We are here to pay our last respects to Troy Waters, who departed this life Aug. 28, 2006 at his home on the farm south of Marshall.
Dad was a person to be admired and to be used as an example in some very important matters:
1. He was a good husband and a good father.
2. He was a dreamer and many of his dreams came true due to ingenuity and hard work. He was a man that could make things happen. His plans usually worked.
In 1949 right out of high school Dad had a plan to go to college on an athletic scholarship at AR College. He succeeded.
While at said college he met Vivian Weaver and had a plan to marry her and start a family. He succeeded.
He had a plan to raise his children in a way that they would be successful in life. That plan was the most difficult because it involved the will of my sister and me. When I was in the critical developing years (I'm still developing) I did not see Dad as a wimpy father – one who would allow his children to be disobedient, but to the contrary. He did not have a lot of rules but he was evidently aware of Prov 13:24 Whoever refuses to spank his son hates him, but whoever loves his son disciplines him from early on. He did that part well two times at the right time. And then later on in life he was always there if/when I needed him.
Dad liked politics and positions of authority - but not for the glory of it or the money, but to be able to be of service to others. He was a very un-selfish and carying man.
Example:
Once when he was deer hunting he made a deadly shot on a trophy buck with a rifle. The deer did run a little distance before it fell, but not before someone else (hunting nearby) shot at it. The man was very old and his hands shook due to Parkinson's disease and he had never killed a deer in his life. He was using a shotgun and no doubt he never touched the deer when he shot at it, but he thought he did, and Dad let him have the deer. What an unselfish thing to do!
I can recall many hunting trips with Dad. One was a bird hunting trip in Iowa with some friends from Marshall. [On this trip I said the wrong words to him. I only said three words in the form of a question] We were walking along through a field with five other men and, suddenly, flew a pheasant. I aimed and fired my weapon and the bird folded. I knew I was on target when the gun sounded. Unfortunately, I was unaware that Dad fired at exactly the same time. When I looked at his face he appeared to have the expression that he usually had when HE shot a bird, rather than when I did. So I asked the question: DID YOU SHOOT? If I had it to do over I would say: GOOD SHOT DAD!
Dad had many different plans to help people throughout his life.
His first trade was carpentry. He built houses for people.
Then he was a school teacher - a basketball coach and also taught grades 4-6, thus he helped young people learn things that would help them later on in life.
Being both a teacher and an athlete Dad was successful in starting a baseball team at Guion, which involved getting all the kids interested, building a ball park, training us to play and taking us to games. The one thing that stands out in my mind was his fairness . I never heard anyone say he showed partiality or that he was unfair in any way.
Dad had a plan to get a job that would enable him to help farmers. He succeeded. Some of you are farmers and have benefited from his efforts.
Dad had a plan to own a farm and make it productive. He succeeded.
Dad had a plan to get Rural Water on South Mountain . He succeeded.
He had a plan to build a fire department in the South Mountain community. He succeeded. He was so pleased to learn that the new facility was going to be dedicated to him in a few days.
Troy Waters was not a failure in life. There was a time when alcohol might have caused him to be a failure, but he saw where that road would lead and wisely gave it up.
It wasn't until I saw a resume for a job a few years ago that I truly realized that Troy Waters was not just an ordinary man. I had no idea that he was involved in so many things related to human service – numerous things I have not mentioned. Indeed, Troy Waters was an extraordinary man!
In a different way, Vivian Waters is an extraordinary woman. Good sense of humor, pleasant, down to earth and a hard worker. But she does not like to be in the spot light and I've probably said too much already.
Our purpose here today is to pay our last respects.... Dad had many friends as is evident by the number who visited his home last evening and the number who are here today.
He will be missed, especially by his wife who has (to the very end) been faithfully at his side; his children who loved him as well and his brother.
Conclusion: Only couple more things to say that I want you to remember.
Death is something that will happen to each of us and we best prepare for it. To be prepared you have to have the truth. Give the Bible a chance. Give Jesus a chance. He said, "I am the way the truth and the life…". His apostle said "Prove all things hold fast that which is good." Don't let anyone deceive you into believing something that Bible does not teach - study it for yourself.
Dad was not a great Bible student, but he did believe in Jesus and was baptized in his body. Surely, God smiles when he sees men devoted to human service like Dad was.
When you think of Troy Waters, picture him when he was healthy, active and on the go. If you are feeling grief now… (or do so in the future) think of the frail, weak condition that he was in the last several days of his life due to congestive heart failure and thank God for the peaceful (easy) evidently painless passing.
We all are going to die. We knew Dad did not have long – he knew it. A death coming abruptly can be very difficult to accept and deal with. Dad did not have a car wreck. He did not get killed on the farm. He was very safety minded and has helped many to learn to be safe. God was very merciful to us in the way Dad passed.
Dad had at least 75 good years. Psa 90:10 - (CEV) We can expect seventy years, or maybe eighty, if we are healthy, but even our best years bring trouble and sorrow. Suddenly our time is up, and we disappear.
Ec 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven, we are grateful for life and the blessings, which serve to make our life pleasant.
But in the midst of life comes death and sorrow and we are made to realize our weakness, and the need of the strength, which we can obtain from You. Be with us to comfort in these hours of trial and difficulty.
May your mercy dispel the gloom of death by impressing on our hearts that we all must appear before you to be judged according to our lives.
May time heal broken hearts, may understanding fill the vacancy, and may we all live closer in service to you in the days which lie ahead, is our prayer.