Memories with Gramps!

From Tori

Oh boy, I can't begin to think about all the time I spent with my grandpa. I love him to no end and he is without question the best grandpa, dad, and husband in the universe.

I remember when I was a little girl every Sunday he would come to my house when I lived in auburn, and he always take me to church. He's actually the one who brought me up in my faith. There was this one day that stands out to me. While the worship team played music I used to dance with my grandpa and swing side to side while holding on to his hands. We always did silly things like that. I didn't like going to Sunday school, I always wanted to stay and listen to the service.

My grandpa always made it a point to take me to IHOP when I came to visit them, our favorite pancake house. Any time of day didn't matter, we would go in the morning and I would always get two huge pancakes. At night, I would still get two huge pancakes. But at night time, I got a little tired. So I would lay down in the booth and take a nap next to my grandpa.

This one day when my grandpa came to my house to pick me up, we were passing through the freeway that went by the Puyallup Fair, and I remember we passed through it. I asked if we could go to the Puyallup Fair for just a little bit, he said "yes!" We were there for about an hour, and I remember I went on this ride that spun around and around and around , it made me so dizzy that when I went off of the ride I almost fell over! My grandpa didn't even ask me if I was okay, he was just laughing, and laughing, and laughing. I thought I was about to throw up! I knew I was okay, I'm just glad I got to spend that time with him.

Back when I was a kid and even up to now, whenever my grandpa and I were on the phone he always ended the phone call with a really long smooch and a bubble popping sound! It nevrr failed to make me laugh, and I would always get frustrated when I couldn't do it the way that he did. He also had a very loud whistle, I remember one day when we were in the car on the way to my house dropping me off, he was so loud it made my ears ring for about 5 seconds.

My grandpa was the one that taught me how to whistle. Speaking of which, I remember the exact day that he taught me how to whistle. We were outside of a store, sitting in the car and he whistled. I asked him "how do you make that screaming sound with your lips?!?"
He laughed and told me, " put your tongue behind your bottom teeth and blow." So I went for it, and I blew right in his face! He acted like he was so grossed out and blew back in my face. He always was a big goof ball.

I don't remember a lot of things I did with my grandpa, sometimes I think it's because I took him for granted. But i know i never did I cherished every moment with him. I can't wait for the day that we meet again, he is not gone and will never be forgotten.

A poem by John's youngest daughter...

"I Miss You More As The Days Go By"
By Vera Roncelli

I miss you more as the days go by
Wishing you were here
But happy you're not suffering
Where you are, there is no more pain, no more sorrow
Your body is perfect in all its glory
Each tomorrow brings me closer to being reunited with you

I miss you more as the days go by
Nobody can ever take your place
Because of you I know about mercy and grace
You raised me up and encouraged my faith
You showed me what it means to love
Words cannot express how grateful I am that you were my dad
For the time I had with you, for that I am glad

I miss you more as the days go by
You taught me the way I should go
Because of you I am not lost, but am found
In this sadness, I refuse to drown
Anxiety tries to well up when I think about you too much
But then I remind myself
Where you are, one day I will go
This gives me something to look forward to
Without a doubt this is true, that much I know

I miss you more as the days go by
I loved you more than you'll ever know
You showed me love as only a father can
You were a leader, a very godly man
You taught me right from wrong
It is through your example
You showed me what it means to be strong

I miss you more as the days go by
I can't wait to cross that finish line
To hear the same words I know were said to you...
"well done, good and faithful servant"
You were a blessing to me and so many others
You oozed love and kindness
Many people saw and felt the love of Jesus in you

I miss you more as the days go by
This life seems so long, but it's just a dash between two dates
I know you're with me in spirit
I'll see you again one day
When that time comes, and we are finally reunited
I will meet you at those pearly gates

So sorry for my brother John's passing. We know he will be missed. But he suffers no more as he journeys to a glorious future in heaven. Prayers for the family.
Sister - Kathryne Whitford

John was a very special man. He was my brother whom I grew up with and had such fun together. As kids we used to romp through the waist-high grasses in Cupertino, California and jump the creeks and climbing trees together. One day a little Toy Collie dog followed us home . Johnny anId I wanted to keep him but Mom & Dad said we had to advertise about her in the paper. John, Kathy and I were praying no one would claim her, and they didn't! She became our little dog for many years. She followed John and I down the residential streets every where we rode our bikes. What fun we had.

