In honor of a wonderful man...

Although I didn't get to spend very much time with Gigipa, I know, and have heard a lot the last few days, that he was a wonderful man. I wish I would have had the opportunity to know him better, but Mommy says that he is happy in his new home in heaven, waiting for us to join him there one day.

Gigipa loved Gigi. Here are a few pictures from when they were young!

Gigi loved Gigipa! A few years ago, she wrote a tribute for Gigipa, for his 75th birthday/Father's Day...

A Father’s Day Tribute

I’d like to share some data not yet recorded in a modern-day computer, but just in my God-given computer about yours truly, Roy Elmer Wester.

He was born on June 3, 1922 in a private maternity room in an Iowa farm home near Cleghorn. His parents, Elmer and Mabel Wester were both descendants of Swedish immigrants. Events of his childhood have only been mentally recorded as bits and pieces of information were shared by his parents and seven siblings. No doubt much information has been lost or forgotten through the years, but we all know about his lifetime ability to figure out how things work and to fix them if they didn’t.

School was not his first love, but farming was. He just couldn’t wait for those eighth grade county exams and freedom. His skill at milking cows, pitching manure, harnessing horses, slopping pigs, stacking bundles and straw at threshing time, bailing hay and picking corn by hand was not to be outdone by anyone.

At age 21 Uncle Sam had other plans for him. This physically fit young man was a choice inductee in the U.S. Army’s First Cavalry Division in November of 1943. He “marched in the infantry, shot the artillery”, was shot by the enemy and is still “in the Lord’s army”. He was rewarded with a Purple Heart, Bronze Arrowhead, Presidential Citation and four battle stars after serving 19 month in the Asiatic Pacific theater during World War II. He was on board the Missouri battleship off the shores of Japan when the peace treaty was signed and a short time later he received an honorable discharge after two years and 2 months of military service.

After returning home, he recovered from a number of bouts of malaria and tried to adjust to life on the farm after the war. He batched and farmed and waited for me to decide to be a farmer’s wife. That took awhile!

But after the I do’s on February 14, 1953 and a honeymoon trip to Florida, life really began. We had four kids in the next six years and wonder now how we ever made it. His patience, my management, and help from the grandparents were all necessary those early child rearing years. It took some changes to become a farm homemaker and mother of four after almost thirteen years of being a college student, teacher and career woman with paid vacations. Maybe now by this time Roy was thinking bachelorhood wasn’t so bad after all—at least he was his own boss then!

What busy years the 70’s were! We were FCYF sponsors, had countless parties, four high school graduations, built a new home, helped Loren start farming, Colleen and Paul, Loren and Darla and Carol and Gerald were married and Lowell was off to college and a teaching career. Lots of fun and excitement have been added to our lives since the eight grandchildren arrived. There were birthday parties,
swimming parties at the pond and now we’ve seen half of them graduated from high school.

Roy bought his first car, a Model T Ford, for 5 dollars so he could drive his siblings and neighborhood kids to school. Roy owned a black Ford Coupe, a Chevrolet, ’51 Crown Victoria Ford, Mercury, Buick Le Sabre, Roadmaster Buick (with electric windows), a maroon Wildcat, a blue ’70 Buick, three Shaklee cars (Monte Carlo, Buick Le Sabre, and a Buick Regal coupes) and is presently driving a ’98 Oldsmobile and a Ford conversion van both ’86 models. He’s determined to make 200,000 plus miles on both of them so don’t look for a new car in his garage just yet.

In case you are interested in more data, Roy has also driven horses, mules, ponies, cars, tractors, trucks, combines, bicycles, and spends a lot of time now driving lawn mowers (since I’ve retired from that job).

He’s ridden on ponies and horses, cattle train cabooses, troop trains, El and subway trains, street cars, buses and roller coasters. He did remark that after riding five one evening at Sandusky, Ohio in ’95 and the last the highest in the world at the time, that he was retiring from roller coaster riding at the age of 73.

He’s sailed on a rowboat, speedboat, sailboat, schooner, the Queen, a river paddle wheeler, a troop ship, LST boat, ferry, and a dug-out canoe. He’s flown on a seaplane in Canada, Jesse Schlicting’s private plane to Minneapolis, 747s to San
Francisco, Toronto, Hawaii, Austria and Zaire, an MAF plane over the grasslands and jungles of Africa and in a hot air balloon in Colorado.

He has driven in all 50 states and 8 provinces of Canada, been in Mexico, the Admiralty Islands, New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan, Holland, Germany, Austria, France, Central African Republic and Zaire. He’s crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Arctic Circle and Equator, the Continental Divide, Rockies, Cascades, Sierras and Appalachians and traveled in the Alps of Europe. He has driven to Alaska and visited over 50 of our national parks.

