My good friend and former boss died this past week. It was very sad to hear the news. He was a great person to work for and a great person to learn from. Those of us who loved him will miss him greatly. This is my tribute to him as I reflect on my experiences with him.
Bunky
Friend brother and boss
Hardworking hard driving visionary
Always looking at the bigger picture
Seeing things many could not comprehend
Organizer manager salesman
Making things work no matter what
Loyal to friends big hearted caring
Church builder engineer and architect
Got things done made things happen
Project planner a stickler for detail
A lifetime of experience a lifetime of stories
Always accompanied by a big hearty laugh
Old school in his thinking rubbed some the wrong way
Cultural attitudes carried over from childhood
Loved singing in the choir
Amazing Betty Jo survived the both of us
Never too busy to laugh and talk with his employees
Sent Mr. Ed for biscuits from Oak Level Café
Ask him a question he had an answer
Usually a very good one
Ask him about his past and he would spin a yarn a mile long
Tales of farming and raising chickens
Hunting and a still down by Pig Bottom creek
Crop dusting close calls
Working for Heinz Pickles in the cucumber business
Stories of pulling tusks out of hogs
Running a convenience store in Nashville
Stories of seeing Celia at Red Oak school
for the very first time
Knowing right then
She was the cutest little girl he had ever seen
Losing his sense of taste in the Chemistry Lab
at Red Oak High School
Marrying young and lived upstairs in his parents’ house
Eating mama’s biscuits sopped with molasses
Made a meal a feast
Riding with son Chris on the biggest Ford tractor in Nashville
Letting Chris drive it in the field when he was very young
Almost too small to reach the peddles
looking like it was driving itself
Stories of the little church on Clinton Court
Sunday evenings singings that never stopped
He and Celia going with Marvin and Betty Jo
to Hardies for ice cream after church
Implanting the vision to build Englewood Assembly
Drawing the plans and seeing it come about
as everyone joined in
Investing his money into the project to help make it happen
Meeting Augustine and his crew for the first time
as the sheetrock was going up
A mutual relationship that lasted many years
as they continued to help each other
Proud of his girls Tammy and Terri
who stepped in to help
when the business was in a crunch
When folks had a need he often stepped in to help
Bunky was not perfect
He was not a saint
He was like all the rest of us
Saved by the grace of God
Made perfect in his sight
Rest in peace my friend!
Roth Poetry 