This document is a eulogy given by Lauren Lanphear to honor her father Bill Lanphear. In 3 sentences: Lauren shares how her father instilled self-confidence in her and others through his words and actions. She discusses the many life lessons he taught through his faith, patience, leadership and more. Lauren expresses how blessed she feels to have had such a loving father who touched so many lives and shares her gratitude for the time they had together.

1. A Tribute To My Father – Bill Lanphear
By Lauren Lanphear
December 18, 2001
In December of 1966, I sat right here as a 10 yr old boy in a
front pew of this Sanctuary for my Grandpa Lanphear’s
memorial service. Christmas that year was very difficult
for our family. Thirty-five years later, our family gathers
again at Christmas time to honor the memory of a loved
one, my father, and grandpa to my children, niece, and
nephews. Coming only six weeks after the sudden passing
of my mom, this is even more so difficult for us all.
Finding the energy needed to put together yesterday’s
visitation and today’s memorial service, has been a real
painful challenge for all of our family. To be quite honest, we might have preferred to put this off to
a later date, when our emotional and spiritual resources might have been more fully “re-charged” and
adequate for the task. But, alas, we all came to the conclusion, despite strong inclinations otherwise,
that we would proceed and do our best to celebrate the life of our father and grandpa.
Having made the decision to go forward, the thought of garnering the
desire to “celebrate” Christmas so soon afterwards seems so very
hard. Christmas without Mom and Dad, without Grandma and
Grandpa will be very tough and surely come with a great deal of
sadness. So many vivid memories of Christmas’ past, images of
brightly decorated Christmas trees, beneath & around which sit
festively wrapped packages stacked one upon another. How very
different it is going to be this year.
And yet it is this image of gifts around the Christmas tree, which has
helped me crystallize what I knew I wanted to share with you today. I
began to realize that this year’s gifts would not be the traditional gifts
we might have only a few months ago expected to be opening and
sharing this Christmas. But then I should not be all that surprised to receive non-traditional or
unexpected gifts. Etched forever in my memory is the Christmas my brother, Warren and I received
doors for Christmas. That’s right, doors, – bedroom doors. We had each destroyed each other’s
bedroom doors in our non-ending boyhood battles. I’ll spare you the details. Bedroom doors, –
maybe not unexpected as my brother and I had been forewarned by Santa, but certainly non-
traditional.
The gifts with which I’ll celebrate Christmas this year are the gifts I celebrate today at my dad’s
memorial service. Gifts which perhaps really are traditional and which should really be expected,
but which the hustle and bustle most years, and the pain and sorrow this year could easily cloud.
These are the gifts of blessings, the many, many ways in which God has blessed my life and the lives
of my family through our dad, our mom, our family, our friends, and our faith. And, as with my
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2. mom, some very special gifts from my dad, his gifts of lessons, his sharing the lessons of life and in
so doing, touching the lives of so many.
We celebrate today gifts my father gave us, gifts that came in his many lessons of life, taught us by
his word and by his deeds; his gift of faith, his gift of self-confidence, his gift of patience and self-
control, his gift of friendship and support, his gift of determination and his gift of leadership.
So many of us have shared experiences where my dad, by his words or his actions, instilled self-
confidence in us, confidence that remained with us and upon which we could call upon later in life.
Wally DePasquale was the most feared hitter in the South Euclid
Boys Baseball League’s 11 & 12 year old division. Wally was
very big and strong for his age, and presented a very menacing
image at the plate – think of Albert Belle glaring out toward the
pitcher’s mound. And there I stood on the mound, pitching for
Seattle, the team coached by my dad. The previous at bat, Wally
had walloped the ball over the fence for a home run. There was
no way I wanted to go through that again. I paused, called time-
out, and signaled for my dad to come take me out of the game.
He remained there on the sidelines, encouraging me to stay in
there. But we Lanphear’s are a headstrong bunch. I marched
myself right off the mound, off the field and out of the game.
Despite his best attempts, my dad couldn’t convince me to hang in
there and face Wally again. He had confidence in me, but I sure didn’t!
In preparation for the next time we played Wally’s team, my dad told me I would be pitching again,
and that he knew I could get Wally out. There wouldn’t be any need for me to plan on exiting the
game as before. He told me that I was a good enough pitcher to get Wally out, and that with my
good control, if I just kept the ball on the outside corner, Wally would never be able to reach it from
his batting stance several feet away from home plate.
