1972 cir. picture of Olp sisters
Eulogy - Rosalie Lustig Schnick
Daughter
Speaking for immediate family
Theodore Lustig, Sr. (9/16/1910 - 7/3/2001)
Buried 7/7/2001 from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Owatonna, MN
Interned at St. John Cemetary, Owatonna, MN
I have been asked by the rest of my immediate family to try to reflect on the life of our Dad, Ted Lustig, and what he meant to all of us. I will try my best. If I cannot make it through, Pastor Kallio has offered to finish for me. There are some things that we all want said about Dad that made him so special to us, so if you will bear with me, I will try to get them said.
On behalf of my mother, Alvera, my sister, Marilyn, and her partner, Paulette, my sister, Charlene, my brother, Ted, Jr., and my husband, Ron, I would like to thank all of you for coming here today. We appreciate that many of you traveled some distance to be here. Perhaps you are here today to remember this gentle, kind, and loving man who may have directly impacted your life in some way. Perhaps you didn't even know Dad that well (maybe not at all), but maybe you have a good friend whose life was directly impacted by Dad, and you are here out of respect for that friendship. Perhaps both reasons apply. Regardless, you honor our Dad's memory by taking this time this morning and sharing it with our family...and we thank you for being here.
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted... Our Dad was a farmer, he planted corn (the straightest rows), alfalfa, soy beans and he harvested them. Dad lived and worked on the same farm and with the same family, the Wildung-Ihlenfeld families, since 1935. He loved this farm and was loyal and hard working to the end. He always planted a vegetable garden that we thought of as a "truck garden" (the sweet corn was planted with a field corn planter). We would harvest, can and sometimes sell that produce. We never went hungry.
One has to be concerned about the weather if you farm. Dad knew how to read the clouds so well that he sometimes out guessed the weatherman in his forecasts. And, it was a topic of conversation anytime we talked with Dad, especially if we might be experiencing bad weather. He would always call to make sure we were safe.
Dad knew how to do a lot of things even though he did not have a formal education beyond the eighth grade. He sometimes was embarrassed about his perceived lack of education and would say that he was not a learned person but he was so wrong. He knew how to fix and run any piece of farm machinery, how to grow and care for any plant or animal, how to weld, do plumbing and electrical work, and how to run the alfalfa dehydrator (he had an engineer's license that he was pretty proud of). He was so well organized and required everyone who worked on the farm to put back tools where they belonged. I think we all learned that lesson real well.
It takes an optimist to be a farmer - you never know if you are going to have a crop. Dad certainly was an optimist growing his garden, planting the fields, and nurturing the animals. He was such an optimist that he even bought a car at the age of 88.
A time to laugh...Our Dad liked to joke and would gently kid everyone. He would make Mom laugh every day by the things he would say. The kidding was always gentle and with a twinkle in his eye. For almost two years now, he especially would kid Home Care Nurse Ruth and Health Aide Judy about everything. Even his last words were a little joke: Ron noticed that Dad was rubbing his hands and Ron held his hands and they were cold. Dad said, "Your hands are so warm, did you have them in the furnace?"
A time to heal, A time to weep, A time to mourn...Everyone has mourning to do in one's life and Dad was no exception. Dad had to heal from losing his first son who was killed by a truck driver while he was crossing the road in front of the school bus that Dad was driving. Dad silently turned inward and to his faith. He did not take his grief out on others. He always worried about the rest of us being safe. Every time I traveled (and I travel a lot), he would look up at airplanes going overhead and wonder if I was aboard and would only be relieved when he heard that I was home safely.
We know that there is a time to weep and a time to mourn for Dad but we want this to be a celebration of his life.
A time to dance...Dad did not do much dancing but the one dance of his life that became so important was the dance he attended where he met Mom for the first time. He had come with someone else but took Mom home instead and that resulted in 62 years of marriage doing the dance of life.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing...Dad didn't show much emotion - he was pretty stoic and he wasn't into much hugging. We knew though that he loved us without that outward show of affection.
He could be stern, especially with the farm hands that worked there but they soon found out that he was a "pussy cat" under the surface. They understood and when they would come back to visit, the first words out of their mouths were "How's Ted" or "Have you seen Ted today".
Dad and Mom provided entertainment and personal growth for us by embracing extended family and church. Instead of other forms of entertainment, we would visit the homes of our parents' brothers and sisters where we would interact with our cousins and find out what a wonderful extended family we had (and what good cooks all our relatives were). We went to church and attended Sunday School every Sunday. We met some very good people through those sessions and learned some valuable lessons for life.
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak...Dad didn't talk a lot but when he did, he had something to say. Dad was a shy person but he could open up if it involved fishing or farming. One time on a fishing trip in the Great Lakes area, he went out in the parking lot and began talking with perfect strangers about fishing. It was amazing!
He loved the farm and wanted the Grandchildren of Henry Wildung to "do everything right". In fact, he was known to say many times to John and Mark Ihlenfeld "Your Grandfather taught me a lot and I am going to get it into you one way or another".
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Dad did not have time for hate or war; he was a peaceful man who worked the soil and loved nature and all its creatures (especially his cats that he called "puddle wuddles"). Dad gave this love of nature as a gift to us children. Dad would have made a excellent veterinarian or horticulturist in reality, he was both. He knew how to heal animals without formal training and he knew how to care for all plants, especially trees. He used to observe his neighbor take care of the many evergreens that were planted across the street. He applied that knowledge to a cedar tree that he had saved as a little sprig from under our deck. When the tree lost its top, he restored it by taping up branches from below. That tree is now our outdoor Christmas tree, 15-feet tall, with a very fine top for a star and is a fitting a memorial to our Dad.
