My Talk Given In Dad’s Funeral, October 23, 2010
The inscription on my mother’s and soon to be father’s headstone says
“There is no greater blessing than belonging to a loving and loyal
family.” I am so grateful to have been
blessed to have Don Rosenberg as my father.
You who are here today know Dad from your association in many different
ways. But I think we all know that he
was a good and honest man. I know him as
a kind, loving father who loved his family dearly.
Our home was such a pleasant
place. I never saw or heard my mom and
dad argue. They probably had their
disagreements and were mad at each other, but they didn’t do it in front of us.
My dad also did not let us kids argue among ourselves. He said, “If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all.” So we never
got in the habit of bickering with each other.
If I said, I hate something, dad would stop me and say, “Oh you don’t
hate anything.” So one thing I learned from my dad that has helped me through
my life is to be positive. He always
believed in me and that I could do anything I tried to do.
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| Me, Dad and Craig |
Another thing that I learned from
my father was that the family is very important. My dad worked two jobs to provide for
us. He worked his day job, would come
home, grab his surveying equipment, go out and survey for an hour or two, then
come home, eat dinner and later that night at about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. draw up
or draft the survey by hand which took sometimes an hour or two. In between all of that he had his church job,
the lawn to mow, the yard to take care of etc.
He worked hard for us, but he always made time for us. I remember my dad taking me to do lots of
things, like going to the archery course, going swimming, and when I was older,
motorcycle rides over Bear Trap in Settlement Canyon.
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| Our new Plymouth Fury |
Our
family went on many wonderful vacations to many wonderful places. Often we went with several other
families. Those were great times. We had a trailer and beginning about Easter,
we would go camping once a month or so. We would finish up our camping season
around UEA. During the summer we always
went on a week-long vacation to some place, again often with other
families. I have to say that this is
probably one of the reasons our family is so close. We spent a lot of time together having
fun. Dad loved to get away in the
outdoors and enjoy God’s handiwork. He
especially loved Southern Utah, because that is where he was from.
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| Camping at Antelope Flats at Flaming Gorge |
He taught me that the gospel of Jesus Christ was important and that it
would bring peace and comfort and true happiness to my life. Just a couple of weeks ago when I was
visiting Dad, he wanted to give me a Father’s Blessing. I am grateful for that experience. He
told me while growing up that it was ok to make mistakes as long as I learned
from them and didn’t make those mistakes again.
I could always tell my dad about my mistakes because I knew he would
forgive me. What a great example.
Dad was able to retire at
relatively a young age which was wonderful for Mom and Dad because they were
able to travel quite a bit and enjoy their grandchildren that were coming into
their lives. Dad was a fun grandpa. He always did special things with the kids. He
took them on camp outs in the trailer to Vernon Reservoir and let them drive
the boat. He took them hiking in the
canyon. He let them shoot his bb gun in
the back yard. They thought these
activities were great, but the best thing was being with grandpa.
I know that my kids were blessed to have him as part as their life. When my husband died nine years ago, he was
there to offer his love and counseling if they needed it.
Dad was always interested in
history and geology. Whenever we would
go someplace, he would explain how that mountain was formed or tell us what kind
of rock we had or tell us about the history of the place where we were. When he
was working with the Soil Conservation here in Tooele his association with many
of the farmers around the county exposed him to a lot of history of the
area. He heard about places like Iosepa,
Gold Hill, Shambip County, etc. and he gathered these details in his head until
later on in his life when he wrote about them.
Even a few days ago, my dad could recite details, facts and figures
about places and projects he had worked on.
He had an excellent memory.
Dad joined the Sons of Utah
Pioneers and Mom and Dad became associated with many people that they
considered special friends. They so much
enjoyed the conventions and tours that they went on with this group. They often talked about how glad they were
that they joined the SUP and what a fine group of people they were associating
with.
Mom and Dad had a group of friends
that they enjoyed over the course of their life here in Tooele. They called them their “crowd.” They got together for New Year’s, summer fish
fry’s and other activities for years. As
they have aged and some have passed away, the activities have dwindled, but the
crowd’s gatherings still continue.
