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When I met him, huff, puff and blow
He couldn’t read, don’t you know
He drank, he swore, he yelled and more
Miserable man thought I

One day like a flash or a wink he changed
“What happened to you,” I inquired
“I met Jesus,” said he, “now I’m new”

Wow this is amazing what He can do
“I noticed you stopped smoking”
“Jesus stopped me, I’m not joking”
“How can this be, you stopped drinking too”
“I’m telling you, Jesus made me new”

“I’m greatly surprised and amazed
You’ve learned to read in just a few days
I’ve noticed you read the Bible too”
“I’m telling you Jesus made me new”

“I’m in great consternation, how is it so
You were feeling quite low
Now you’re so friendly and kind, full of cheer”
“It is Jesus,” he said, “He drew me near”

Whatever happened I’m not sure I understand
One thing I know, Bill’s a new man

My Eulogy for my Father

Introduction

I would like to start by thanking you for joining our family here today as we celebrate the life of Billy Gene Short.

Who was Billy Gene Short?

Billy Gene Short, my father was a very special man. He grew up in hard times and lived a hard life. However, through all of this he was able to establish a legacy that many people never accomplish in their lives. Dad was a simple man, but a very complex person. Today I would like to share my observations of him from the perspective of being one of his children.

Dad was first and foremost a man of God. In all that he did he did it from his relationship with his Lord and Creator. Dad was also a phenomenal husband to my mother Estelle. He took this role seriously and passionately and revered it second only to his relationship with God. The third area of focus in his life was his responsibility as a father and later in life as a grandfather and great grandfather. These three areas were always foremost in his life and always covered by prayer.

In all that he did, whether for his God, his family, or his employer, he was always a hard worker. And he made sure that he passed this character trait on to all of us. Dad was also what I would label as a man of the earth. I am sure that his gardening or his woodworking has touched every one of you in this room in one-way or another. I believe he found a sense of peace and accomplishment in working the elements much as Adam did in the beginning of time.

Dad and Mom Caveat

I would like to review each of these areas of his life in more detail. However, I must start with a caveat about dad and mom. Dad and mom lived their lives so tightly coupled together for over 66 years that it is impossible to separate out his accomplishments, his traits, from my mother’s. As I share my thoughts on these areas about my father it can equally be said that these are characteristics of my mother as well. They truly lived their lives as one flesh.

Man of the earth

Worked with his hands

If you ever had the opportunity to shake hands with my father you would know immediately that he was a man that worked with his hands. Not only were they rough and scarred from the many years of hard labor, but they were also strong and embracing. He always told me when I was younger that you could tell the character of a man by the way he shook your hand. Dad always gripped your hand like a vice and made sure that you knew he was sizing you up. Dad’s hands told a myriad of stories. Stories about his work on the farm, his work in his garden and orchard, his passionate work with wood making clocks, tables, and bowls. He always had a project that he was working on…with his hands.

His hands also provided the “rod of correction” for us while we were growing up. I can remember more than once him telling me that my discipline was hurting him more than it was hurting me. It never felt like it, but I understood what he meant when I followed in his footsteps and applied that same “rod of correction” to my children. And heaven knows that us four kids deserved a little correction now and then…right Linda, Rod, and Dot? As I have grown into my role as a father, and now a grandfather, I now understand just how much dad loved us and was willing to guide us in our lives.

Worked with the fundamental elements of nature

Dad always chose to work with the fundamental elements of nature. He worked with the soil. He has grown almost everything that can take root. He was able to develop the skill of grafting trees that has not been accomplished by anyone that I know of in the northern part of California. It would not surprise me that most of the orchards that you drive past here in the Red Bluff area have trees that he grafted. And he never did it for the recognition. He just loved making these fruit trees grow and flourish.

He also chose to work with wood. And in so many different mediums he was able to create objects of art and functionality that people today would typically pay hundreds of dollars for. I was always amazed to hear his latest story of how he traded one of his clocks for some stamps, which he loved to collect, or for a tool that he needed, or for any other number of items that he bartered for. Even the grafting of the trees was usually for something in trade.

