Today we pay respect and celebrate the life of my boss of 21 years and my friend of 30. Last Saturday evening he had a massive heart attack that mercifully was quick and he went home to be with his Lord and his family that passed before him.
Too often we feel like people are taken from us too soon and such is the case with William Dwight Peeler. He worked for our company for 31 years and he was a dedicated man, not only to his company but also to everyone whose life he touched. Even in the work place, where you have to compartmentalize and be "The Boss" he managed to show compassion. Over the years I have been privileged to witness this compassion in action.
Many times he would take the lead and become a big brother for one of the children of our management by taking them with his boys group from church on camping trips. Often he would hold fund raisers to take kids annually to Washington, D.C. to allow them the privilege to see the museums and historic sites. I have seen him roll in the floor with a child and play at their level, never once acting too old or big to play. He had three grandchildren and a great grandchild and he was devoted to them as well as his wife of 39 years and his brothers, sisters and extended family. Recently, he had been tutoring a young boy from his church trying to help him overcome his recent aversion to school.
He loved to camp and he and his family took what I would call "extended family" vacations where all the children, spouses and grandchildren would go as a group. In most families this is called a family reunion but the Peeler family took a family reunion every year. This year, he had been looking forward to taking the entire family to Disney World.
More importantly on a personal note, he was my Boss but he was also invested in me as a person. Over the last 21 years, he was my sounding board as I lived through being a divorced single father. Often when my ex-wife and I were at each other's throats, he urged me to act with reason and civility when the opposite was what I really wanted to do--all because he could see the big picture of what my desired reactions would do to my still pre-teen children. He was a confidant as well. I knew I could talk to him about anything and it would go no farther. I like to think I shared that relationship because we often would sit and he would blow off about a particular thing that was bugging him, and then he would be fine. He just needed someone to allow him to vent his frustrations.
Mr. Peeler sang in his church, led children’s groups, led the kid’s choir and entered competitions with them. He was a former Sunday School Superintendent. He took part in a weekly men’s prayer dinner.
Mr. Peeler, as he was called by everyone including HIS boss, was well respected in the company, his church, his family and in his community. While we will all sorely miss him and we feel he was taken too soon from us, we can all rest assured that he will continue looking out for all the people he cared about from his corner of Heaven. There is a quote that to me identifies Mr. Peeler as well as anyone or thing could:
"Do not be afraid of death, but rather of a life half-lived." Laird Hamilton
This is the man we all knew as Mr. Peeler. He was sure in his faith and he was not afraid to die and most assuredly, he did not have a life half-lived. He lived live all out and he was an example to us all. TODAY I CHOOSE TO LIVE LIFE ALL OUT!
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