I'm so sorry for your loss ,     sounds like a wonderful life, he lived a good one!

Dad's Eulogy
Thank you everyone for coming out this morning to help us celebrate Dad's life.  In thinking about what to say today, I tried to find a way to summarize who Daddy was.  I could bring it down to 3 words: Indomitable, Stoic and Patriarch.
1. Indomitable is defined as impossible to subdue or defeat.  From all the stories I've heard, he was a pistol! The term Too smart for his own good comes to mind
a.His childhood was rife with stories of adventure as only a boy with 5 older sisters could have.  At the age of 3 he climbed a windmill, but wouldn't climb down, so Aunt Dora had to climb up to get him.  
b.He was 4 when he, a 6 year old Dora, and a 5 year old neighbor took a rowboat all around Garfield Lake and no one knew where they were.
c.Apparently, Aunt Gerry would tie him by the waist to the clothes line so he couldn't run away.  If he got loose, he'd run straight to, and into the lake.
d.The summer after 7th grade, essentially my youngest son Nate's age, he went to Delco Products to find out what classes he needed to take to go to General Motors Institute.  He was surely motivated to go to college.
e.When he was 17, he had a job at Gallaher's in Dayton.  It was really far to take the bus back and forth to Germantown and he told his mom that he was going to move to Dayton.  She said he couldn't.  So when she and Papaw went on vacation, he packed up his clothes and moved.  Mamaw was furious, but he stayed in Dayton the whole summer and supported himself.
2.Stoic is defined as a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining.  That was Dad in a nutshell!
a.When he was 13, he had hip dysplasia and was in a bed-brace, flat on his back, for six months.   I look at my own very active boys (and he was an active boy!) and can't imagine the patience he had to learn!  I can't see my boys staying still for 6 minutes let alone 6 months.
b.During his Air Force physical, he was asked when he had had his tonsils removed.  He said, oh, that must have been the stuff I scraped out of the back of my throat years ago.  Yes, indeed, he removed his own tonsils with his fingernail!
c.When I was a teenager, one winter, I asked Daddy to drive me to church, which was literally around the corner.  But it was cold & icy outside!  While hustling out to the car, he fell on the ice, but got right back up so I thought nothing of it.  When church was over, I called him to come back and pick me up.  Back he came for me.  Not until we got home did I find out that he had been in the bath tub, icing his entire leg.  His knee was purple and three times its normal size.  He had broken his knee cap and torn ligaments in that fall.  But he never even let on that it hurt!
d.At the hospital, we had to learn and communicate with the nurses the Fugate Pain Scale.  They would ask him to rate his pain from 1 to 10.  He usually said 1, maybe a 2 or even 3.  Finally we asked him to rate the pain he experienced when he'd get a root canal with no novocaine (which he hated) and he said that was a 5.  So by the time he hit a 3 on the Fugate Pain Scale, he needed pain meds.
3.Patriarch 
a.Dad was ALL about family, from an early age.  Not just blood family, but those he came to consider family as well.  He was raised in a time when everyone pitched in to help.  When it takes a village was actually it takes a large family.
b.Growing up he helped take care of many of his nieces and nephews, especially Bobbie & Becky, who are here today.
c.We received an email from one of Dad's fraternity brothers this week that really accentuated this point.  Since Dad was in the Air Force before going to GMI and pledging his fraternity, he was older than his pledge brothers.  Apparently, Dad (and I quote) took on the job of forcing (him) to grow up a lot.
d.In the family, we call Dad the Baby Whisperer because, as you can tell by so many of the pictures we've been sharing, he was a master of soothing any infant or toddler!  Each one of my boys was Grandpa's Buddy, and I know Jamie, as well as Heather's boys were treated the same way.
e.Dad was truly the glue of the family, maintaining family ties when most of us get too busy to make it a priority, attending nearly every wedding and funeral on both his and Mom's sides of the family. He LOVED Facebook, as it allowed him to keep track of his extended family.
f.And of course, his love for Genealogy reflected his love for family.  He had cousins upon cousins, upon cousins.  He knew who was related to whom and how.
Those in the room reflect his role of the Patriarch  not just his direct family, but Bobbie, Becky, other Fugate family, fraternity brothers, Mom's side of the family, friends.  For being such a stern old coot, he surely was well loved. Thank you all for coming.

Mary and I were both sad to hear about your father, "Fuggs" passing. I at least had come to believe that this was a crisis that he would pull through. 