Through all of this work with his hands dad lived a very grounded life. He never had an email account. He never spent time on the Internet. He didn’t even learn to read until late in his life and then it was mom who worked with him and taught him how to be a prolific reader. But because he was so grounded in the fundamental elements of life, those things that are so important to creation, he was full of wisdom and knowledge.

Taught his children to appreciate the basics of life

The beautiful thing about dad’s grounding in the fundamental elements of life is that he did not keep this to himself. He made sure that all of us, his children, did the same. All of us live out our lives in ways that are grounded like him. He made sure that we understood the value of living life in a way that glorifies God and stays grounded in His creation.

Hard worker

Another characteristic of dad that I am sure most of you here can attest to is that he was a hard worker. I can remember one of the first jobs that I had was working in the orchard that dad was the foreman of here in Red Bluff. One of the first things that he told me was that all he wanted to see from me was “my ass and elbow!” Sorry for the French, but the message was clear. Get out there and work like my life depended on it. Do you remember those days Rod and Linda? The second thing that dad told me was that if my employer was paying me $1.00 for my labors then I was to give him $1.50 worth of effort. Today this is what we call “work ethic”.

Dad taught us all to work hard and to appreciate the fact that we had a job and that we were able to work. He also taught us to get an education and not end up doing the kind of work that he had to do all of his life. And if you talk to any of us kids you will see that we followed his advice. Dad made sure that we were hard workers and improved over his life. And looking at my nieces and nephews, and my own children, I can see that this legacy is continuing on.

I am sure that dad’s drive in this area came from his background. He grew up in very hard times and spent most of his childhood living in an itinerant farming family. Because of this his education was short-lived because of traveling from crop to crop and being a critical part of supporting his family. Later in life, when we broke away from the rest of the family in Arizona and moved to Red Bluff he continued to work in agriculture as a foreman in walnut and peach orchards here in the area. This was hard work that went from sun up to sun down, year round, and in all types of temperatures and climates. And as I look back I cannot recall ever hearing him complain.

Dad continued his hard work when he left the orchards and started working as a custodian for the Antelope School District. Dad was in his element. He was able to work the grounds, work with the tools there, and was around the children all day long. I can remember so many of the stories he used to tell about turning the sprinklers on some of the kids who were getting out of line, or the tricks that he would play on some of the staff. And he would always have that mischievous glint in his eyes as he told the stories.

Father

Loved his 4 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren deeply

As I have looked back on my childhood I have seen my father in a much different light. Having one’s own children has a way doing this. Dad’s hard work and willingness to do whatever it took to keep food on the table was his way of showing us how much he loved us. As a matter of fact it was his language of love for us. As a child I often felt bad about all of the things that I thought I was going without, however, what dad and mom were doing was preparing for the future…theirs and ours. This was their way of loving us.

Dad’s love did not stop there. As Linda, Rod, Dot, and I started getting married and having children of our own his love continued to grow for his grandchildren and then on to his great grandchildren. It was always fun to watch him play games, which was one of his favorite pastimes, as well as tease the young ones.

Prayed for his family persistently

I think the best way that dad showed his love for us was in his prayer life. This was always a very private part of his life, however, whenever we had the opportunity to eat a meal with him he would pray passionately for all of his offspring. He desired so deeply that we would all love his Lord, his God, with all of our hearts and give our lives to Him. I am sure that I will be able to spend the rest of my life closing my eyes and hearing him pray for all of us, softly, humbly, and with tears in his eyes.

Taught us all to love God, love others, and work hard

I don’t think dad ever really knew how good of a teacher he was. I don’t remember him ever saying, “Let me teach you…”. He just taught us by example. He lived his life in such a way that we had no choice but to follow in his footsteps and to love God, love and respect others, and work hard. Thank you dad!

Husband

The most obvious characteristic of dad, other than his love for his God, was his love for his cherished bride. There was no doubt that dad and mom had weathered many storms and stuck to it every time. Their love for each other was so deep and so contagious. Dad gave of his life completely for mom and always desired to put her first. Just as mom did the same for him. I thank my dad, and you mom, for teaching us to love our spouses with all of our hearts and to give our lives up for them.

