Why in the World Would I Eulogize My Father's Former Boss???
My father’s former boss, Edouard (Buck) Thys, passed away on January 28th, 3 days before his 86th birthday.
I didn’t personally know him; in fact, I’ve met him only a couple times. However, based on what my father told me, plus my research on the web, he appears to have lived a very good life.
My Dad told me his father had given him $10,000 back in the early 1950s. In those days, that was the cost of an average house. Buck used the money to open a foundry, Precision Founders Incorporated, in San Leandro, CA. Eventually, it expanded to employ over 400 people.
Buck married in 1956, and they had four children. He ardently pursued his passion of skiing; every weekend, the family made the 4 hour trek to Squaw Valley. In the 1970s, their son Barry was an Olympic hopeful. Their daughter Edith is a major writing contributor to SKI magazine, to this day.
In 1978, Buck bought a vacation home at Squaw Valley, using it to house skiers who were mildly injured. In 1993, he retired and moved into that home. He continued to race with NASTAR until the day he died, missing one particular one on his 80th birthday, due to injury. (This goes to show you that old skiers never die; when they're over the hill, they pick up speed!)
Since my father told me the news a week ago, I’ve done a lot of thinking about my life. What sort of legacy will I leave behind? I’ve made a ton of mistakes and bad decisions; the facts-of-life books I wrote for teens are an attempt to prevent the next generation from committing the same errors I did. IS THERE ANY CHANCE I CAN ENJOY A 20+ YEAR RETIREMENT, DOING WHAT I LOVE – SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING???
Anyway, this gives all of you something to think about. What sort of legacy are YOU leaving behind???
Obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/sacbee … 177574568?
P.S. “The tragedy of life is not death…but what we let die inside of us while we live.” ~ Norman Cousins
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