♥♥♥ My FOREVER & EVER♥♥♥

My Jim passed away very unexpectedly of a heart attack while replanting flowers.
About 20 minutes before my Jim passed away, I went to the door to talk to him, he looked down with a concerned look, he picked up a beautiful butterfly off of the cold damp grass, I took what later would be the last photo of my Jim holding that pretty butterfly, he put it safely on the porch to warm in the sun, when I went to call Jim the butterfly had flown away... then I found my dear Jim, that butterfly had visited me on many occasions, I believe it was here to remind me that life is still beautiful.

Jim always liked this quote that is written on a relative of his grave marker: ALTHOUGH HE SLEEPS HIS MEMORY DOTH LIVE, AND CHEERING COMFORT TO HIS MOURNERS GIVE, HE FOLLOWED VIRTUE AS HIS TRUEST GUIDE, LIVED AS A CHRISTIAN AS A CHRISTIAN DIED.

JIM,
I LOVED YOU ONCE
I LOVE YOU STILL
I ALWAYS HAVE
I ALWAYS WILL.
YOU WILL FOREVER BE MY ONE TRUE LOVE.

There are NO words that can describe how badly I miss my Jim, he was and will always be my FOREVER and EVER.
He was not just my husband, he was my best friend, we did everything together, if you seen one it was rare to not see the other.

We enjoyed working on our Family History & our graving projects, we enjoyed traveling to little out of the way towns just to learn their history.
For 14 years we enjoyed rescuing small wildlife & domestic animals(mostly cats for the past 5 years).
We enjoyed our many years helping our local Veterans, Jim felt it was his duty to be at a veterans funeral, whether or not we knew them, we were in Indiana on a cemetery research trip , Jim heard that a veteran was being buried in a few hours, and that he had no family in the area, so we stayed over 4 hours to be at that 1pm funeral.
It may seem odd to some, but he believed our service men & women deserved our honor & respect. I love him for that!

He enjoyed being out in nature just to enjoy the pleasures that GOD had made, he enjoyed gardening, visiting cemeteries to add graves to this site, camping, fishing, birdwatching of all kinds, he enjoyed watching the hummingbirds flit about, he enjoyed watching most all sports...but was a huge U of M footall fan, he was a History buff, he could tell you facts about history just off the top of his head, he enjoyed baking & cooking...especially for big family meals.

Most of all Jim loved serving our LORD, he was so grateful that he had been given the chance at eternal happiness that he wanted everyone to experience that feeling.
We were blessed to be Baptized together at First Apostolic Church (Mt. Morris, Mich.).
His favorite scripture was Acts 2:38
I will never be able to thank our church family for all that they did for my family & me after my husband passed.
My husband always had a special smile, but after he became a Born again CHRISTian that smile was permanetly there.
Jim was so honored to serve as a Deacon, Elder & Usher at our church.
He was the proudest Papa ever when our granddaughter would take his hand & walk down the isles of the church, or how she would tell people that her Papa worked for JESUS.
He truly enjoyed being a Papa.

...NOTE; I still have people tell me that my husband truly lived the CHRISTian life that he spoke of....I feel that is the best legacy that he could have left.

Jim was humble & kind in all he did, he seemed to be at his happiest when he was doing for others, he never hesitated to help someone in need...whether it be family, friends or a stranger, and he truly went out of his way to make me happy.
Jim was a caring & compassionate man, husband, father, Papa/grandfather, great grandpa, uncle & friend.
My husband had many friends & family, it would be hard to mention each one, but they all knew his feelings for them.

Our granddaughter Jessica (pictured with Jim in the playhouse) is no less important to us, we just did not have the oppurtunity to share in her life.

Jim got the nickname PAPADUCK because we used to tease him about the yellow rubber duck that he had in his bathroom when I met him, to continue the teasing I would buy him a new duckie whenever I could find a cute one, then when Kyli was little we would fill the sink(when she got a little older we filled the tub)& we would play with the rubber ducks until we were soaked. Then when we got the computer he was looking for an odd name... and Papaduck was what he chose.
We were blessed that he never took any of the teasing serious & always played along.

Jim was the kind of Papa any little girl would love to have, it was important to him that Kyli knew how special she was to us, we prefered to go places we could take her. He was not the type of Papa to buy her something everytime we went out....but he made sure to get her special things. He loved when he was asked to come scare away the monsters that hid in Kyli's closet & sometimes under her bed, he would ask them nicely to leave, if they didn't he would scare them right out of there, when they came back he would give them spankings & send them out her bedroom window, they learned their lesson & eventually stopped coming to scare his granddaughter. They were the best of playmates, (they acted more like big silly brother who picked on sweet little sister).
He only asked her to always do her best at whatever she was doing.
He loved to watch her at church when she would worship the LORD.
He enjoyed watching sports & cartoons with her on t.v., he loved teaching her about nature & gardening (They spent their last day together planting a little tree in our yard). Truth be told, no little girl was ever doted on so much.

Jim was the youngest of the 11 children (He is buried next to his parents and oldest brother Ernie & sister in law Mary).
Jim graduated from Kearsley High School.

He proudly served in Korea for 18 months with the U.S.Army, & was Honorably Discharged, which earned him a Military funeral.

GOD blessed us with 34 years of marriage, for which I will eternally be grateful for.
We were blessed with 2 children & 2 grand daughters.
...NOTE: Since my husbands passing we have been blessed with 2 more grandbabies...he would have been such a proud Papa.

Jim retired from DuPont of Flint, Mich.
Jim had a work ethic that all of his bosses admired, and he was never the type to call in sick...he went to work against mine & Doctors orders.

Jim was famous for saying: don't horse around or someone will get hurt...he was never wrong, someone always got hurt!
Also he said: white is white, black is black and there are no gray areas in anything but color...translation, you are either right or you are wrong!

Jim had a Common law wife Regina who passed away in 1969, he had lovingly helped to raise her children & grandchildren & felt blessed that he had a chance to have the great & great great grandchildren in our lives.
And I am grateful for their love & support.

I'M FREE
Don't grieve for me now I'm free;I'm following the path GOD laid for me. I took His hand when I heard Him call. I turned my back & left it all. I could not stay another day,to laugh to love to work or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way;I've found that place at the close of day. If parting has left a void then fill it with remembered joy. A friendship shared, a laugh a kiss;ah yes, these things I too will miss. Be not burdened with times of sorrow;I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My lifes been full, I savored much;Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch. Perhaps my time seemed all to brief;Don't lenghthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your heart & share with me;GOD wanted me now;He set me free.

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