In that league, the home team provided the umpire. A father would call balls and strikes from a
vantage point behind the pitching mound. Mr. Rinella was going to umpire that night. My dad made
a point of telling him prior to the game to keep a close eye on the outside corner of the plate,
especially when Wally DePasquale was at bat. That was where I was going to be targeting my
pitches. At times, I’ve wondered if Mr. Rinella misunderstood and believed he was supposed to call
all outside pitches to Wally as strikes! Albert Belle was not a happy camper when he struck out.
Well, neither was Wally DePasquale. During two at bats, not once did his swings come close to
connecting with my pitches on the outside corner of the plate.
There might not have been any “joy in Mudville” that night, but there sure was a lot of it on my dad’s
Seattle team, and especially in this 12-year-old boy. My dad had very simple words of praise for me,
saying, “I knew you could do it!” after each inning that I struck Wally out and after the game. Yes,
he “knew I could do it” and his confidence in me helped me to believe I could do it.
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3. My sister, Mary Clare fondly remembers the time in
1970 when she was asked to participate on a panel
discussion for Mom and Dad’s Wesley Fellowship adult
Sunday school class. The panel, made up of college-age
children of Wesley Class members, was asked to speak
about the impact on their lives of the Kent State
shootings. As Mary Clare recalls, the views of the other
panel members seemed to more closely reflect the views
held by most of the Wesley Class members. A view that
perhaps can best be described as more Nixon-like in
nature than McGovern. Naturally, the viewpoint
expressed by my sister was far more dove than hawk. At the conclusion of the panel discussion,
Wesley class members flocked up to the other panel members to express their delight with what they
had expressed. Up to my sister came my Dad. “I thought you did really well” he expressed without
any hesitation. Knowing full well he probably didn’t find agreement with much of what she had
shared made his remark even that much more meaningful.
My Dad’s knack for instilling self-confidence in others touched a great many lives, including a vast
number of teenage boys and young men that spent time working for him at Forest City Tree
Protection. Perhaps none more touching than the experience of my cousin, Ken, about which he
shared five years ago at dad’s 80th birthday celebration. It was about a time in Ken’s life when he
was virtually immobilized with depression. He literally could not get himself out of his house to do
anything, remaining trapped in his bedroom most of the time. My Dad called Ken up one day and
told him that he had some things he needed Ken to do and that he would pick up Ken and bring him
over to work. The simple act of my Dad’s caring enough about Ken to reach out to him and to have
the confidence in Ken to entrust him with some work was a life-changing experience for Ken.
Another day, my Dad told Ken he would like him to accompany my dad on a trip up to Albion,
Michigan to visit my brother, Bill at college. Half an hour in to the drive, my father pulled to the
side of the road and told Ken to take over the driving while my dad slept. Ken replied in
astonishment that he didn’t have any idea how to get where they were going and wasn’t sure about
driving my dad’s car. My dad told Ken, “No, problem. I know you can do it. Just keep driving
straight on this road and pull over and wake me up when we get to Michigan.” The mentoring
relationship between my dad and Ken continued as Ken pulled himself out of the depression.
It was a wonderful and touching story for Ken to share at my dad’s 80th birthday celebration. As
might be expected from my dad, after hearing the story, he said, “That’s a wonderful story, but I
don’t really remember doing anything like that.’ How typical of my dad that something he probably
never thought twice about doing, something that was just the “natural thing” for him to do, had
made such a profound and lasting impact on the life of the other person.
My father demonstrated a great deal of patience and self-control. Something he tried with modest
success to instill in me. On the wall of his office at work he had a bit of wisdom posted: “The
measure of a man is how much it takes to get his goat.” Even with my dad’s best explanations, for
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4. the longest time I couldn’t figure out what goats had to do with anything. Some might say I still
don’t quite understand its meaning.
On one of those rare occasions when my brother, Warren and I were arguing and fighting, Warren
expressed his strong displeasure with the fact that I had been given “his” bed when our parents
switched our bedrooms, me moving up to Warren’s old attic bedroom and Warren down into my old
tower bedroom. Well, if he wanted his old bed, he could have it. I marched promptly up to the attic
bedroom and with much vigor, pulled the mattress off the bed and began to shove it down the attic
stairs. “Here, take your old mattress” I shouted. That’s when my dad stepped in. Showing a great
deal of restraint, he took me aside, arm around my shoulder, and as I calmed down, suggested that I
needed other avenues to vent my anger. He offered taking a walk as a possible alternative to
mattress throwing. I’ve continued to take many walks over the course of my life.
