For Grandpa...Welcome Home

LeRoy Charles Suess

I had the honor of giving the eulogy at my grandpa's service...I Love you Grandpa!

As a young girl, I can remember sitting at Bopa’s BIG desk. He would let me play secretary and answer his phone. There was another desk in his office that had even more memories to him; all of us kids would hear stories about the desktop hanging on the wall.  It had inkwells in it and grandpa would tell stories of dipping little girl’s pony tails in the ink.  I always had a hard time imagining my grandpa being mischievous…he wasn’t that way at all as a grown up!

Each of can remember special times with grandpa and how it made us feel….important and loved.  Grandpa got his name Bopa when I was little because I couldn’t say anything right.  Bopa has had a strong influence on each one of us…wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandchild, great grandchild, niece, nephew…all of us have seen the deep love of family and faith demonstrated by this one of a kind man.

When we all sat down and were talking about our memories of Bopa, a common theme came out… hard work, family, doing things the right way, treating others with love and respect, faith in God and the ability to always know things will work out according to God’s plan. 

He certainly touched each of us in a different way, but he taught us all what it means to love and how important family is in our life. His devotion to nana was a beautiful thing…he would even show that love and have that twinkle in his eye when nana would say, “LeRoy!”

There are some things about grandpa that were complex…but really he liked to keep things simple…he named all of his dogs Mitzie, bought all of his trucks in red and read the same book over many times.  The Bible was his guide for life.

Grandpa loved Chicken, angel food cake and orange slice.  Recently he had taken to Applebee’s and their Chicken Fried Chicken…he would never waiver from his menu choice…when he found something good he stuck to it!  There was always a jar of candy in the house from as far back as I can remember. Bopa loved his candy but always shared with us grandkids. We all knew where the candy stash was…

Grandpa was fun and he had a great sense of humor…and yes, I think he may have caused a little mischief in his day.  When he told of stories in Canada…one that always came up was about sitting in a galvanized bucket tied to a calf’s tail and being pulled in the snow.

Then there was the joke about the Air Force and the command of “Cease” fire…everyone else stopped firing and grandpa starts.  I am sure that was a made up story, but a funny one.

He was always willing to do whatever it took to keep the kids happy…It was funny how he always went out on an electrical call when Santa arrived on Christmas Eve.  I thought I was pretty smart when I figured that out!

Grandpa was the definition of a hard worker.  He had a lot of knowhow, we all knew we could go to grandpa to figure out how to get a job done.  He could fix ANYTHING! We had a family joke…there’s the right way, the wrong way and the SUESS way. I have to admit; Bopa’s way usually turned out right.  The boys will tell you of how they learned to make something using minimal materials and not wasting anything!  Us girls will tell you how whenever we needed something done, we asked our grandpa…not our husband.  Sometimes grandpa would just decide something needed to be done and do it himself…”Chrissy, I am rewiring your garage…it is just not safe!”

Grandpa was an electrician by trade, but he loved ranching and the outdoors.  He loved to talk cattle with Tim (and Tanner!) and logging with Everett.  Uncle Pete, dad and Ryan were all lucky enough to work with grandpa. Grandpa even did his share of babysitting…all the while teaching Karly and Korina how to drink coffee! 

Family was so important to grandpa. Grandpa came from Canada from a large family. He has been married to nana for over 65 years. Aunt Bee and dad were blessed to have the guidance and direction of such a strong family man. He was and will always be the leader of our family. As we have always looked to grandpa for guidance, we will continue to use the lessons he has taught us.

I have never seen someone demonstrate and active faith like my grandparents. I remember the day I became a Christian very clearly. I am sure all of us can attribute the road to our faith to grandpa. Bopa was a very faithful man. He didn’t always have an easy life. He has had it all and has had nothing. Through it all, faith in God and a strong belief always got grandpa through. I can’t remember a single time that grandpa was negative or resentful of his circumstances.  He always said God had a plan.

He leaves us behind with a lot of tears, but a lot more memories and a part of establishing the foundations of our lives.  I have shared some memories and you will read more in your memorial program…

Here’s a few others…Angie I know you will never look at a caterpillar the same. Jenny, I know grandpa was smiling as you put all of that work into the picture memories.  Korey, you are going to have to pick up the slack on those dolly and wheel barrel rides! Mark, I know grandpa will always be your hero and he couldn’t have asked for a better little buddy! Nick and Alex, I am sure grandpa was really laughing inside when you had the orange sale in his neighborhood. Mandy, grandpa is proud of you for sharing all of that candy he gave you…especially the orange slices you shared with dad. Hayley and Seth…the time you spent with grandpa looking at all of his pictures was a great lesson in history…one any child would love to have with their great-grandfather. Josie, I hope you let grandpa win a few of those board games you played…Tanner, you, grandpa and Uncle Tim should have had a cattle ranch together.

Nana, grandpa has a smile on his face, thankful he spent his life with the most beautiful woman in the world…with the cutest walk…The two of you are an inspiration to us all.  You love is the definition of love.

 I really don’t know what I am going to do without my grandpa; there are always those people in your life that you think will never leave. He is home and at peace. He took the time to write down his story, his history for us all to share… I am going to finish his book in remembrance of one of the most amazing people I could ever have in my life.

As I reflect back I see that my grandpa has given us all so many answers.  If we will remember those lessons and the example he led with his life…we can only pray that we will be the person grandpa was…I know grandpa is listing each of us by name and praying we will find the greatest blessing in life come from our family and our faith.