If there were some highlights in Dad’s life I would say that
they would be:
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| Summer Tennis Trophies |
- Being a loving son, husband, father, grandfather, and brother.
- Serving as a stake missionary since he never had the opportunity to serve a mission as a young man.
- In his career, when he was working for the Soil Conservation Service he acted as inspector on water projects in several counties. He was the inspector on the dams built at Minersville, Pleasant Grove, and Vernon Reservoirs. While inspector on the Vernon Reservoir he surveyed the pipeline and designed the Vernon land sprinkler system. I believe he was also inspector on the Tooele dam.
- Another highlight would have been obtaining his surveyor’s license. You see my dad didn’t graduate from high school or college. After working many years having someone else sign his surveys, he went to night school and earned his license.
- After retiring from the Soil Conservation Service he ran for Tooele County Surveyor which office he held for 20 years. So you see, holding that office meant a lot to him.
- A major highlight in his life was meeting both President Monson, President Hinckley and President Faust. He met one at a fireside he spoke at and the others at dedications for momuments that were placed in Skull Valley at Iosepa and during the dedication for Hilda Erickson.
- Another highlight would have been the time he was asked to speak about the Polynesian Community of Iosepa in the Assembly Hall on Tablernacle Square. There were hundreds of descendents from Iosepa in attendance.
- Winning the Salt Lake Tribune “No Champs” Tennis Tournament. He played in it several years before winning the coveted trophy.
- A major highlight in his life would be his involvement in the SUP where he was one of the charter members of their chapter. He was the president twice, he was the National Vice President over monuments which George talked about. He was also asked to be the National President, but declined feeling that his health wasn’t up to it. Like I said, it was a choice activity in their life.
- Another highlight was that Mom and Dad were chosen as Outstanding Couple by the National Organization of the Sons of Utah Pioneers in 1991 for their involvement in the chapter and in their community. They were awarded this honor at the national convention.
A funny story about dad’s involvement in the SUP: While he was working on the Hilda Erickson
project, he was so involved and he talked about Hilda all the time, I started
calling her, “The other woman.” He thought
that was pretty funny too and started referring to her as such. Well for some holiday, his birthday or
Father’s Day, I had a t-shirt made for him as a joke. I thought he would just think it was funny
and never wear it, but he thought it was great advertisement. He wore it all the time. I told him jokingly Tuesday night before he
passed away that maybe Hilda would even be there. He laughed and said, yea,
maybe she would.
You could always
tease Dad and have fun with him. He and
his friend, Ferrell Stewart had been deputized in the Senior Patrol for the
Tooele County Sherriff and enjoyed taking a weekly drive out somewhere in
Tooele County to monitor the roads. If they happened upon anyone in trouble,
they could radio in to the dispatcher for help.
I told him that if he saw any trouble, he and Ferrell would run like
Barney Fife. So from them on he called
his patrols, “Barney Fiffin’.” He would
say, “I’m going Barney Fiffin’ tomorrow.”
I am so grateful to have had such a fine man as an example in my life. He taught me so many things, but mostly he loved me so much. Like the inscription on my parent's headstone says, I was blessed to belong to a loving and loyal family. Families are part of God's plan for us on this earth. I am grateful He sent me to be part of the Rosenberg family.
When I was little, my dad would pay me a dollar whenever I sang in public. I'm not such a good singer anymore, but this song says what I feel about my dad. So this is for you Dad:
(I sang the song, “My Daddy Reminds Me”)
I lived with my Heavenly Father
Before I was sent to the earth.
But I cannot remember the sound of His voice.
For that was forgotten at birth.
But Daddy when your arm’s around me
And I feel so safe in your love
I wonder do I hear in your voice
A sound like
my Father above.
I lived with my Heavenly Father
Before I was sent to the earth.
But I cannot remember the look in His eyes
For that was forgotten at birth.
But Daddy when I look in your eyes
I seem to recall how it was.
God gave me a dear earthly father
So I would remember His love.
So I would remember His love.
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