This is an undated photo of my grandfather, Ted Sr. He was born in January 1926, and so this picture of him as a young boy is probably from the early 1930′s.

People always tell me I look like him; I can really see it in this picture, especially when I look at it next to pictures of myself as a kid.

We lost my grandfather last Saturday night. He died surrounded by the people who loved him most, and without enduring a very prolonged period of suffering, and everyone should be as lucky as that. The funeral was yesterday. I, along with my five living male cousins, was a pallbearer, and I also was asked to write his obituary. I’d like to share it with you (I’m eliminating family names; you understand.) Here it is:

Ted, Sr. was born on January 27, 1926, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and departed this life on Saturday, December 27, 2008, in Prague, Oklahoma, at the age of 82.

Ted, the son of Walter B. and Althea, was a longtime resident of Okmulgee. He served in the United States Navy in World War II after joining at the age of 15. He married his wife, Pearl Marie on November 15, 1947.

Ted was a member of the Okmulgee Fire Department for 27 years, retiring as Okmulgee’s Assistant Fire Chief. He also owned and operated a silk screen sign shop, and was a member of the Okmulgee Church of Christ. He is preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, one sister, two sisters-in-law, one brother-in-law, and a grandson, Darin. Ted is survived by the family he loved: his wife of 61 years, Pearl; daughters Janet of Prague, Peggy of Tulsa, and Kathy of Oklahoma City; son Ted, Jr. of Tulsa; 14 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 2:00 p.m., at the Church of Christ in Okmulgee. Interment will follow at the Okmulgee cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Hope Harbor Children’s Home in Claremore, Oklahoma.