John was a funny guy and he loved to make us girls laugh. As was said, he was so good at making his Donald Duck voice. He sounded just like him.
I enjoyed being in the Azusa High School marching band with John. He was great at the clarinet and we had lots of fun marching in football game half times and parades.
What special memories I have. Love you so much, Johnny. And I love your sweet family too. We will see each other again! Your loving sister, Patty

From Susie

When my sister Jan, married John, God gave me a brother. I always thought of him that way, and I couldn't have loved him more, if we had been born brother and sister.
I've never forgotten what Jannie told me about seeing John for the first time. She was at college, and she saw him walking down the hall, and she said he seemed to have a light shining around him. I came to understand, as I knew John, that he really did shine, it was his amazing spirit, larger than life! Later when I went to the same place I would remember my sister's words, every time I walked down those halls.
To this day I can still hear John's Donald Duck impression he used to do. Best ever! And he would make us laugh so hard, and all the kids, theirs, and my two, Alex and Daybreak.

As others have said, John's faith was very strong. Through many rocky years I had in my life, I always knew how strong it was, and Jannie's too. Both of them, prayer warriors! In recent years I drew much closer to the Lord, seeing with my own eyes, true miracles. I am more grateful than words will ever fully express, for the beautiful prayers John would say for us over the phone, while we've been far separated by miles. His voice, his choice of words, and his incredible love for us and for Jesus, bound us all together. He was our anchor. I loved to hear him sing! My whole life since the day I met him, has had the sound of his voice running through it. It is part of me. Forever and ever, John, you have my love and appreciation. What a good man. In John I saw someone who never stopped trying to do the very best he could for his family. I admired him, and I respected him.

Here is Aaron's favorite memories with grandpa and a poem entitled "Open Eyes" he wrote.

The happiest memories I have with my grandpa was when I received my very first drum set. I loved listening to his police stories and when he came over to visit with the family. He was so funny, I loved his sense of humor. He always put a big smile on my face.

Poem by Aaron Helvy

"Open Eyes"
I know that you're watching me from above
As I grieve with open eyes
Crying with joy but sadness overflows without mercy
Praying you were still alive
Wishing I was dead but that won't happen
As I grieve and cry with open eyes
I know you're watching over me
Waiting for a long time to reunite a family
Saying our last goodbyes until we meet again
With open eyes I look to the sky
As I cry to tell you I miss you
I love you, I know you loved me
I know you're happy and painless
I can hear your voice in my head
So I know your aches and pains are gone away
Jesus is the way for a happy life
I look to the skies with open eyes to tell you I miss you

FOREVER YOUR BABY GIRL
By Vera Roncelli

Where do I begin describing how wonderful my dad was. My dad was the most amazing dad in the world, and I'm not just saying that, he really was the greatest dad, grandpa and husband. I am blessed that God chose John and Jan to be my parents. I have so many fond memories of my dad. I remember when I was little, like around 5 years old. My dad bought a motorcycle and every morning before he'd go to work he would get me out of bed while still in my pajamas and take me for a ride around the block. In fact when I was about 11 or 12 years old and we were on a family camping trip with our church my dad borrowed someone's motorcycle and wanted to take me for a ride again since he didn't own a motorcycle anymore, that was a fun day!

He pulled me out of school this one day when I was in about 2nd grade and asked me if I wanted to go to Seattle with him to see a "gooey duck". I didn't know what that was, I was just excited about going on an outing with my daddy. He literally took me to Seattle to show me a "gooey duck". I was thinking he was going to show me a dead duck splattered on the road or something, but to my surprise it was just a big ugly looking clam.

My dad always encouraged me in my faith. Seeing how he and my mom ministered to and helped people made me want to tell everybody about Jesus. I had many friends I told about Jesus as I was growing up. I brought them to my dad to lead so he could lead them through the salvation prayer.

My dad would pray for me often. Every time I was struggling with something my dad was my superhero. I would come to him and talk to him because he always seemed to know what to do and made me feel better. When I was 12 years old my dad baptized me. I remember it clearly, we went to a swimming pool with a group of people from our church and he baptized me there. That is a very special memory for me being baptized by my dad.

