Daddy’s Tribute

The following is what Bailee read at my Daddy’s funeral today. These were words written by my sisters and me and Bailee was our voice. If you didn’t know my daddy you will after reading these….believe me he was worth knowing.

I am Bailee and I am the daughter of Angie and Robert.  Today I stand before you to be the voices of my aunts and my mom.  They have each written a tribute to their daddy, who was also my peepaw.  I will be reading each of their words for them in order for him to be honored and remembered for the amazing man that he was.  My peepaw was known to many of you by either Dewey or Kanah.  Many of his immediate family members called him Elkanah.  My meemaw always called him “her honey”.  The grandchildren called him Peepaw, but as for my aunts and my mom he was Daddy.  For them Daddy means…Godly, strong, protector, passionate, hard-working, committed, determined and faithful…because those words describe Dewey Elkanah Best.  My peepaw, their daddy and meemaw’s honey.

 

The words of Patricia Best Ward…peepaw’s oldest daughter

My Daddy raised me in a way that shaped my life forever. He shared the gospel with me when I was nine years old in order to teach me what was most important in life- and that is Jesus! He lived the example of what God said a covenant marriage should be.  My Daddy has been there in the worst times in my life and in the best times!  Daddy has loved me unconditionally even when I made poor decisions! He has always prayed for me in everything.  I will never forget seeing my Daddy walking through the ruins of my burned house! His hug meant everything!!

I will miss him with all my heart but I rejoice today that he is in the presence of Jesus!  Love,  Pat

 

The words of Kathy Best Eckermann…peepaw’s second daughter

I am so thankful for the life my daddy lived and the special memories I have. Daddy worked on air conditioner repairs when I was a small child and he often had to do side jobs for little old ladies who wanted only Mr. Best to fix their air. And then when he was hired on at the postal service, it was a great blessing to our family. He and mom made sure we were in church every Sunday, took us on vacations to the beach, and made sure each of us had the opportunity to take piano lessons. Dad would drive my sister and me downtown to our piano teacher’s house on his way to work twice a week after school, and then mom would pick us up when she got off at 5:00. This act of love has blessed my life tremendously by being able to play for church, teach piano, and today, playing for his funeral at his specific request.

My daddy was a Mr. Fix-it and Mr. Determination. He could do almost any kind of job around the house and he helped each of his daughters and sons in law with so many things. In his later years, I tried not to let him know if something was broken at my house because as soon as he found out, he felt it was his job to show up and fix it. 

This is one of my precious memories: I needed a small shelf in the bedroom I use as a nursery. Knowing that my dad had several storage sheds and all kinds of accumulated stuff, I asked him if he had a small shelf I could use in the nursery. He said he would look and see what he had. We hung up and I didn’t think any more about it……until late that afternoon when he called me. My 85-year old daddy had taken it upon himself to go to the flea market looking for a shelf I could use. He wanted me to go back with him to see if any of the shelves he found would work. I felt so incredibly blessed to have a daddy who cared so much about me and the things that I wanted, that he would spend his time, energy and money to provide this small item for me. To me it was a beautiful picture of God the Father who loves us so much that He provides for our wants and needs when we ask Him, and then goes above and beyond by giving us so many more blessings when we don’t even ask.

I will be forever be grateful that Dewey Best was my daddy and for his influence on my life and raising me to become the Christian daughter, wife, mother and grandmother that I am today.

 

The words of Darla Best Perry…peepaw’s third daughter

I’m Darla – daughter #3 – but my daddy called me Duke.  

It’s so hard to put your feelings for one of the most important people in your life, into just a few paragraphs.  But for starters; my daddy was my Hero, my Superman and one of my best friends.  No matter how busy he was, he always had time for me or my sisters or his grandkids.  He loved doing things for us.  He would fix anything that was broken and could build anything we needed.  In fact, I don’t know anything he couldn’t do.  Sometimes when we would ask him to do something; he would respond (with a big grin on his face) “Yallobviously think I hung the moon”?  And I would always answer right back – “You mean you didn’t”?  But on a serious note; we know our Heavenly creator actually hung the moon – but I am pretty sure that my daddy held the ladder for him!!

Daddy was always busy; but never too busy to share his love of life with everyone he met.  He loved gardening and then sharing his bountifulharvest from his vegetable garden.  You never left his house without a pack of peas,a jar of beans, or a bag full of cucumbers & tomatoes.  He also loved sports and was quite a competitor in his day!  He pitched fast pitch & slow pitch softball.  I have watched him many weekends pitching in tournaments until the wee hours of the morning; with guys half his age; and still bring home the championship.  He was also an avid deer hunter.  How many people do you know that can kill 2 deer with one shot – not once, but twice??  Well, my daddy did!   And he was also a skilled bowler.  He could curve a bowling ball just like the professionals!  And way back when; my dad was a race car driver.  But after becoming a daddy, he wisely realized it would be much safer to only be a race car spectator….which is when he developed a deep love for Nascar.  So as you can tell, my dad had only two speeds – full throttle or sound asleep.

