This Wednesday, our family gathered in Fort Smith, Arkansas to say goodbye to my great-grandfather, Raymond Rippy.
Raymond Rippy was born in 1911 and had an amazing life. He lived through innumerable changes and landmark events in our nation’s history. He went from riding a horse to work to communicating with his daughter in California via a webcam and high-speed internet connection and from the telegram to e-mail. He saw two World Wars, two in Iraq, Korea, Vietnam and 9/11. He lived under seventeen presidents. His use of modern technology was even recently featured on the Today Show.
He was a devoted family man. He loved his family and his family loved him. He was committed to his work, regardless of what it was. He worked for the local water board and though he has been retired for many years, he is still well-known and revered there. He was very successful in real estate throughout Fort Smith and continued to manage his many properties himself until a few short years ago. He was a man of great patience, perseverance and deliberation. People marveled at his ability to wait on a business deal, only to move on it when he felt the time was just right. He was just as patient with the people around him.
He was loved by his family - his daughter, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other relatives. He had a great life until the very end. He was loved by the care staff that watched over him in the final months of his life. They were at the funeral and the family dinner afterwards because, well, they had become his family, too.
Three years ago, he made the trip to Montgomery and was able to hold and play with his first great-great grandchild, our son Taylor. We took a family picture with five generations - Papa (my great-grandfather), his daughter, Kai (his son, my grandfather, is deceased), my dad and his sister, my siblings, cousins and I, and then Taylor. It was quite a special event to have everyone together.
Most importantly, he was a Godly man of character and integrity. He was a leader in his church and community. His faith was not just a badge that he wore or a persona he had on Sundays; it was what defined him. Whether it was in business or personal matters, his decisions and actions were made in light of his strong convictions. He passed his faith along to his family. His son was a minister and evangelist, his grandson (my dad) is a minister, his great-grandson (my brother) is a music pastor and my sister and I are both committed Christians who are also very involved in various ministries…and all this is just our immediate family. Countless others have been influenced by the Godly, Christ-like life that my great-grandfather modeled for everyone.
My dad commented at the funeral that many people in this world are not fortunate enough to have a father that is such a great example of the spiritual picture of God as being our Heavenly Father. I have been blessed in that I have had several: First and foremost, my own dad. Secondly, my grandfather on my mom’s side (his father as well) and then finally, “Papa” Rippy. To have such a strong, Christian heritage is something for which I will be eternally grateful.
This was the first funeral I have ever attended where the cliché, “We are not mourning his death, but celebrating his life,” was actually true. Yes, we all were saddened by the loss, but more importantly, we celebrated the life of a great man with the peace of knowing that one day we will see him again.
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