Charles E. Minsinger, 1918-2011.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Filed in: My Life

Yesterday we said goodbye to my father-in-law, Charles "Chuck" Minsinger.

He's a hard person to talk about, mainly because he generally shunned such fuss. Reliable, quiet, and humble, he was one of those guys without whom this country would simply cease to function. He was a conductor for the railroad, an active Mason, a nurseryman, a husband and a father - all at the same time. Of the people I've known in my life, he came closest to the ideal of the "average American."

It's not the Hollywood celebrities or the investment bankers or the industry moguls who make our society what it is; it's guys like him. He never shied away from the job, but he didn't want undue attention for doing it. When he rescued a child from drowning in the ocean, he didn't call the media and hog the limelight; indeed, the next day the newspaper reported that the child was saved by an "unidentified man." Being of service to his community, doing the job that needed to be done, was its own reward.

He managed to stay married to the same gal for sixty-eight years, and in the twenty-nine years I was privileged to know him I never saw him fail to hold her hand when they were together. That, my friends, is commitment - and illustrates more than anything the kind of man he was.

I will miss him.

-=[ Grant ]=-
© 2011 Grant Cunningham Click to email me!