Dad's Eulogy

My dad needs no introduction that's for sure. Those who knew him, knew him well. And everyone has a story to tell when it comes to my dad. I loved listening to the brothers go back and forth with their stories. Whether it was the same story told many times or a new one, it always brought a laugh. The brothers (Mike, Kevin, Marty, Chris and my dad) took trips down to Arkansas quite often. And they would start laughing the moment they got into the car and wouldn't stop until they got home. And we would ask, what do you guys talk about?? They would never tell. So like the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", What happens in Arkansas, stays in Arkansas.

These are just some memories that I wanted to share with you. It's hard to pick just a few to represent the years we have spent with my dad. I know you all have many of your own stories to tell about him, and sometime, I would love to hear each and every one of them. He will be missed dearly by so many. Especially by my mom. He was her rock, her safe place, and the love of her life. He would always refer to her as his bride in public and brag on her wonderful qualities.

Many of you have seen my dad and I together quite a bit these last few years. And during that time, dad and I were really close. But it wasn't always like that. Both of us were pretty headstrong and had our own ways of doing things. There's something I used to tell people about my dad when it came to doing things: "There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Fuchs way. And the Fuchs way was always right." And you couldn't tell dad any different. But that's what made him really great at what he did. He was a stickler for the rules and the proper way things had to be done. He always made sure jobs were done perfectly and didn't expect any less from anyone else. And for a teenager growing up and learing her own way, that was tough. I know it was hard on dad when I moved away after I got married, but I knew it was something I had to do. To find my own way. Deep down, I wanted my dad to know that I could make it in this world on my own. I didn't want him to worry about me. And all I ever wanted was for him to be proud of me. And deep down, I know he is. In the end, we had a very close relationship and a mutual respect for each other. And to have my dad's respect means a lot. As he always liked to say, I was his favorite Daughter. (To be fair, I'm the only one so there's not much competition. Same with mom, she was his favorite wife.)

And my husband also had my dad's respect. Which meant a great deal to him. As all my girl cousins know, it's not easy to bring a guy home to meet one of the Fuchs brothers. My dad was great at looking intimidating, sitting there with his arms crossed, giving "that look". The one where you couldn't tell if he liked you or not. I knew Mark was special because he wasn't intimidated at all. I don't know if Mark was being courageous or naiive, but it worked. The real test came when he decided to properly ask my father for permission to start "courting" me. He pulled my dad aside, and said, "Mr. Fuchs I'd like to ask you something important. I wanted to ask your permission to start courting your daughter." My dad said, "What?". Mark said, "I wanted to know if I could date your daughter." My dad said, "Oh! Yeah sure! I thought you wanted to borrow a tool or something."

Seriously though, family meant the world to him (next to his tools). There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his family. I've never seen a family so close like I do with my dad and his siblings. It doesn't mean our families are perfect or that we don't have problems, it just means that no matter what, they would always be there for each other. And it didn't stop with family. Even complete strangers, he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. If there was someone in need, he was first to jump in to make sure they were taken care of. Especially around Christmas time. He couldn't stand the thought of a family not having gifts for their children for Christmas. And I believe that came from his mother. Dad told me one time, no matter what was going on, or how tight things were, his mom made sure there were Christmas gifts under that tree for every single one of her kids. He said he didn't remember one Christmas where there were not gifts. So he would volunteer at the church every year to make sure kids would have gifts for Christmas.

My daughter definitely had a special bond with him. She is on the autism spectrum, so she has had some difficulties in life connecting with people. Dad tried so hard to understand and be patient with her while learning all he could about her. She wanted to share these thoughts today about her Papa: "My Papa was the best I could ever ask for. The times I had with him are irreplaceable and I couldn't ask for anything better. When I was younger before and after he was diagnosed, he would take me everwhere with him. I'd give anything to go with him one last time. I'll never forget how happy he was whenever I made jokes with him. The smile on his face was always priceless. I love my Papa so much and he'll always be in my heart. I hope he is at peace now in heaven."

While I could go on and on with tons of memories, I will leave you with one more favorite memory of mine. Dad loved movies and movie trivia. We would spend hours going back and forth with quotes, questions, and jokes all about movies. He could pick out a mistake in the background and jokingly ruin a really intense scene, like in the movie "Aurthur". At the end of the movie during the big climax, he pointed out, "Hey did you see that fly on that cheese?" Really dad?? He also loved to throw our random quotes to people. When he first met my husband, he threw out a quote as we were leaving the house. He told us, "If you need me, I'll be at the gym or the gun club." (A quote from Mr. Mom) Mark turned to him and said, "You go to the gun club? That's so cool!". I just shook my head and told Mark, "You've got a lot to learn about my dad." And the last quote I will leave you with comes from a movie my dad introduced me to recently. Every time I quoted from it, he would just laugh so hard. And I think it is so fitting for right now. As most of you know, when dad decided to do something, he just did it. There was no waiting. Well, that's how it was at the end. Dad decided he was ready to go, even though we were not ready for it. So I can just picture him saying this quote from the movie "The More The Merrier". "Damn the Torpedos, Full Speed ahead!"