My daddy was also a jokester and a prankster.  He loved to pull one over on you!  Even in his final days; he never lost his sense of humor.  Just two short weeks ago; daddy wanted me to put my little dog up next to him in bed.  A short while later; I find a note tied around my little dog’s collar (in my daddy’s shakey writing) that read – I WANT MORE BACON!  

But most importantly; my daddy loved the Lord.  He taught us to love the Lord and he taught each of us how to become a Christian.   My dad has always been there for me.  He has helped me through some of the hardest and darkest times of my life.  He never judged; he only responded with sound advice and unconditional love.  When  it became evident that my dad’s time was short; I was able to tell him just exactly what he meant to me and how deeply and profoundly he has guided and touched my life.  I will forever be grateful for that time.  

So daddy – we will miss you terribly.  Oh how I will miss hearing that sweet voice saying “Hey Duke” everytime I call or walk in their house.

Your kind soul and our cherished memories will stay with us forever.  That sweet precious smile is forever ingrained in my heart.  And although my life will forever be changed; I was so incredibly blessed to be your daughter!   I love you daddy!!  And I will see you again!  Love always, Duke

And the words from Angie Best Simmons…peepaw’s baby daughter

 

Today the world feels so much less safe.  Whenever daddy was around he always gave us the sense of safety.  He was the leader of our home…our protector.  He was always on guard for the safety of his family.  He protected our mom in so many ways…even from us girls.  I mean we all went through those somewhat rebellious times where we maybe had smart mouths or didn’t exactly “honor our parents” the way we were supposed to, but one thing that was NEVER tolerated was smarting off to our mother.  If Daddy heard us do that we were in big trouble.  Let me just say we learned our lessons quickly about respecting our mama.  He protected us too.  He always made sure our home was safe, that our cars were safe to drive and so many things like that.  We just never had to worry because Daddy was going to take care of it.  Our Daddy had our best interests at heart and only wanted the very best for his girls. I recently ran across a note he left on my pillow one night when I still lived at home…It said “Angie, my prayer for you each night is that God will always look after you and show you right from wrong.  Just want to tell you that.  I love you more than you will ever know.  All my love, Dad”.  He prayed for us daily and led us to follow the Lord and I am so grateful for that.

I wouldn’t describe daddy as affectionate as far as lots of hugs and physical affection towards us, but he showed his affection to us through hard work and his servant’s heart to us.  He loved any opportunity to “build” something for us or “repair” something for us.  The biggest compliment we could give daddy was to ask him to fix something or build something for us.  He lived for that kind of stuff.   Don’t get me wrong…he hugged us and loved on us the way a father should…but his love language was through serving us and our mama.  To us…he could do anything!!  I honestly can’t imagine not being able to pick up the phone and call daddy to ask him to fix something for us, or how to fix something, or to build something for me…that’s gonna be hard, but I am so thankful for those memories.  I am thankful for the example he set for us with his work ethic and his servant’s heart because we all ended up marrying men who had similar personality traitsto our daddy.  All of our husbands resemble himin some way…either through their love for the outdoors, their love for sports, their hard work ethic, their love for the Lord and their hearts for serving others.  Our daddy loved these men like his own.  These men were our rocks through Daddy’s illness…they each took care of him in different ways…but just as if he had been their dad their whole lives.  Thank you so much Eddie, Robert, Steve Perry and Steve Ward for all you did for Daddy…and for us.  

Today we sit here with broken hearts, but rejoicing at the same time.  We are rejoicing because our daddy is no longer hurting, he is no longer sick, he is at the feet of Jesus…praising Him…and he is whole and healed.  He is reunited with loved ones…his mama and daddy, his brothers and so many friends and family who went before him.  We are also heartbrokenbecause we will miss him so much.  We are going to miss that infectious smile and that passionate spirit and that determined soul.  We hurt for our precious mama who misses her person…her soulmate…her other half…her “honey”.  This is one broken thing he is not going to be able to fix for us.  Thankfully, he raised us to know THE ONE who is “close to the brokenhearted” and THE ONE who “rescues those whose spirits are crushed” as we are told in Psalm 34:18.  We are “THE BEST” family and we will lean on one another just as we’ve always leaned on our daddy…but we will also lean on our Heavenly Father…because that’s what our daddy taught us to do.  

I will close with words from one of my favorite children’s books and the best way I know to say goodbye to our daddy….”I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always…Forever and ever my daddy you’ll be!”

I can’t wait to see you again Daddy…I love you and ROLL TIDE!!!!

 

Aunt Pat, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Darla and Mama…thank you for letting me be your voices today and thank you Lord for letting me be one of the blessed people who got to call him Peepaw.