Throughout his lifetime he has farmed, raised cattle, hogs and chickens, cut down and planted trees, dug ditches and bull thistles, tore down, moved and built buildings, and done lots of electric wiring and fencing. He has had no fear of heights, but has little love for swimming, golf or other sports. He excels at all kinds of puzzles, 3-D and jig saw puzzles and table games that challenge his strategic mental skills. He has not mastered the typewriter or computer but can do mental calculating that the younger generation can’t do.

Roy still has the first tractors that he bought as a young farmer…International Harvester B and M Farmall, and a lot of junk that he sees as treasures that could be used sometime. The challenge now is knowing where to find it. He has spent his retirement years on the farm helping Loren with machinery and tractor repair work, traveling, and if we can’t find him we know he’s probably playing with his acetylene torch in the grove. The iron pile is getting higher and I’m looking forward to the day when it gets moved!

Although he has not been an avid reader in the past, he finds time for that each day and has read the Bible through twice in the past two years. He served on the church board at Oakdale as missionary financial secretary and trustee for many years. His hearing and eyesight are failing, he’s missing some hair, tonsils and gallbladder, knees are wearing out, but he still has a HEART OF GOLD and is NUMBER ONE in my book at age 75!

Written in 1997 by His Wife of 44 years,
Elsie J Wester

This was the first time I met Gigipa...I was only seven and a half weeks old!

I got to see him again when I was seven and a half months old! I had a fun time playing with his cane, and I think he had a fun time watching me!

And this was this past Christmastime. I remember rolling a little red car back and forth across the table with Gigipa, and him smiling from ear to ear!

And if you want to know just a little more, here are some words Uncle Nick had to say about Gigipa, and some memories from my uncles, Mommy, and her cousins...

I don’t think Grandpa ever thought to brag about anything in his life. So it is a good thing God gave him a grandson with a big mouth. I am both thrilled and honored to have this opportunity today to brag about one of the greatest men ever known.

Grandpa was a man who I believe could do anything if he wanted to. If something could be built, he could build it. If something couldn't be built, he would find a way to build it. And if something was already built, he probably tried to find a way to build it better. I am pretty sure he has already made a gadget for God that makes something work more efficient in Heaven.

Grandpa was a man with a memory. It seemed like he could remember anything. What year he bought this tractor or that one, what year this building was built or that building burned down, and so on. He also was a man of memories. We all have so many great memories of him that we could be here for a very very long time just to scrape the surface. So I would like to take a moment and share just a few memories with you from each one of His grand kids as well as a tribute from his wife.

Chris – “Grandpa taught me to weld, fix tractors, and many others trades that I cherish and I use every day of my life.”

Drew – “On Easter day, when I was 8 years old, Grandpa started an annual Easter Tradition with Chris and me. He took us out to hunt the Easter bunny. After that, Grandma's garden never looked so good.”

Lara – "I have many fond memories of summer days at Grandpa's pond. I also remember Grandpa designed a contraption to make a fishing net 12 feet deep by 100 ft long to seine the pond. I was fascinated by his ingenuity and patience to complete the project. It was an exciting day the family all gathered to try out the net on Grandpa’s pond for the first time. "

Nick – "Grandpa used to tell me, 'If you don’t wash your hands before you eat, you don’t need salt and pepper.' Grandpa kept a spoon in the deep freeze so we could eat a scoop of ice cream on the way upstairs from his wash room."

Jenn – "Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us in North Carolina for Christmas of 2003, and as we spent time together Grandma and Grandpa were sharing memories of how they met, their courting period, and their wedding. Grandpa began a series of animated playful banter with Grandma as they attempted to get their versions of the stories to line up. I saw a playful side of Grandpa which I had never seen before."

Leighton – "Grandpa had a kind of childlike curiosity as long as I knew him. You could see his brain working right in front of you when he was thinking about something, which made him very interesting to me. He taught me how to solve more puzzles and toys than I can remember and he also gave meaning to the phrase ‘strong silent type’."

Janel – "Whenever Grandpa came over to our house, he would sit down and read World Book Encyclopedias. And I also remember that he could eat a pint of ice cream easily in one sitting."

Ward – "When I was much younger, I came up with dad to do chores at Grandma and Grandpas, and Grandpa had just gotten a new electric hedge trimmer. Grandpa showed me how to use the trimmer and then left me to work as he went with dad to work on something else. After about 5 minutes, I cut through the power chord with the trimmer. I went to find Grandpa and he said, 'now that you have learned to use the trimmer, now we are going to teach you how to splice wires'."

If you knew Gigipa, please leave a comment with a special memory, so that through you, I can know him better!