From his daughter Arlena Harmony, November 3, 2007
Thank you for coming to this church to celebrate my Dad's life!! This historical church was very special to my Dad and Mom. They became members of the First Presbyterian Church soon after moving to Jacksonville in 1999, and they have enjoyed worshiping here, singing the old hymns, being ushers, and visiting with other people in this beautiful building. All of us in the Botham family really appreciate your kind words, prayers, cards, flowers, the food that you've shared,
and your memories of Dad that you would like to share.
I'm going to share some memories of my Dad in his retirement years, starting in the 1980's. Dad and Mom had already lived for a few years close to my brother Les and his family near Denver, Colorado, and a few years close to my brother Marty and his family in Half Moon Bay, California where they ran the Princeton Seafood Restaurant together. Then Dad and Mom lived in Ukiah, California, near me for a few years. Ukiah is in rural Mendocino County about 6 hours south of here, with lots of orchards, vineyards, pretty countryside.
One day, Dad came up with the idea of starting a giant pumpkin weigh-off contest in Ukiah. It started when Dad met Howard Dill back east, during a long vacation across the country in their R.V. Howard Dill was world famous for growing pumpkins that, at that time, weighed almost a thousand pounds. (Today the champion pumpkins weigh around 1,500 pounds). Dad was fascinated with that. He talked the manager of the mobile home park where they lived into growing an enormous pumpkin with him. And he went to the local elementary schools in the agricultural area around Ukiah, and encouraged the students and their families to grow enormous pumpkins. He put it in the newspaper and had seminars to teach people about how to do it. He inspired the local businesses to sponsor a giant pumpkin weigh off, so they had prize money to give to the people who would enter this contest. Dad created an enthusiastic frenzy of excitement in Mendocino County for growing pumpkins!! The first official pumpkin weigh off contest was held in the Safeway Store parking lot in Ukiah. It was a great success!! Mom and I helped with all the details that Dad dreamed up. In other words, he came up with the big ideas, and we did most of the work, the organization, the follow-through, and the patching up of any mistakes that happened along the way. We raised money and canned food to give to the local charity groups. The project started growing and growing, just like an enormous pumpkin!!
The next year, Dad talked to the city council and local businesses and presented a proposal for starting a pumpkin festival for the area. They latched on to the idea, and the idea grew bigger and bigger. It turned into a 3 day event: a pumpkin weigh-off contest, a coloring contest for kids, a harvest carnival parade, an arts and crafts fair in the streets of the town, live country music, a wonderful fun time for families. A special day was set aside to honor my Dad and Mom for starting and organizing this new annual event. The mayor of the city gave my Dad and Mom a special award at a public ceremony, and they were honored as the grand marshals in the parade. Each year the event has grown. Not only has it brought hundreds of people to work together on a peaceful project, but it also has brought thousands of people in the county together to enjoy the harvest time of year. We recently heard from the organizers in October that they just completed the 15th successful Pumpkin Festival. It seems fitting that my Dad would pass away during this harvest time of year!! My Dad also became involved with teaching people to read. He volunteered as a tutor for adult students in classes at the Mendocino College, teaching English as a second language. This concept also grew to helping children to read in the S.M.A.R.T. reading program. He volunteered each week to come and read with students, one on one.
Here in Jacksonville, he also became a story teller at the Jacksonville Library's Story Time Hour. This meant preparing several stories every Wednesday at 11:00 to read to a group of about 20 pre-school children. He developed a system of awards for the children who came every week. He loved children, and they loved him!! He also loved coming to hear children sing at the many public concerts that I presented with the school children that I teach. I honor my Dad for
his main volunteer contributions that he made in the communities where he lived.
Fifty years after World War II ended, my Dad began to open up about his story of being a prisoner of war. Since he was only 19 years old when he entered the war as a Canadian soldier, he was very traumatized by the horrors that he saw all around him. He never talked about it to us kids, until 50 years later. He contacted the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper and asked if he could tell his story in the newspaper. The editor thought that it was a good idea, and created a column so that Dad and other veterans could tell their stories too. Dad also presented his war story to different groups in Ukiah and in Jacksonville. This was an important part of his emotional healing from the psychological wounds that he had suffered. I am thankful for his contribution in World War II to protect people like us, so that we could live a better life in peace.
