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This article is from Today's
Native Father, issue #104, July/August, 1999. Related articles from this
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Epitaph for a Great Father by Clair Schnupp |
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My father, Elmer William Schnupp, age 85, went to be with the Lord on August 14, 1998. I would have been there, but I had left his bed-side for northern Manitoba to teach a 3-day workshop. I received word of my father’s passing shortly before the end of the workshop.
As I flew south, I mentally outlined what I wanted to say at my father’s funeral. Father had often been there for me. Now I wanted to be there for him. Also, I wanted to deliver a message to other fathers in this day of declining father effectiveness. My father gave me life, shaped my life and protected my life. My funeral message in his honour was built around the words FATHER and STRENGTH. F - Faith. Father had a faith that carried him through the Great Depression, World War II and all of life. A - Authority. Father was a man of few words, but he spoke and lived with authority. When he spoke, people listened. T - Trust. Father could always be trusted. As a child, I took courage from his fearlessness. H - Hope. Father had hope that God would see him through anything: poverty, loss or even the flu epidemic of 1917 and 1918. E - Energy. Father had energy and he exerted that energy for his wife, his children and his community. R - Responsibility. Father was a good steward of whatever God gave him in poverty or plenty. * * ****************************************************** Father was also a man of STRENGTH S - Security in God. This security permeated his whole life and influenced his wife, his children and his grandchildren. T - Truth. We never doubted what Father said. He was man of integrity. At the weekly farmer’s market he told us to give customers 16½ ounces of cheese, or even a little more, to the pound. R - Rational, accurate thinking. As a businessman for more than forty years, and as a citizen all his life, he could always be counted on for sound decisions. E - Endurance. My father would never quit until he saw the task finished. He never quit until the day his body gave out, collapsed and was taken to the hospital. N - Nurture. My father cared about what each of his children was doing. He made each of us feel special and cared for. G - Gentleness. My siblings can remember only a few times that our father displayed anger. He was a true gentleman. T - Trustworthy. My father was always where he said he would be. He could be trusted to be faithful to Mother. We received a great gift from him in his demonstrated love for Mother. H - Humility. I cannot remember arrogance or haughtiness in my father’s life. He lived with a confident humility. As a child of Elmer Schnupp, I was indeed blessed. For men who are not so fortunate to have had such a father, my challenge to you is to reach out to your Heavenly Father. He can give you the involvement, consistency, aware-ness and nurture you missed as a child. He can teach you to do for your children what my father did for me. Dr. Clair Schnupp is a pilot, teacher and founder of Northern Youth Programs. |
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