Your father had a great impact on me. As you know he joined Gamma Mu, then went into the Air Force for 4 years, then returned to GMI and Gamma Mu. I was a sophomore when he returned to school and he immediately took on the job of forcing me to grow up a lot. During one school session during our junior year, he, Curt Minsel and I lived together in an apartment because our new fraternity house was under construction and the house the fraternity was renting was not large enough for everyone. Jim went home almost every weekend because of Patty but during the week we had a grand time.

As you children were growing up, I do not remember any annual Labor Day weekend reunion that your family didn't make.

Mary was the only Flint girl who married someone from our class. She met Jim shortly after I met her so he got to give her a lot of advice about life also. She particularly remembers at least one time when he took her home because I had much to much to drink and he was looking after her best interests. I know I got a rather straight forward lesson from Fuggs the next day.

Let your brother and sister know that Mary and I are thinking about all of you today. I'm sure your mother is going to be lost for a while without her strong right arm being there to lean on now and then. She is strong and will remember lots of great things about their life together and slowly get past this time. The one consolation is that she did not have to watch Jim suffer for a long time.

Mary and I live in Palm City, Florida so we will not make the funeral.

May God Bless all four of you. 

Love,
Anson "Cal" and Mary Coolidge.

Jim, "Fugs" was the "Old Man" of our pledge class at Gamma Mu Tau (General Motors Institute in Flint, MI). He was a great friend over the years and will be missed. 

My condolences to the Jim's Family.

Chuck Hurton

Dick was a wonderful relative. Such a stalwart at all the Barber family events be it reunions, funerals, dominos, or just keeping in touch with far flung family members. Always willing to do the extra jobs and help out wherever needed.  And Dick was a fount of information on old family stories and history and geneology. He will be very much missed by all of us.  Love to you Rachel and your family.

I 1st met Jim when we both volunteered to help the University of Dayton Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter establish itself at UD back in 1994.  We were alumni advisors.  Jim was as fine man as I've known.  We worked together in mentoring these young men of Delta Tau Delta.  He was a friend to each and every one of these young Delts.  Am so sorry about Jim's passing.  Deepest condolences to Rachel and family.  Carl Wick

So glad I got to visit recently with Dick and Rachel at Tom's graduation.  I know Dick will be missed, but glad to know he is in heaven and we will see him again!  My prayers and love are with his family.

Dick, I always looked forward to chatting with you during our family reunions of the last few years. I wish that we had spent much more time together. You will certainly be sorely missed and fondly remembered by many.

Walt, I am so sorry about your loss.  My prayers are with you and your family.

Sending hugs and prayers to your family.  May your memories help bring comfort during this difficult time.

Cord, Patty, and David King

We are so very sorry for your loss. The family is in our hearts and prayers. Love sent to you all! 

Mark Winegar and Cindy Alden

I am so sorry to hear about Dick's passing. He was such a sweet and kind cousin. Dick will be so missed by a lot of people he touched in his lifetime and all those whom he helped trace their Fugate heritage. Our prayers and condolences to all of you!

Dear Rachel, Patty, Anne,Walter and family,  We have you all in our thoughts. Dick was such a nice man and grandfather. Prayers are with you during this time. God be with you.

Rachel,Patty,Anne,Walter and Families.
As the days and week pass, may you feel comforted by each others love and support.Keep your hearts full of wonderful memories. Jim (Mr. Fugate) was a wonderful husband, father, friend, and will remain so as your guardian angel. He will always remain in the hearts and prayers of the Sciama family, as we could not have asked for better neighbors when we 1st moved to the United States, he saw the truck in the driveway and came right over to help unload...Rachel with food , and of course Anne to play, from that day on we've been friends...that was in 1972...
with all our love, Valerie, Gilles, Bebe, Stephanie and Danny

We are so very sorry for your loss! Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with each of you.

Jim, better known as Fugs to all of us at Gamma Mu Tau, was a great fraternity brother. We had a lot of fun together during the years we spent at GM Tech. We studied hard and also played hard on the weekends.  Those years at Flint , Michigan were very trying times and doing things with Fugs made it a little easier. I will miss getting your phone calls and Christmas cards.  It was neat staying in touch with each other after we graduated.

Brooks Townsend

OBITUARY

James Dick Maxwell Fugate

November 11, 1934 – October 27, 2015

Gebhart-Schmidt-Parramore Funeral Home

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