When my mom was 19 or 20*, her parents went through a nasty divorce. It was tough on their kids, especially when their dad moved back to his native Illinois and they fell out of touch. Not too many years later, however, my grandma remarried to a man named Gilbert Nihart who was the principal and 6th grade teacher of the school where she taught 5th grade.
Gil was considerably older than she (nearly 15 years, if memory serves me correctly), but he dressed, talked, drove, and acted much younger- a characteristic that would define him for most of his adult life.
He was the first grandpa I have memories of, and he treated my grandma's children and grandchildren as his own. I have many memories of spending time at their house and him winding up the cuckoo clock for us to watch, playing the conch shells like a trumpet, and tending to his beautiful garden. He was always so full of life and vigor and liked to tease my grandmother. I can still hear him calling out to her "Dorothy!" which usually was followed by some silly taunt or joke. His arch nemesis were the deer in their neighborhood of Lake of The Pines that would chew on his vegetable garden and roses. Grandma loves roses so he always made sure to plant plenty for her.
About 7 years ago he began finally to suffer the effects of old age as he succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Grandma and Grandpa moved to Springville so that they could live near my mom's youngest sister Tammy who would help Grandma care for Grandpa in his declining years. Earlier this year, he had to be moved to a nursing home due to mobility issues.
I remember the last night I spent with them, which ended up being the night before Grandma had to move him into temporary and then permanent care in a rest-home. My mom was visiting with us and we went over to Grandma's house to have dinner and talk. Grandma told us all of the beautiful stories of their courtship and Gil seemed to remember more and more, even contributing his own details a few times. It was wonderful to feel like Grandpa was really there with us and that our family was complete for duration of that evening.
My favorite story they told was of a time that Grandma had a date with a man before she became serious with Grandpa to go to the symphony. Grandpa somehow had found out about her plans and made arrangements to secretly arrive before her date. She saw him standing there all dressed up for the show, and decided she'd rather be out with Mr. Nihart. She said he looked dashing in his suit and she felt she belonged with him that evening. I guess she was right because they were married for nearly 40 years.
Grandpa had been slipping deeper and deeper into his health problems over the past year, especially since being moved to the care center. Grandma has been visiting him nearly every day, but 98 years is a long time to be alive and he was called home early this morning. No one is quite sure when he passed away, but they are sure that he died peacefully in his sleep. He was pronounced dead at 5:30 this morning.
In his lifetime he survived 2 Great Wars (during World War II he was a test pilot), the Great Depression, and the onset of the Age of Technology. He was a minister, a race car driver, owned a general store, drove trucks, and was a teacher and principal. When he retired from teaching in his early 70's the town celebrated "Gilbert Nihart Days" in his honor with a big banner strung across main street and all the school children dressed with paper ties in his honor. He lived his entire life with the poise, grace, class, and impeccable style of some bygone era.
All in all, I'm not sad about his passing because I can't imagine anyone leading a better or longer life, but I will miss him. I think we all will.
*disclaimer: all of the dates, ages, and times in this post are cited from memory to the best of my knowledge and may not be completely accurate. If I have erred radically from real dates and times, please let me know so I can correct any inaccuracies
Gil was considerably older than she (nearly 15 years, if memory serves me correctly), but he dressed, talked, drove, and acted much younger- a characteristic that would define him for most of his adult life.
He was the first grandpa I have memories of, and he treated my grandma's children and grandchildren as his own. I have many memories of spending time at their house and him winding up the cuckoo clock for us to watch, playing the conch shells like a trumpet, and tending to his beautiful garden. He was always so full of life and vigor and liked to tease my grandmother. I can still hear him calling out to her "Dorothy!" which usually was followed by some silly taunt or joke. His arch nemesis were the deer in their neighborhood of Lake of The Pines that would chew on his vegetable garden and roses. Grandma loves roses so he always made sure to plant plenty for her.
About 7 years ago he began finally to suffer the effects of old age as he succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Grandma and Grandpa moved to Springville so that they could live near my mom's youngest sister Tammy who would help Grandma care for Grandpa in his declining years. Earlier this year, he had to be moved to a nursing home due to mobility issues.
I remember the last night I spent with them, which ended up being the night before Grandma had to move him into temporary and then permanent care in a rest-home. My mom was visiting with us and we went over to Grandma's house to have dinner and talk. Grandma told us all of the beautiful stories of their courtship and Gil seemed to remember more and more, even contributing his own details a few times. It was wonderful to feel like Grandpa was really there with us and that our family was complete for duration of that evening.
My favorite story they told was of a time that Grandma had a date with a man before she became serious with Grandpa to go to the symphony. Grandpa somehow had found out about her plans and made arrangements to secretly arrive before her date. She saw him standing there all dressed up for the show, and decided she'd rather be out with Mr. Nihart. She said he looked dashing in his suit and she felt she belonged with him that evening. I guess she was right because they were married for nearly 40 years.
Grandpa had been slipping deeper and deeper into his health problems over the past year, especially since being moved to the care center. Grandma has been visiting him nearly every day, but 98 years is a long time to be alive and he was called home early this morning. No one is quite sure when he passed away, but they are sure that he died peacefully in his sleep. He was pronounced dead at 5:30 this morning.
In his lifetime he survived 2 Great Wars (during World War II he was a test pilot), the Great Depression, and the onset of the Age of Technology. He was a minister, a race car driver, owned a general store, drove trucks, and was a teacher and principal. When he retired from teaching in his early 70's the town celebrated "Gilbert Nihart Days" in his honor with a big banner strung across main street and all the school children dressed with paper ties in his honor. He lived his entire life with the poise, grace, class, and impeccable style of some bygone era.
All in all, I'm not sad about his passing because I can't imagine anyone leading a better or longer life, but I will miss him. I think we all will.
*disclaimer: all of the dates, ages, and times in this post are cited from memory to the best of my knowledge and may not be completely accurate. If I have erred radically from real dates and times, please let me know so I can correct any inaccuracies
2 comments:
Camille..beautiful tribute to my "Uncle Gil." I'm coming with Jennifer and baby Jason for the memorial. See you soon, cousin Leslie
Hugs to you and your family!
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