[Newlife]

Originally posted by Mahler:
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 46 : Eulogy for Dad
Good Morning, guys.
My wife and I arrived in Pittsburgh on December 27th to celebrate the holidays with family and friends, only to find out that her father had suffered a heart attack. This gentle soul died on December 30th. We had just celebrated his 90th birthday in November. All of his family is here and he will be buried tomorrow. I have been honored to be asked to deliver the eulogy which I have been working on for the past few days. He has been a real inspiration in my life and I would like to share it with you, my many friends.

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There is not much that one can say about Ken Bixby that is not already understood and appreciated by those who have known and loved him.

How do you summarize a life that spanned nearly a century and touched the lives of so many others in its journey?

Some men march, headstrong, through the forest and cut a swath of devastation.

Others, slip quietly between the trees and branches so that you would never know their passing.

Kenneth Ervine Bixby walked through the forest, gently touching each leaf, softly moving a branch here and there that brushed against his face, and left a trail for others to follow.

He was a man of many names and many titles which he gathered along the way,
but he relished the simple ones the most and cherished those who spoke them;
Kenny, Dad, Pop, Grampa.

He was a gentleman and a gentle man,
A quiet man of few words,
yet he spoke volumes to us all
About the simple joys of living.

He was a man who did not live from day to day
but from event to event;
from accomplishment to accomplishment;
excelling as a student, an athlete, a soldier, a man of business, a friend, a husband, a father, a grandfather.

Growing up in North Fon du Lac, Wisconsin
he was no stranger to hardship, which he overcame
with hard work and athletic and academic abilities.

He attended the University of Wisconsin and
was president of Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Kappa Psi fraternities.
He was elected to Phi Kappa Phi, the all university honor society.
He was co-captain of the Varsity Baseball Team lettering in athletics.
One of his proudest achievements was his receipt of the award in 1941 of the
Big Ten Medal for Academic and Athletic Achievement.

He served in the armed forces during World War II attaining the rank of
Master Sergeant and the title of husband having married Anne Behrendt of
Cleveland Ohio who remained throughout their nearly 61 years together, the love of his life.

After the war he began a long business career starting with American Steel and Wire which subsequently became a part of US Steel. He also started a family which, over the years, found him blessed with five children, and six grandchildren

It may be erroneous to say that he only had five children because, Ken – Dad, held the wives of his sons and the husband of his daughter as closely to his heart as his own children.

He was a giving man, a generous man,
but not the generosity that revels in fanfare and show.
He served his God, his country, his family, his friends
equally well and with nothing expected
except the pleasure he derived from doing so.

He was a man of faith.
Not the faith that merely brought him to this church for
an hour or so every Sunday,
but a faith that he took from this sacred space
and carried with him always.
When you grasped his hand and looked into his face,
his lips would curl into a smile,
and Christ was looking out from behind those eyes.

It is often said that only the good die young.
The life of Ken Bixby is a testament to the fact that God,
in his infinite wisdom and boundless generosity,
just sometimes leaves the good among us
for a little while longer
before gathering them to himself.
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Have a great week. I hope each of you has someone like my
father-in-law in your lives.

In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler

Mahler, You continue to amaze me. 100% wonderful. Ken is a lucky man to have you watching over his daughter. Best of luck to you and the family.