Working with my dad I received his gift of leadership and saw through his active involvement in
state, national and international organizations his dedication to improving the industry that provided
us a vocation.
And in his own quiet and humble way, my dad shared his faith with me. His dedication to church for
many years set a great example. As kids, we would marvel at how he never missed a beat getting
himself off to church to usher. Of course, my mom might have preferred sometimes that he stayed
around home long enough to assist her in the never-ending challenge of getting us kids up, dressed
and off to church with her.
I have vivid memories of my Dad coming into my
bedroom one night. I suspect his visit was prompted by
some rambunctious behavior on my part, of course, no
doubt instigated by my brother, Warren who slept in the
lower bunk. Rather than focusing on chastising me for
my behavior, my dad suggested it was time I learned the
Lord’s Prayer and that it would be a good habit to get
into saying while settling down to sleep for the night. I
remember also that I wasn’t the best-behaved student. He
persevered in his lesson despite several interruptions of
laughter on my part. And I will not forget my dad telling
me this past year that he prayed for me and for each one
of my family members every night. In my dad’s final hours, those of us gathered around his bedside,
grasped each other’s hands, and spoke the Lord’s Prayer together. What an incredible gift of faith
my dad gave me.
Yes, I have been very blessed. My family has all been very blessed. As much as we are heart-broken
by the loss of our mom, and now are dad, we are very much heartened by the strength & support of
our faith, our family, and our friends. Without these blessings, we would not make it through this
time of such intense sorrow and grief. What a wonderful blessing, a gift for which we are immensely
thankful.
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5. My siblings and I have been blessed with
parents that lived long and fruitful lives. And
at the end of their earthly stay, with the
knowledge that we each had close and loving
relationships with them, we bid farewell
without regrets, but with many fond and
treasured memories. For 42 of my 45 years
I’ve lived either with or on the same property
as my parents, our lives intertwined in so
many ways, at home, at work, and at church.
My wife, Susan, has been blessed for 23+
years with not in-laws, but friends. Friends
who loved and cared for her deeply and friends for whom she loved and cared for deeply in return,
and friends, the loss of whom she now deeply grieves. And my two children, my son, Will, and
daughter, Clare know no other life than that which included their Grandpa and Grandma Lanphear.
Susan, Will, Clare & I have been truly blessed in such a unique way. What an incredible gift!
Almost two years ago now, I was given a very special gift. One that was very much unexpected and
one, which came wrapped very deceptively. This gift came from God in the form of the news that
my dad had multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow. Packaged as such, this gift was received
with devastation. But I soon came to realize and believe that the doctor’s prognosis for my dad of 2-
5 years more of life was not a sentence, but a gift, a reminder that each of our lives here on Earth is
limited, and to make the most out of each and every day. And boy did my dad and I make the most
out of these past two years and how much joy we shared in our times together.
As a young boy I loved going to Indians’ baseball games with my dad. These outings were often
very cold, as during my childhood, the Indians’ season ended somewhere in June or early July. Oh
yes, they still played 162 games then, going into the fall. But their season definitely was over with
by early summer. So you went to games in the spring months of April and May, when dreams of
Tribe victory were alive and when frequently, Cleveland’s old lakefront stadium could be bone-
chilling cold. But I was never cold, with one of my dad’s arms wrapped tightly around my shoulder
and his other hand rubbing and warming my legs as we cheered on our Tribe.
Four decades later, we still loved to go to Indians games together, learning that games could be far
more exciting in September and October that we’d ever imagined possible, but they still could be just
as bone-chilling cold. Only now our roles were reversed, with my arm around Dad’s shoulder and
my other hand warming his legs.
