TRIBUTE TO HAROLD G. HUMPHREY

(Unknown publication date)

Joyce [Humphrey] asked me if I could write something in memory of Harold and it is my privilege to honor him today. (Peggy Hake)

I was the oldest of the Wyrick cousins...Harold came along 9 months later in May 1936 and in Nov. 1936 my brother, Bill, was born. We were the 3 oldest grandkids born to our Wyrick grandparents. As we grew up, we were more like brothers and sister than cousins. When World War II came along in the early 1940s, we were just young children living in a child's world of wonder. Our families moved to Ft. Leonard Wood during those war years, and we lived across the street from the Humphrey family. It seems we were never too far away from each other in our days of childhood. That closeness never left our families...

Harold's children and grandchildren have some wonderful memories of a loving father and grandpa...he was so proud of his family. He gave them so much of himself over the years. He was there in the good times and the bad. Their memories are so precious and will remain so over all the years ahead. He fished with them, played ball with them, and done all the wonderful things that a devoted, loving father and grandfather can do. He and Joyce shared many years together. I remember their 25th wedding anniversary all those years ago when we met at Crocker Park and had a carry-in dinner under one of the pavilions. I have pictures from that day that I will always cherish.... One is the 4 cousins standing side by side...Harold, Bill, Bob, and Sonny. One is Harold, Joyce and the family with a banner flying in the background that said, "Happy 25th Anniversary".

I have pictures and memories from our childhood that I would like to share with you. I remember one Sunday so many years ago (probably about 1940) when the Wyrick family decided to spend a day at the old farm near Ulman where Grandpa Wyrick was born in 1892. I have this great picture of Harold, Bill, Helen, Gaynell, and myself sitting on the running board of an old 1930s car that day in April. We were all so small, probably ranging in the ages of 1 to 5 years. A fortune would not buy that picture!

Another time I remember when the Humphreys lived in a small house to the back of the old Mace schoolhouse, west of Iberia. I don't remember the occasion, but we all met there one Sunday for a family get-together. I have pictures from that also. We children were standing on the front steps of the old school. There was Harold, Helen, Gaynell, Sonny, Joe Warren and Patsy Alexander, Bill and me, and our Smith cousin, Max. I hadn't looked at the picture for quite sometime until last night and I was surprised to see that Harold had a big white patch over his left eye...I can't remember what had happened to him, but Helen looked o.k.! If they had fought, then she came out the winner on that one! !

When we became teenagers, we attended Iberia High School. Harold was a great basketball player....did you know that? In his sophomore year, he made the boy's basketball A Team...and he played on the school's baseball team also. I can still see him on the basketball court...he was not a tall athlete, but was smaller and faster!

There are so many other memories that will remain with me for the rest of my life...Harold, Helen, Bill, and I would walk out the old country road, past Eads airport and onward 4 miles further to visit Grandpa and Grandma Wyrick...turning the handle of an old wooden bucket as we made homemade ice cream at the farm...going for Sunday dinners there and spending the entire afternoon outside playing games as the old folks sat around the kitchen table playing pinochle or pitch...riding in an armored-type vehicle as we were carried from Ft. Wood to the school at Waynesville during the war years...Harold and I spoke many times of our childhood and these wonderful memories...We all attended the little, one-room Christian Church in Iberia when we were growing up in Iberia. Our Wyrick grandparents attended this church and we followed the tradition as we grew to adulthood. We were there for weddings and were there when we had to say good-bye to a loved one.

I could go on and on sharing these wonderful memories, but time continues to march on. Today we gather once again to say our goodbyes to Harold, but it is certainly not a final goodbye...I know it will be only a short while until our family circle will again be complete. We will keep carrying on in our family tradition of loving one another as brothers and sisters...our parents and grandparents are gone so that generation has passed to a new one....we are now the older generation traveling through life with only memories of those days when we clung to childhood, not wanting life to change but wishing to continue on in our innocence.

God has given each of us a purpose and a place in His world, so treasure each moment; appreciate each blessing; and be thankful for this day He has given us so we may once again join together our hearts and voices in praise. Let us wish Harold a peaceful and joyful journey on his way to God's Forever...Can you imagine what joys he is experiencing this day?