The Funeral Is Tomorrow
On Thursday Morning I received I received word that My Good Friend Don’s Funeral Services were to be held the next morning at 10. I had known him since June 1966. The first thing I said to myself was, “Wow! That’s 418 miles away!” The second thing I said to myself was, “You better start driving!”
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Technically This Is Not a Eulogy
A Eulogy is spoken at a funeral. This was not a Delivered Eulogy but is the result of remembrances that floated through my mind on the 836 Mile Trip to and from Don’s Funeral Services.
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Meeting, Losing Track Of and Finding Don Again
I met and worked with Don at Ford Motor Company from June 1966 until I left Ford in November 1975. We were always friendly toward each other but for the last 15 years we have been friends...Really Good Friends.
I had a business contact with him in about 1985 and that was the only time we saw each other until I got a call from him out of the blue in 2003.
I don’t know how he found me but I am so very glad he did. He called because he needed help with his computer. How he found out I knew more than he did about computing I never asked. I was too busy being his friend to bother asking.
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The Coffin Room
Every time I made a trip back to New Orleans (where he and I were born) I always stopped and spent two nights with he and his wife June. I was always glad I was there when I arrived and a little sad when I left.
I always slept in The Coffin Room. You can bet I asked why it had that name the first time I heard Don tell me where I would be sleeping and this is that story...
Ø One day Don saw an ad selling coffins that were for sale at a very good price.
Ø Don always liked a bargain.
Ø He made contact with the seller consummated the deal for two bargain priced coffins.
Ø Time passed and the Coffin Seller called and asked when Don was going to arrange to take possession of the coffins.
Ø Don told him that he had no need for the coffins at this time.
Ø The seller did not want to hear about his needs and he told Don that he needed to take the coffins off the seller’s hands as soon as possible, whether he needed them or not.
Ø Don complied with the coffin seller’s demand.
That’s how The Coffin Room got its name. There were two coffins in one of the room’s two closets.
I probably stayed in the room about 15 times but I never did open the door to that second closet.
I finally got to see one of the two coffins at Don’s Funeral Service. It was a fine looking coffin. It may have been a bargain but it did not look cheap. Don sure knew how to buy coffins.
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Don Was 12 Years Older Than I Am But He and June Had Been Married 2 Years Less (52) Than I Penny and I Have Been Married (54)
Don was not dragging his feet about getting married. He was looking for June.
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Being In That Number with Don and June
Shortly before the Saints played in their only Super Bowl on February 7, 2010 I called Don and said I wanted to watch the game with someone else who had been in Tulane Stadium when the Saints played their first game on September 17, 1967. I then proceeded to invite myself and my wife over to Don’s house to watch the game (another 836 mile drive).
For that first Saints game I hired on as a Security Guard for Pinkerton Detective Agency so I could get to see the game. At the kick off I was in one of the end zones in my nifty uniform looking secure.
My job it turned out was not to keep the drunks from spilling beer on other drunks because that was an impossible task. My job was to attempt to keep the drunks who had been spilled on from getting mad because they had beer all over him.
Don was somewhere else in the stadium in better seats without having to wear a secure uniform. Even then Don had more money than I did because he always was an excellent businessman.
Let’s get back to the Super Bowl in 2010. We had a Super Time because it was a Super Game, it was a Super Day and we watched the Saint’s Victory with Super Friends.
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Charities Are Going to Miss Don
Don not only knew how to make money but he also knew how to give it away. Several times on my visits I took note that there was a Charity Stack on his desk. It was made up of solicitations for his money Don had received for which he had yet to write a check. The checks were certain to be written eventually.
Some might say he was a Soft Touch but I rather think of him for what he was. He was a Generous, Caring and Sharing man who always tried to give back.
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A Fitting Passing
Don liked all things Military. He had been in the Navy in his youth. His office has pictures and replicas of Ships and Military Aircraft all over it. He was not an Admiral. He was an ordinary man but he was a Very Special Ordinary Man.
He had a strong belief in his God and he died with his God. He was in his Big Chair watching a Catholic Mass on his TV. It was a Fitting Passing for a Generous, Good Friend, Good Businessman, Good Father, Good Husband, Religious, Ice Cream Loving and Very Special Ordinary Man to Pass Away.
He wasn’t an Admiral but he could have been.
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Pay Our Respects
When people go to funerals they often say they go to “Pay Their Respects”. For those who attended Don’s Funeral Services it is only fitting that they go to Pay Their Respects because Don Deserved Respect.
Don’s Friend,
FellaO