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6. Perhaps my best memory will be a special Father’s Day
celebration last year. Our group of fourteen fathers and
sons started our day with a golf outing. My dad got to play
the game he loved with two of his sons and four of his
grandsons. We followed that with dinner at my friend, Jeff
Apisdorf’s house, who, together with is son and father were
also part of our group. The evening finished with us
watching the movie, “October Sky,” a wonderful and
touching story of father and son. Most, if not all of us were
in tears at the end, including my dad. I was not as
impressed by his tears as I was by his acknowledging them
to my mom upon his return home. That evening Dad sent me one of his short, succinct emails:
“Thanks Lauren for the greatest Father's day I could have. I love, you, Dad.” What a gift to be
celebrated!
Six weeks ago our lives changed forever. As I’ve shared with many people, it was a bittersweet day
to celebrate my dad’s 85th birthday only to be followed later that night with the passing of my mom.
With the loss of his soul mate of 60 years, my dad’s daily life became so much a part of all of us.
Not a day went by where he didn’t get calls and/or emails from my brothers and sister checking in to
find out how he was doing, hear about his activities, and offer support and counsel. My dad had
definitely NOT given up. He was lonely without a doubt, but determined to manage the best that he
could.
Not surprisingly, my life and that of Susan’s, and Will’s and Clare’s became even more intensely
intertwined with that of my dad. Calls to Susan for advise on what would go best with tomato soup
or to come help him change a bandage. Chores for Clare to do, carrying one thing, or another up
and/or down his home’s endless stairs. Going together with his pal, Will, to church bowling and
even to his 70 & over softball league banquet.
For me, I’m reminded of Mitch Albom’s book, “Tuesdays With Morrie.” A book I thoroughly
enjoyed discovering three years ago and copies of which I shared with my parents and siblings and
friends. But Mitch only had one day a week with his friend, Morrie. If I wrote a book about these
last weeks with my dad, I would call it “Breakfasts with Dad.” Dad would call me when he had
dressed and gotten downstairs. I would walk down to his house from my home or office, and arrive
to find him cooking Bob Evans’ sausage patties on the stove and bowls set out for Raisin Bran with
sliced bananas. Often I would make us some scrambled eggs, my dad always curious as to how I
knew how much milk to add to the eggs. No doubt the most regular and least nutritionally healthy
breakfasts I’ve eaten in a long, long time! But oh, how emotionally and spiritually nurturing were
these breakfasts together with my dad.
We’d discuss how he was doing, how well he had slept, and what he had on that day’s agenda. The
combined effects of my mother are passing and the steroid treatments for his cancer could give him
an emotional edge at times. I will never forget one of those mornings where he let me have it for
something or another and then fighting back tears, apologized, saying that he just couldn’t help it.
That was something I think I needed to hear more than he needed to say.
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7. One morning he fretted over what he would do with the homemaker services
person who was being sent out that day by South Euclid’s aging office.
“What could I possibly give her to do?” he asked. I suggested that maybe
any one of the dozen or so things he seemed to need done on a daily basis
and about which he would call several times a day. After some debate, in
exasperation he exclaimed, “What I really need some help with is holding up
my pants.” I offered that the homemaker services person might even be able
to re-adjust his suspenders if needed. “Breakfasts with Dad,” what a gift,
what a blessing!
And even in his passing, we were blessed with his being spared the ravages
and pain that could have come with the later stages of his multiple myeloma. And how very much
we were blessed that when he first passed out a week ago Monday night, that he was not at home
alone, but was bowling with his church friends, and his grandson and pal, Will at his side. And what
a gift that in those hours Will spent with his grandpa at the hospital, until 3:00 a.m. in the morning,
his grandpa was alert and doing quite well, all things considered. And what a gift that Will could
call upon his sister, Clare for support. You can imagine how difficult it was to be out of town when
my Dad suffered his initial stroke and to know that our two kids were left to deal with it by
themselves. But what an incredible blessing to know how well they managed and to see so much
love and caring demonstrated in their actions. And as Dad passed peacefully from this life to his
next, I could hold his hand, surrounded by family. A gift to be celebrated indeed!
My pain and sorrow is very real today. Bidding farewell to my
father is very hard. Losing the companionship of a life-long
friend, my pal, is perhaps even harder. Facing it and knowing
that I will make it though it, and that my family will make it
through it would be unimaginable if it were not for all the
blessings bestowed upon us, all the gifts that our Dad gave us
which today serve as tools to help heal and soothe, and
especially for his gift of faith which gives us the strength to
endure. It is for these gifts which we celebrate the life of my
father today. God Bless you Dad! I love you. Give Mom a big
hug for us!
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