a lovely, lovely time.

 

Special thanks to Jimmy Cormier, Robert Benoit and Terry Parker and Glenn Soileau for always being there when asked and Kent Peterson and Zula Lyons, their neighbors, for all the support throughout the years.

 

I’d like to leave you with the words of one of Bob’s favorite songs by Frank Sinatra.

 

And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and ev’ry highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

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