My Dad has always been a gentleman. He loved to give hugs to everyone, even people that would stop and say hello on the street. He liked to go on long walks with Mom, holding his cane in one hand, and my Mom's hand in the other. As long as I can remember, he called her "Sweetheart" and always said that she was beautiful. He would wake up early in the morning, and bring in a glass of orange juice to Mom in bed. Lots of times when I would stay overnight, or my Aunty Mariem or Aunty Nessie would come from Canada to visit, my Dad would make a special breakfast in the kitchen, and bring it in on a tray to us girls for breakfast in bed. He loved to treat "his girls," as he called us, with special attention.
Dad gave Mom sentimental cards on her birthday and their anniversary, and signed them "With love from Harry from Thursday Night." He was referring to their very first date. He was a romantic at heart. He wrote some wonderful poetry to Mom. We came across some of his writings when we were looking through the old photo albums a couple of weeks ago. He was surprised to read his own poetry all these years later, and said "Wow!! I didn't know that I could write so good!!" He also couldn't believe how handsome that he was in his earlier years. He enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures of Mom and him on their honeymoon. He has always loved Mom dearly.
Dad loved to dance. He and Mom were great dance partners together!! Last month Dad called me up, when Mom wasn't home, and asked me to find out about getting them some dance lessons. It didn't seem to matter to him that he had a prosthesis. Even with only one good leg, he still wanted to dance!! I honor my Dad for his commitment to my Mom in a marriage of over 60 years.
During this last year, Dad also called me up, to help him buy a picture that he saw in a magazine. It is a beautiful picture of two people holding hands. He wanted to give this to Mom as a remembrance of how he felt about her. And he wanted it to be hung on the living room wall, so that she could see it all the time. The poem on the picture is called:"The Promise"
Across the miles I will walk with you,
in deep green forests, on shores of sand,
and when our time on earth is through,
in heaven, too, you will have my hand.
I've spent a lot of time with Dad and Mom during the last six years that they have lived in Jacksonville. Much of it involved helping him through his physical challenges. He would get grumpy at times, because of his frustrations over not being able to do the things that he used to be able to do. But I've enjoyed the sentimental side of him. He loved his family very much, cherishing the special times together.
During the last year of his life, he was able to: attend his grand daughter Crystal's speech that she gave at the University of Oregon in Eugene for her Doctorate Degree in Biology. He was so proud of her. And he always told other people how proud he was of all of his children and grand children, and how they have grown up to be successful people in life. He also attended Crystal's wedding in the bay area, and was able to visit with lots of our family members who came, including his grandson Sean, his wife Kristen, and his two great grandchildren, Kyla and Stacy. Dad and Mom and I traveled to Canada to celebrate Auntie Mariem's last birthday, and visit lots of the Canadian relatives for a week. Dad also celebrated his 60th anniversary with Mom, and his 82nd birthday. Dad got to see me graduate with my Master's Degree in Education at the Southern Oregon University. I was thankful for that. Mom and I had been taking care of Dad through all of his physical challenges during the last three years, and this summer Dad had a chance to reverse those roles, and help take care of Mom when she had her foot operation. They became very close during this time. It was an incredible last year of his life.
Besides loving his family, Dad loved animals, especially his sweet dog, Minnie. And Minnie adored him. He always told Minnie "You're the cutest pup in the park!!"
I found some inspirational words of advice that my Dad had jotted down for his own life that I would like to read:
1. Don't vegetate: Don't expect other people to do things for you.
2. Don't luxuriate: Don't sit back on your laurels.
3. Don't procrastinate: by saying I'll do it next year.
4. Dedicate your life to the dream you have in your heart: Learn
to work and study.
I could go on for hours about my Dad. I loved him dearly, and I know that a lot of you have pleasant memories to share too. So at this time, I'd like to invite you to tell something that you liked about him.
