Marjorie's Tribute to her Grandfather
Marj & Willard --> here
Dear Family & Friends,
Today we are here to celebrate the wonderful life of Willard Roe. I am here to talk about my grandfather; many of you knew him. He was a great man. He always made you laugh. He helped you in many ways, and he got you out of trouble. He knew when you were having a bad day, he would do everything to cheer you up, and it always worked. For me I loved him very much, a lot of people do not know about the great memories that me and my grandfather had together and to this day still do. My grandfather and I went to Shells one day for lunch. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted a whole crab or a whole lobster. Well knowing Papa he ordered both for me and whatever I didn’t like he would eat it on top of a hamburger that he ordered himself just in case that I like both of them. Well it turned out that I liked only the lobster and he ended up eating the crab, and a hamburger! Or even having parties, he loved showing off his MG. That car was the greatest. He always sped down the driveway with it or even on the road. When he had little ones on board he still sped, but he was just having a great time. But that was Papa he never had a dull time in his life. He loved that car. Uncle Bill adopted that car, in all that I know when Papa was still driving the MG; he never seemed, to ever get stranded behind the fair grounds, behind cows. I grew up with both of my grandparents. When I was in Elementary school I went to their house every morning. I got there at about 6:30 every morning because mom had 7 o'clock meetings, and sure enough he was already up and in the shower, or he was downstairs reading the newspaper and drinking his daily coffee that got him energized for the whole day, well besides the cups of Grape Fruit Juice. Dee Dee was sometimes still in bed. Every other morning she would be gone to the YMCA to go swim laps by the time I got there. When I got there in the mornings I would sometimes eat breakfast or try to be like Papa, and read the newspaper. But it just never worked out. When I was in school Dee Dee & Papa switched out sometimes, but on the days that Papa picked me up, he would let me out when we reached the driveway, and I would go and sit on the back of the truck. Of course he would continue down the driveway. When the grove sprinklers were on, that was a whole different story! He would let me get on the back of the truck, but if I was not wet half way down the driveway he would slow down, and wait for the sprinkler to hit me, and then he waited till the sprinkler was all the way past me till he started going again. So some days I would reach there house wet. When I got home Papa went to his desk, and waited for me to finish my homework. Dee Dee always helped me with my homework. When I was finished I’d tell Papa and he and I were in the basement till mom got there at about 5:30, sometimes 6 if I was lucky! He had this huge train room that was very special to me. That was his and I time to have fun! I had big freight trains, passenger trains, and of course the train of all times. His Amtrak Train that he loved to death, and he ran it every day. He always showed everyone the horn that the train made. When Dee Dee & Papa moved out of there 4 story house, and into there new house, I was sad, but I had new adventures now. But when they moved I was upset because they had know idea who was going to move into the house. But then my Uncle Q bought the house, and I instantly got happy again! Papa and I had this grove thing; we loved driving in the grove. Sometimes when the branches were to long I would be in the passenger side of his large red mean machine. My window would always be down, if there was a large Long Branch Papa and I never saw it in time. He would get whacked in the arm, because he always had his arm out of the window, picking fruit off the trees while he was driving because we occasionally got hungry! I of course was different and somewhat smarter, I always had my head out of the window, so I got a lot of head injuries, but that never stopped me from sticking my head out over and over again. I always had this thing with the sprinklers I always got soaked and always had to borrow Dee Dee’s clothes. But it was worth it. There were days where Papa and I were trying to damage the house. Me and Papa put Popcorn on to cook in the microwave for 5 minutes. We went outside and, when Dee Dee got in the house, her microwave was on fire. Or the time Papa and I flooded the kitchen with really Hot water, and Dee Dee came home and had to turn the water off, and had to clean up the messes. Of course when me and Papa came back in, we did not know why Dee Dee was mad at us. We did not do anything that we knew of. But to this day he will be missed by family, friends, and his beautiful wife our grandmother, and a mother to many! I will miss him very much, and I know he is in a better place now. Papa I Love You and Miss You!
Thank You!
