David Allen Russell

In this final speech to our family and friends, he is home now. He is free. He is now beginning the journey that will lead him into the sunset of his life. This day December 13th, 2015, he has arrived.

Only history and our memories will record his worth to us all. We here have long since measured his worth as a human being. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave and very much a strong loving person. He was the most decent man you could ever hope to meet.

He used to say, "A good person always does a kind thing." And he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. Grief is the price we pay for love, for this is my worst loss.

Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he was, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable that when it was applied. David treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy, acknowledging the inmate dignity in us all.The idea that all people were created equal was more than mere words on a page; it was how he lived his life. And he lived the good life – the kind of life good men lead. But I guess I'm telling you things you already know.

David was also a deeply, and unabashedly a religious person. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many people wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain advantage. True, after his first diagnoses with cancer, he came to believe that God had a greater purpose for him in order he might do good in heaven, and he accepted that as a responsibility, not a hardship. And that is a profound difference. You see, from all the pictures observed Jesus and all his Saints did seem to need a haircut.

Humbled as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass in heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free.

Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of the western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillside. And someplace, flowing from the years long past, a river will carry him over to God's hands. He will rest in the shade of the trees.

Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But will join him soon enough—all of us, when we are home, when we are free. As quoted before, love the one you're with and do not take life for granted because our life is short and will be missed by those left behind…

Till we meet again and loving you forever,

Chad