Dad loved to tease me about spiders. When I was about 15 years old, I remember sitting on the couch this one day and he came up to me and while staring intensely at my leg told me "don't move!" He then bent down and grabbed my leg and started patting it like crazy and yelled " there was a spider crawling up your pant leg!" I of course stood up, screamed and started jumping around like a crazy person! Then there was this other time he came up to me, this was around the same time, and he had his hands cupped together and said "hey Vera, I have something for you" He refused to tell me what it was which made me very nervous and he had this mischievous look on his face which made me even more nervous! He made me hold my hands out so he could put whatever was in his hands, in my hands, but I was so scared because he teased me about spiders so much! I finally cupped my hands together and held them out, I could feel the anticipation and anxiety building up. I asked "it's a spider isn't it?!" He said "you just have to hold your hands out to find out." So I held them out and as he dropped what was in his hands into my hands, I panicked, screamed, withdrew my hands quickly and about 100 or more pennies hit the floor and went everywhere!
I can't forget about the hotdog story, that must be told too. My dad was always teasing me and doing things to gross me out. I used to love a good hotdog and so did my dad until, one day he says to me. "Vera, did you know that the sodium erythorbate in hotdogs is actually ground up earthworms?" I remember being disgusted and didn't want to believe it and I called his bluff and he insisted that it was true. So I asked "why would they put earthworms in hotdogs"? My dad's response was "for extra protein". Whether it was true or not at this point didn't matter. The possibility of it being true was so gross to me that I couldn't bring myself to ever eat a hotdog again after that. In fact, even the thought of eating a hotdog or looking at one made me want to gag!
Today though I am happy to say that I got over my hotdog phobia.

I have many more wonderful memories. I remember how happy and proud my dad was when my children were born. He was such a proud grandpa he loved his grandchildren so much. I struggled and had a very hard time when they were young and because I wasn't in a very good place, if it weren't for my dad taking my children to church and instilling in them a foundation of faith they wouldn't be in a good place today.
He used to spend a lot of time with his grand kids. My daughter when she was a baby was obsessed with her grandpa's ears. When she would cuddle with him, he'd have her cradled in his arms and she'd reach her little hand up and hold onto her grandpa's ear and rub it. She loved how soft her grandpas ears were.

I love my dad so much, and creating wonderful memories with him are so important to me. This is why I chose him to officiate our wedding. On July 5, 2014 my dad married me and my husband Jerry. My dad and my husband were a hoot when they were together. My husband really knew how to crack my dad up, boy did they laugh when they were together! I wish I could list every single memory I have of my dad, but if I did I'd be writing a book.

My dad loved to sing. His favorite worship song was "Blessed Assurance" and he would randomly break out in song sometimes and he always had such a beautiful singing voice. My dad and I sometimes would sit around and listen to worship music together. In his last days I made it a point to visit him every day and I would read 1 Corinthians 15 which reminded us of our "Blessed Assurance" when we are in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55
"Oh death where is your sting? Oh hades, where is your victory?" We always talked about how we'd see each other again and be reunited in heaven. I would also play dad's favorite song "Blessed Assurance" and I always placed my phone close to his ear so he could hear it nice and clear.

My dad was so handsome. I so wish I had a picture of this, but the night before he went home to be with the Lord, he had just had his mustache and beard trimmed. I was standing on the right side of his bed, my mom on the other and I told her "dad looks so handsome with his beard trimmed". As my mom gently touched his face she said "yes, he was always so cute". My dad's eyes lit up and he turned his head and looked up at my mom with the sweetest smile. I realize now that night that he was saying goodbye to us, but it wasn't really goodbye, it was more of a "see you later". He reached out to me when I told him we had to go and he grabbed my coat and pulled me close to him. I just hugged him and kissed him and told him how much I love him and that he is the best dad and grandpa ever. He also reached out more than usual for my mom this night. He put his hand on her face and my mom placed her hand on his face and she gave him MANY sweet kisses.

I love you so much dad, I can't even find the words to describe how much I love you. I know you said you are really going to miss us, but in reality it is us that are going to miss you terribly until we are reunited again in heaven. I think about you all the time and listen to your favorite worship song and I will see you in my dreams. You are the best man I have ever known. Until we meet again...I will love you forever.