Even
though the movie, “Batman and Robin” is a pretty bad movie, there is one scene
in it that I love. In context, Bruce
asked Alfred if he ever regretted spending his life working for the Wayne
family. “Looking after heroes? No, sir.”
Alfred replied. He went on to say
that he regretted that he couldn’t be out there fighting with him. “Well,” Bruce began. “Not all heroes wear masks.”
To
commemorate the two-year anniversary of my dad’s unexpected trip to Heaven, I
recently watched his funeral service again.
I’m not ashamed to admit to you that I cried my eyes out. It was a highly emotional incident for me. I’m going to organize some of the thoughts
that were spoken that day and give them to you here. I do this to honor my dad, Jerry Bauer; a hero who didn’t wear a mask; a
faithful man of God who will never be forgotten. Today’s content, as you may have noticed from
my title, is just the first part.
One
of the themes that presented itself a lot in Dad’s service was his commendable example. For instance, Jack Pelon, General Manager of
KPOF radio, AM 91 the Point of Faith – the Christian radio station that my dad
served for four decades – said in prayer, “His life of faith and trust in You
is an example to all of us.” My brother
Mark, said, “He didn’t teach me through words, by preaching at me, he taught me
through example.” A sentiment from a
Facebook post was cited at one point; the person wrote, “Jerry lived a life we
should all aspire to.” Pastor Bill Oudemolen,
in his remarks at the end of the service, stated that my dad “earned his living
through his words, and yet he made his mark through his life.”
Denise
Washington-Blomberg, one of my dad’s colleagues at the radio station, was
gracious enough to give a voice to the reflections that my mom had composed –
and I edited. In large part, Mom gave
what she called “snapshots” of my dad.
She gave the snapshot of how dad was a faithful husband, who loved her
like Christ loves the church. She spoke
of how Dad intuitively knew that he was going to marry my mom, since she was 11
years old. His devotion to her simply
cannot be overemphasized. She cited how
he was willing to protect his family, with his life, if need be. She told a story of how, a few months into
their marriage, Dad protected her from a group of men who broke into their house. There was no violence, but Dad had a baseball
bat, and he was willing to use it.
My
dad’s love for his family was a big theme throughout the service, and rightly
so. To highlight the huge impact that
Dad made on my brother and me, I’m going to share the high praise Mark and I gave
him in the service in part 2 of this; for today, it’s sufficient to state that
“Grandpa” was a name he was happy to wear.
It was presented, through a beautiful photo montage, how Dad spent lots
of quality time with his grandchildren.
And, I can tell you that he treasured every minute of it.
It
was described often in his service how organized my dad was. His desk at his work was brought up several
times as an illustration of this fact; it was immaculate, clean, and orderly. But more than simply being organized, he was
also detailed, structured, and meticulous in what needed to be next in the
activities of the day. I thought my mom
put it best: she called Dad “the master planner” in her reflections. He was this way at his workplace, as a
Christian radio announcer, and he was also this way at home. That was who he was in his intrinsic
personality. There is more that I want
to say, but this blog feels like it is getting long, so let me wrap it up here
for today. Check back soon for part 2.
To
be continued!
Kevin
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