His love of nature was especially manifested in his love of fishing. He loved all aspects of fishing from the preparation, the stories, the travel, to the experience in the boat and the observation of nature from there. His favorite spot was Crow Duck Lake in Manitoba, the spot that Harold Burmeister fished for 50 years straight and who introduced Dad to Crow Duck. Dad loved to troll for northerns - and could Dad catch them. He had a favorite lure called a Cisco Kid that had a hole in its head that Dad fixed with a tooth pick - this lure goes with Dad to Heaven. It had numerous teeth marks from those northerns that were unlucky enough to be enticed to lunge after it. No matter what the weather was, Dad was always the first in the boat and the last to come in. He knew that lake like the back of his hand. He and Harold named each bay where someone in the fishing group had caught a big fish or many fish. Charlotte Burmeister Smith remembers that Dad was her and her husband Craig's first fishing buddy in Canada.
Dad also helped Ron's Mom in recovering from the grief at the loss of her husband in January 1975. At their home following the funeral, Dad asked my Mother-in-Law, Helen, whether she would be interested in joining him, my Mom, Ron and I at Crow Duck to fish that following summer. She agreed and spent a wonderful week with us. Dad even named a bay in her honor. She learned to fish for northerns very quickly from Dad.
My husband and I had the opportunity to take Dad and the Burmeisters for one last fishing trip to Crow Duck last year. At first, Dad had a little trouble remembering the lake and the spots where he had fished but as the week went on, he remembered everything including how he liked to fish - way too fast as far as I was concerned. Ron ran the motor and would have to try to please both of us as we would advise him to speed up for Dad or slow down for me. And then there was the discussion on how far back from the boat the lure should be; me advocating for farther back and Dad almost next to the boat so he could watch the bait wiggle in the water. Well, Dad knew best - he caught fish right next to the boat and going fast. It was a good lesson in listening to an old fisherman - they may not always remember everything and they may exaggerate a bit about the size of the fish but they will never forget how to catch fish.
On a personal note, Dad was the one who instilled in me the love of nature and the joy of fishing that led to my avocation and vocation being one and the same. I have Dad to thank for helping me find such joy in work and in play.
And he loved his family. Oh, did he love his family. He loved Mom very much and was always concerned about her when she was not feeling well or when she was out of sight. He did such a wonderful job of caring for her when Mom broke her foot in 1983. He was so proud of every one of his children alike: Ted, Jr. for his determination to get his degree at the age of 50 in Construction Management, Charlene for her ability in math and her efforts to learn about computers on her own that led to a fine job as a Research Specialist in the Phoenix Union School system, and Marilyn for her job as librarian in Hennepin County and her ability to play beautiful music on the violin. He always looked forward to having the violin played around the house or at family functions.
Dad was gentle, loving, and kind. He would do extra stuff for us - Dad made sure that our brother was not bored when his older sisters went off to college - he got a toy train and later a snowmobile to keep Ted going. Dad would not let Charlene take the picture she had painted of flowers because he said that it reminded him of her and he missed her. Dad used to call all of us every Sunday morning to see how we were all doing. That meant a lot to us.
Dad did not confine his love to his immediate family - it was extended to the "Farm Family" of the Wildungs and Ihlenfelds. With Grandpa Wildung gone, John and Mark's children called Dad "Grandpa Ted". Jennie and Megan Ihlenfeld used to love to sit with Dad on the stoop and talk about the kitties and other animals. Dad made a wonderful Grandpa to any child, young or old.
The Wildungs and Ihlenfelds also looked upon Dad and our whole family as their family. At the funeral of John and Mark's Dad, we were asked to sit with the immediate Ihlenfeld family and we have asked them to do the same today to honor the friendship and love that bonded our families together through Dad.
Such a gentle soul.
We as a family would like to thank the two people that improved his quality of life and helped Dad survive almost two years after a bout of confusion and a year and one half after being diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. They are Ruth Vizina, the Home Care Nurse, and Judy Martin, the Home Care Aide. With their love and care, they helped Mom and Dad maintain their health. Dad would joke with them always and give Judy a hard time every time she wanted to give him a bath. We children gained such a sense of comfort knowing that they were being well cared for in our absence. We, with Mom's urging, have selected them as honorary pallbearers to thank them in a small way for all they have done for the family.
Now we can reflect on what all this love from Dad meant to us with the letter that Marilyn wrote shortly after he died:
Dear Dad,
You were full of life. You kept your sense of wonder and awe about the world,
even at 90 years old. When asked, "How are you?," you would say, "I'm still
alive, can't complain."
This Earth is a better place because you walked it and cared for it. Life was a gift in your loving hands. A conversation with you lifted my spirits and left me feeling that all is right with the world.
You loved nature and were refreshed by it. Often you gazed at beautiful trees and the sky, marveling at it all.
Good-bye Dad. You were a wonderful Human Being. Now you are a wonderful Spirit Being.
Love,
Marilyn (and the rest of the family)
Theodore Lustig, Sr. Family Genealogy
Email Roz Schnick for information
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