RONALD CLARK

Condolences & Memories (2 entries)

• Eulogy: I want to say thank you on behalf of my Mother and Sister and our families to everyone here today. Thank you to everyone who has shown so much concern for my father for so long. I’ve been thinking about Christmas and remembering: When I was a very little girl; each Christmas I would lay in bed at night and delight in the multicolored tiny village that lit up the ceiling of my room. I thought: what a miracle it was - that my Dad had painstakingly positioned every light on the trees outside my window to make that Christmas village just for me. I had expected to come here today to talk about the fact that everything I ever needed to know about being a good human being and a parent, I learned from my Dad. What I had not expected was to learn about the impact my Dad has had on the many people he has touched during his life. We have been overwhelmed by the generous words that family, friends, co-workers, masons, and neighbors have expressed about my Dad over the past few days. How he was the most kind and generous person they had ever known. And how they wished that they had a father or papa for their children like him in their own lives. And that my mother’s family felt he was the head of our family and took care of everyone. I’ve been thinking of what he would want me to talk about today. And I know he would want me to talk about the cabin: He built it when I was 3 and my sister was 9 with a dream; as he always said to my Uncle Kevin, and the spirit of adventure. It is a place where my parents grew the children. - Everyone’s children: cousins, friends, and grandchildren in love and good times. Every time we would arrive at the cabin he’d be waiting to carry our bags from the car. He would always be telling one of us how much he loved it there and how beautiful it was. He would say what a lucky man he was that he had so much more than he ever thought he would. The gratitude he felt that he had the opportunity to own a house - much less a cabin. My mom told me this week that he was the most satisfied person she had ever met. He worked so hard - but never measured success in money. He never wanted for anything and was uncomfortable if you even thanked him for the good things he had done. I saved the newspaper articles about my Dad saving a man by running into a burning house on rouge road. One of the headlines read : Modest Hero receives Certificate of Valor from the City of Winnipeg Fire Department. The paper in Ottawa stated: Clark said, after Governor General Romeo LeBlanc pinned the Silver Star of the Medal of Bravery to his chest. ”This is very nice, but it’s not necessary” In fact in 3 different newspapers he said “I know someone would do the same for me”. Eight years ago when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, our family had to fight for operating room time for him to have his kidney removed before the cancer spread. When the call came; he arrived at my house moments later and gave me that medal. He told me that I was the hero. I’m giving it back today, and wearing it for him as a symbol of the heroic fight he fought against the two terrifying diseases he had attained. When he did become ill: he never complained. In fact he took it like a man, a brave, strong, proud man. He apologized for not being able to remember things if you asked him a question. One thing I am sure about through all of this: is that the pain that was the greatest for him: was never his own. It was the pain that he saw in all of us. I asked him for his opinion one day, and he said, oh my I think that is something you should ask your father. And I thought that my world would come to an end. But as it turned out it was his grandchildren that taught me how to accept whatever would come. Every time he changed, without fail; they changed (no questions asked) they started talking a little slower, using fewer words in a row, or stood in a different position. They simply had the wisdom to change with him. I learned from them that when he started calling me pretty girl instead of my name and started sleeping on me when I was with him - that in his own way he knew who I was still. Though I haven’t been able to have a conversation with him for a while: I hear my Dad talking and growing values in our children everyday, although the voice is my own. Finish what you start Don’t do half a job Always speak the truth Always do what you say you’re going to do. Hold your head up when you speak. Your attitude is showing. Even when they are squishing ants on the sidewalk: You know, everybody’s got to be somewhere. For the exception of my mother we have all shared that moment when he didn’t recognize us in a usual way. My Dad loved us all more than we know. He knew that there was no better gift for a father to give a child then to love their mother. It is a gift that he was able to give to my sister and me even without a father to learn from himself. He also showed us that neither disease nor death could conquer his love for my mother. When I became older, I realized that the lights outside my window were just average Christmas lights. And the shapes of the Village were created by the frost between the glass of the windows. I also realized what that Miracle was: It was the blessings my Dad gave me each and everyday of my life. It was the impact however big or small he made on the lives of many of you. And how in light of all that I have learned about that: It was that he always made me feel as if his love and all that he did was - just for me. Love, Lisa - Posted by: Lisa Place (Daughter) on: Nov 22, 2012

• Not a day goes by that we don't think of Ron. He was such a wonderful friend. We love him and we miss him. - Posted by: Fred and Kathy Stagg (Friends) on: Nov 22, 2012