I lost my Grandfather earlier this year at the age of 96. The greatest honor of my life was being able to eulogize him at his funeral. In honor of him, I'd like to share the words that I spoke:
I don’t particularly like funerals. Aside from the obvious reason, I think that all too often we get so caught up in our own grief that we sometimes forget to celebrate the life. The life that we have been blessed to know for too short a time. I think that funerals should be a celebration of the life of our loved one. If you will bear with me for the next few minutes, that is what I intend to do.
If you are sitting here today, you were blessed to have known Pangle Stewart. If you were lucky enough to have known him well, you know that he was a Great man. Someone once said “No really great man ever thought himself so.” No truer words have ever been said about Pangle Stewart. He was a simple man, an unassuming man, but he was the Greatest man that I have ever known.
Pangle Stewart was born on April 14th, 1915 to James Alonza and Mary Lou Alexander Stewart. He had 2 brothers, J.A. and Knox, who preceded him in death. He married Evelyn Orman Chest (Nanny to the Grandkids) on December 4th, 1937. He had 2 daughters - Mary Evelyn and Wanda, 5 Grandchildren to whom he was affectionately known as “Tata” – Angie, Amy, Jennifer, Christy, and myself. He also had 9 Great Grandchildren – Kermit, Keesha, Marissa, Anna, Sam, Andy, Elizabeth, Molly, and Stewart.
Tata came from humble beginnings. He was born in the Family farmhouse on what is now the Shelbyville Hwy, here in the County. He often told stories of riding to the grade-school at Belleville in the back of a horse drawn wagon. A ride where the older boys would often throw the younger ones off the back of the wagon – and the younger ones ended up having to walk to school. He never told us which group he was a part of - the throwers or the walkers. This was also a ride that, in Wintertime, ended with the school children having to gather their own fire-wood to burn in a stove to warm the 1 room school house.
As a boy, he helped his father gather rock from the fields to be sold by the wagon-load to a crew building the new Highway. I guess that’s where one of his favorite sayings came from – “if limestone rock is ever worth anything, we’ll all be millionaires!” As a teenager, he graduated from Central High School in 1934 as President of his Class. He was also the Captain of his football team and a member of the all-district Basketball team. Tata attended Middle TN State University (know as Middle Tennessee State Teachers Collage back then) from 1934 – 1936. He was inducted to the US Naval Reserve as an Apprentice Seaman in 1943 and proudly served his Country until he retired as a Lieutenant Jr Grade on January 1st 1955. Tata often joked that there was never any danger of him seeing any “action” in the war after his Senior Officers found out that he could type – apparently typing was a skill that not many sailors possessed.
If you ever heard Tata speak publicly, you know that he often talked about the 3 days in his life that he considered most important. One was the day that he married Nanny, another was the day that he went to work for the Elk Cotton Mill. Tata worked for the Cotton Mill for over 47 years. He was hired in 1946 as a payroll clerk and had advanced to the position of Treasurer by 1951. He semi-retired in 1989 while serving as Sr. Vice President and Treasurer. He then did consulting work for them until he left in 1993.
Number 1 on his list of the 3 most important days was the day he became a Christian. Tata was baptized in 1930, at the age of 15, and has been a member of the First Baptist Church ever since. He was first elected Deacon in the early 50s and was given the honor of being designated Deacon Emeritus in 1998. Tata also spear-headed the efforts to Incorporate and to write the Constitution and By-laws for First Baptist Church.
Although not in his “top 3”, Tata was extremely proud of his Lions Club service. He joined the Lions club in 1952. During his Lions service, he served as District Governor for 1968/69, and was the recipient of many awards at the club, State, and International levels. Tata also helped organize the Fay – Lincoln County United Givers Fund, The Lincoln Co. Livestock Assoc., was Director of The Lincoln County Fair for over 40 years, was President of Central High School PTA, and served as County Commissioner for 2 terms. While serving as Commissioner, he was especially proud to have been a part of forming the County Water System and the Lincoln County High School.
So – these are some of the great things that he did, but they alone did not make him a Great man. His honestly, integrity and wisdom made him a Great man. His dedication and respect for his Savior and his Country made him a Great man. His knowledge and love of the land made him a Great man. But most of all, his love and concern for his family made him a Great man.
If you knew Tata, you knew of his love for my Grandmother. Tata’s love for Nanny was as close to a picture of unconditional love that you will ever see on this Earth. Everyone has their faults, but his love and devotion for my Grandmother was as strong on the day that we laid her to rest as it was on the day that they married. He wrote to her just a few years before her death “I look upon you as a gift from heaven”. She was… as was he. When I think of my role as a husband and my relationship with my wife, it is Tata that I try to model myself after.
For as long as I can remember, Tata has talked about saving and accumulating for his family. In reading through some of his papers, I have discovered that, he and my Grandmother often would forgo giving each other gifts on special occasions – opting instead to save some extra money for “the family”. Tata and I have walked property lines around the farm together countless times, talking about boundaries, land marks, and possible ways to divide tracts. We have had talk after talk about his estate and his concern that “the family” be taken care of. Looking back now, I think he has been preparing me my whole life to carry out his last wishes – something that I am honored to do.
If you knew Tata well, you know that his biggest fear was an extended nursing home stay – not because he thought it would be particularly miserable, but because of what it would cost “the family”. When one of his many investments performed poorly, he worried incessantly about what he had lost – not for himself, but for “the family”. He reminded me less than 2 weeks ago that he had a CD coming due and we need to decide what best to do with the money for “the family”.
Tata’s life was not without sorrow, disappointment, or pain. Our family is like most in that we have our share of all 3. In another letter, he spoke of “disappointing retirement years” and he accurately predicted “headaches, heartaches, and pain” for the future. But in the very next paragraph, he reaffirmed his Faith in the Lord, his love for my Grandmother, and his commitment to “the family”.
If anything can make this easier, it is knowing that Tata was SO ready to receive his eternal reward. After Nanny died, he wasn’t shy about letting anyone know that he had lived long enough. He yearned to be united with his Heavenly Father and his loving wife. Tuesday night after Tata passed away, my son Stewart (who is named after Tata) prayed “please let Tata have a good time in heaven”. I have no doubt that he will.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 starts “to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness…”. Well, I think it is pretty obvious that he was pleased with Tata. Tata was definitely a wise man – he was a man who was knowledgeable about so many things - and for most of his life he was a happy man. But most of all, Tata – Pangle Stewart – was a Great man!
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