My father passed away at 3:31 pm on 3/31. My heart aches and my head is fuzzy. Until you go through something like this, you will never understand the pain, confusion, depression, and millions of details you have to deal with when something like this happens.
One of the worst things I had to do was write and deliver a speech at my father's funeral. My siblings decided not to do this, and I felt that one of us should give him that honor, so I did it. Below is what I wrote and delivered...... along with his obituary that I had to also write.... which is at the bottom.
Rest in peace daddy, you did good, real good.
Before I begin I would like to thank all of you here on
behalf of my mother, and my siblings, for your efforts large and small to be
here today, it means more to us than words can express.
It is said that you can measure a man by the number of
friends he has, and if that is true, then by what I see before me- my dad was a
great man. My dad has been many things
to many people and I want to touch on just a few of them today.
My dad’s been a cowboy. In fact, I remember a time he was
trying to break a horse on my grandpa’s farm down in Las Animas. My dad was
giving that horse a good lesson in behaving, and that darn horse bucked him
off. He cracked some ribs, and was
hurting, but I never heard him complain. Well, at least until we watched The
Great Outdoors, a John Candy film, and he was laughing soo hard he would cry
out in pain as he clutched the pillows to his side and we had to turn the movie
off.
My dad’s been a farmer. We lived on 5 acres in southeast
Loveland and we had horses, pigs, dogs, cats and many other unwanted creatures
especially prairie dogs. My siblings and
I all have memories of bailing hay, but my sister’s is the most hilarious. She was tasked with driving old whitey, the
manual pickup truck, and Michael and Larry were in the back. Dad was throwing
bales of hay into the truck. If you knew
our property at all, there was a slight downhill slope on the south end. Well,
apparently, as Crystal (who was only maybe 14 at the time) was driving downhill
and trying to turn the truck she almost lost control as she was trying to shift
and turn. Dad was banging on the side of the truck, Michael and Larry were
hanging on for dear life in the back…. And that’s something that I wish I could
have seen.
Believe it or not, my dad’s been a cheerleader. I played
sports from 5th grade through college, and my dad was at every
possible game he could make. He would
harass the refs and simultaneously be cheering me on. I never had to look into
the stands to wonder if my parents were there, because I could hear him
encouraging me the whole game through.
My dad’s been a tax accountant. Now I don’t know the full story of how he
chose that career, but he was very good at numbers. I don’t know how he did what he did, but I
always seemed to get money back, well, most of the time. I’ve met many other tax accountants, and somehow
my dad never seemed to fit that mold. I think because his laughter was so big
and he could cut loose with the best of them.
My dad’s been a gamer.
He always loved to play games. He could be tired after a long day at
work, or not feeling the best, and if anyone was up for a game of Yahtzee, or
cards he would perk right up. He loved
hearts, spades, phase 10, golf, the dice game, Yahtzee, and more. His entire face would light up as he would go
out, or get a really big dice roll and he would do a little jig in his
chair. On the other hand, if anyone else
would get a good hand he’d call out, “cheat cheat cheat”.
My dad’s been a fisherman.
He loved to go fishing. He’s fished in rivers and lakes across the
United States, and in many of the oceans.
He loved to walk and fish for hours on end, but would always find the
time to teach us kids. He taught all of us how to fish. I remember after a big
rain storm I’d be outside with my flashlight picking up the fattest slimiest
nightcrawlers putting them in a coffee can, dreaming about the big fish it was
going to catch.
My father has been many things, but he’ll always be my daddy.
(Here's how I was going to close but my daughter asked to read a verse at the funeral and I had her say her verse here instead, it's below in blue)
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my Father’s favorite Celtic bands, the
Elders:
Please don’t cry my Father as you sit by the hearth
I will dance your memories with joy in my heart
I will go now and pray as I travel this land
And live by the lessons you gave
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy, Philippians 1:3-4
The obituary can be read at the Loveland Reporter Herald:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/reporterherald/obituary.aspx?n=lyle-landis&pid=174558011
Lyle
Dean Landis
August
1944- March 2015
Lyle Dean Landis, a-typical tax accountant, outdoor
enthusiast, vacationing buddy, and overall friend died peacefully on March 31st,
2015. Lyle was born in Steele City, NE to Roy and Eutha Landis. He graduated high school from Fairbury, NE in
1962. Shortly after graduation he joined
the United States Air Force in 1964 where he served for 4 years which included
an 18 month tour in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Lyle completed 2 years at Fairbury junior college and received his
bachelor’s degree in 1972 from Metro State in Denver, CO. Lyle worked for the Airline industry for 10
years where he met the love of his life, Mary Teresa Sanchez to whom he was
married for almost 39 years.
Lyle was a self-made
man who the IRS learned to fear during his 35+ years as a tax accountant. When
he wasn’t busy with the tax season and making his clients laugh, he loved to
golf. During the summers he loved
fishing, and was known to tie his own flies on occasion. One of his great adventures was hunting black
bears in Iowa. Lyle also enjoyed elk & deer hunting, all over the state of
Colorado and was nicknamed “The Great White Hunter” by his brothers.
For a good time, Lyle was the right person to call. He
loved to travel and he loved vacations.
He traveled to Mexico, Europe, the Caribbean, and visited most of the
United States. He particularly loved the rugged beauty and amazing fishing in
Alaska.
Lyle was loved dearly by his wife Mary, and children
Crystal (husband Mike, children Daniel, and Matthew), Michael (wife Stephanie,
child Aryana), Larry (girlfriend Tanya), Shamree (husband Josh, children Abigail,
Nehemiah, and Josiah); mother Eutha, siblings Charlotte, Les, Paul, Sharon, and
Mark; and many-in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends and family too numerous to
list but not forgotten.
Memorial Service will be held at 10:00am on Friday April
10th at Foundations Church in Loveland.
Memorial Contributions may be made to Nation to Nation Ministries, Inc.
(serving the Lakota people on Pine Ridge Reservation) and/or the Cancer &
Caregiver Art Program at the McKee Medical Cancer Center, attention; Gale Coddington.