There is so much more that I could say about this area of my father’s life, but only my mother can truly share how much love they had for each other. Thank you for teaching us to love our spouses. Thank you for demonstrating for us the commitment of standing by your partner through thick and thin. Thank you for forcing each of us to leave our home and to cleave to our spouse.

Man of God

Thank you all for bearing with me as I have shared my thoughts about my dad. But the final characteristic is the most important one that defined my dad. Dad was a man of God. This one characteristic guided everything that I have shared so far. He loved his Lord deeply and passionately. Dad was not any kind of theologian. He never debated doctrine or dogma. He had a practical, “live it out” kind of faith. He was the epitome of “practice what you preach”, or better yet, “practice what you believe”. Once again, I am sure that many of you only knew dad for the godly, Christ-centered man that he was.

He was a living miracle (conversion story)

I want to share with you the most important part of my relationship with my dad. As I shared earlier dad grew up in hard times. He had a hard life and had many painful experiences throughout his life. And during my teen years all of this came to fruition and dad was overcome with an addiction to alcohol. I share this because what God did in his life made my dad a living miracle.

When I was a sophomore or junior in high school, those years are becoming more and more of a blur as I grow older, mom, Dot and I were going to a church here in Red Bluff. Linda was married to Nick and Rod had already left home. Dad had experienced some severe hardships in the orchard where he was working and dealt with it by drinking… heavily. The church that we were going to was having a missionary conference and I was able to convince mom to have one of the missionaries stay with us. Can you remember mom how dad was able to avoid him for the entire week? I was also able to persuade dad to give in and go to the “father-son” dinner on Saturday night. I can remember as if it was yesterday knowing that he would somehow work his way out of going.

However, dad willingly came with me. I was ecstatic and fearful all at the same time. The missionaries took turns sharing about their work and as with all missionary conferences ended with a plea for support. I remember watching dad looking around the room and having that wondering look on his face as to why very few men were doing anything to support these missionaries. Then the miracle happened. Dad stood up and walked to the front of the room and offered to start supporting the missionary that was staying with us. And as he walked out of the room I saw before my eyes a transformed man, a new man. It was that day that dad walked away from drinking and never touched alcohol again. He even went back to the bar that he frequented every day on his way home from work and sat down with all of his old, fellow drinkers, and started sharing God’s love with them. Nick even shares that his decision to give his life to Christ was due to this transformation.

I share this story to help those of you who have only known him as a man of God to know that he was that man of God, because the God that he loved so dearly reached down and touched him in a very personal and loving way. That is why dad exhibited such a deep and passionate love for his Father, because he knew that he was his Father’s child.

“Our Heavenly Father…”
My father, our father, the husband of my mother, the grandfather to our children and the great grandfather to our grandchildren was a humble man before God and his fellow mankind. He was the epitome of the commandment of living our lives praying without ceasing. I will never cease to hear him as he would always open his prayers with, “Our Heavenly Father!”. Even in his last days, as I would talk to him on the phone, or when I visited him at the rest home, he would spontaneously break into a prayer starting with, “Our Heavenly Father”. Dad, your faith has passed on to generations. Because of you there are multiple generations that love the Lord your God with all of their heart, soul and spirit. Because of you this world is a better place to live in.

Conclusion

I want to thank all of you for allowing me to ramble on here, for being here to celebrate the life of our father, and to support our mother and each one of us, his family in this transition. I started this off by asking the question, “Who was Billy Gene Short?” However, I would like to conclude by asking a different set of questions…

First, “Who IS Billy Gene Short?” He is a saint who is now standing in the presence of His Lord. As we say in the Orthodox tradition, dad has fallen asleep and is with His Lord waiting for that day when we will be reunited together.

Second, “What is he doing?” I am sure that just like he did every morning when he lifted up his prayers at breakfast praying for his family and asking that his Jesus be present in their lives and that we all be drawn close to Him, dad is now in the presence of his Jesus petitioning on behalf of all of us.

We love you dad and rejoice with you as you spend time with your Jesus. We look forward to that day when we can join you there in paradise.

Dad…I love you and can’t wait to join you there with our Father in heaven.