Grandpop

Grandpop
Originally uploaded by zavodk

We all come together today to honor William Keys.
When it was brought to me to speak, I felt
overwhelmed, not with the task of giving the eulogy but, in doing his Lifestory justice. How could I begin to talk about someone whose marriage has lasted longer
than I've been alive?

Grandpop, to me was always a mythological figure, a man who was larger than life;
a husband, father, war hero, fire
fighter, yacht's man,and real estate mogul -just think of the investment he made in a small town of Forked River, N.J. and
how many lives have been affected. His choices in life were always practical. Always putting his family first. He was also an early pioneer for enviromentalism, partly for recycling but mostly for not throwing anything away. It was based on a practical idea of growing up in a time with out much of anything at all. It was hard for him to understand the thought of just throwing the whole thing away, instead of getting it fixed.

One of my earliest & memorable interactions was the
Christmas Bird. Before the children arrived on
Christmas Eve to decorate the tree, Grandpop would
hide a "bird" that chirped in the branches. I
remember spending hours trying to see where that
little bird was inside the tree. This was the first
example of the many ways that he would test and push
us beyond our expectations & limitations. He never
settled for what you assumed you could do, but what he
knew you could accomplish. He believed that if you
are going to do it, do it right, the first time! That
there was nothing a magic marker and duct tape
couldn't solve.

But I think his biggest accomplishment in life was his
family, our family. We all stand here together,
threads of a fabric, waves of the ocean. a reflection
of his life, pieces of a puzzle coming together as a
family to celebrate his steadfast love.