It’s a sad day as I attend the funeral and services
for “Big John”. There are current and past national officers here also, in addition to family, friends and fellow VFW members, a
true testament to the man he was. John was
the VFW Commander in Chief in 2015-2016 and I had the pleasure of serving as
his Judge Advocate General and Parliamentarian.
We always talked about the importance of education and he would regale
me with stories about his family members who were also lawyers. He was so proud of them.
John loved Mama Cass and always made time for
her. At one Council meeting she was
sitting by him when his voice started crackling over the microphone. The pitch was the exact one that she has been
trained to look for in me so she started tapping his foot with her paw. He apparently didn’t realize it and kept
talking, so she escalated by walking around his feet and nudging him with her
head. However, she still had her leash
on! Those of us on the dais were looking
at each other waiting to see if both of them were going to take a tumble. Finally, he looked down and disentangled
himself. Popping back up, he then took the time, laughingly, to tell the audience what was going
on. Chief B loved telling that story and
it never got old.
I’ll miss the twinkle in his eye when he told that story. Rest in peace Chief…you’ve earned it.
