FUNERAL MEDITATION
HERBERT BROOKS SANFORD, JR.

November 18, 1989 Faith United Presbyterian Church

"THE INHERITANCE OF A GOOD MAN"

For a few moments I wish to share with you the inheritance Herbert Sanford left to his family and others who knew him well. I don't mean by this his last will and testament, but those enduring qualities and characteristics which made others love and respect him. Lasting gifts by which to recall and cherish who and what he was to others.

Perhaps the first was his basic humility as an individual. It could have been otherwise, for Herbert Sanford was a brilliant man highly respected in his profession as a chemical engineer. He was the head of his department at Dupont Company and of-ten given difficult problems to solve. In the course of his career he developed many patents for his employer. During the Second World War he worked with other scien-tists in Chicago on the "Manhattan Project."

Yet his many accomplishments never went to his head, and he remained quite un-assuming about it all. Often his achievements were a well-kept secret even from his family.

A second part of his inheritance was his devotion to family. He truly enjoyed activities with his children because he was "young at heart." For example, when he came home from work they would all descend upon him at the front door, and a ritual developed in which he would swing each of the five around a few times. Other children noticed this and soon half of the neighborhood kids joined in the fun. He became "the swinger" on Colonial Avenue.

He also devised many home-made games to help his children to use their intel-lectual powers and to express themselves. It was always a challenge - in fact, a mini-battle - to defeat their dad in a table game or playing poker.

His interest in them didn't stop with childhood. He followed their education and employment with interest and pride. Let me share with you one amusing example of this. His youngest son, Jeff, once prevailed upon him to accompany him on a field trip while in college. Jeff's task was to capture some mosquitoes for a wild-life class which could then be studied. He asked his father to stand by some bushes which he shook and the mosquitoes landed on Herb. Jeff then tried to catch them with a jar, but this required several bush-shaking episodes until he finally cap-tured enough specimens. "No greater love hath any father" than to participate in such an experiment.

In the last seven months of his life Herbert became a part-time babysitter for his grandson Jonathan, which, I am told, was a true joy for him.

His children, their spouses, and grandchildren have been left with the inheri-tance of beautiful and often amusing memories of this man who cared deeply about them.

Finally, I would mention his faith in God. I don't really know what its nature and depth was. But in cleaning up his mobile home following his death, his sons came upon several copies he had made of this article called "...AND YOU WERE WAITING FOR ME!" It is about facing death, and the fact Herbert made several copies of it is, perhaps, an expression of his faith. The article is about a boy whose parents both died when he was six-years old. He went to live with an aunt who raised him with great love and personal attention. Now she is elderly and very ill. She writes to him about some of her own apprehensions in facing death and this is his response:

"IT IS NOW THIRTY-FIVE YEARS SINCE I, A LITTLE BOY OF SIX, WAS LEFT QUITE ALONE IN THE WORLD. YOU SENT ME WORD YOU WOULD GIVE ME A HOME AND BE A KIND MOTHER TO ME. I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THE DAY WHEN I MADE THE LONG JOURNEY OF TEN MILES TO YOUR HOUSE IN NORTH KILLINGSWORTH. I CAN STILL RECALL MY DISAPPOINTMENT WHEN, INSTEAD OF COMING FOR ME YOURSELF, YOU SENT CAESAR TO FETCH ME. I WILL REMEMBER MY TEARS AND MY ANXIETY, AS PERCHED HIGH ON YOUR HORSE AND CLINGING TIGHT TO CAESAR. I RODE OFF TO MY NEW HOME. NIGHT FELL BEFORE WE FINISHED THE JOURNEY AND AS IT GREW DARK, I BECAME LONELY AND AFRAID.

"DO YOU THINK SHE'LL GO TO BED BEFORE I GET THERE?" I ASKED CAESAR ANXIOUSLY. "OH, NO," HE SAID REASSURINGLY. "SHE'LL SURELY STAY UP FOR YOU. WHEN WE GET OUT OF THESE WOODS, YOU'LL SEE HER CANDLE SHINING IN THE WINDOW." PRESENTLY WE DID RIDE OUT IN THE CLEARING AND THERE, SURE ENOUGH, WAS YOUR CANDLE. I REMEMBER YOU WERE WAITING AT THE DOOR, THAT YOU PUT YOUR ARMS CLOSE ABOUT ME AND THEN LIFTED ME, A TIRED AND BEWILDERED LITTLE BOY, DOWN FROM YOUR HORSE. YOU HAD A BIG FIRE BURN-ING ON THE HEARTH, A HOT SUPPER WAITING FOR ME ON THE STOVE. AFTER SUPPER, YOU TOOK ME TO MY NEW ROOM. YOU HEARD ME SAY MY PRAYERS AND THEN YOU SAT BESIDE ME UNTIL I FELL ASLEEP.

"YOU PROBABLY REALIZE WHY I AM RECALLING ALL THIS TO YOUR MEMORY. SOME DAY SOON, GOD WILL SEND FOR YOU, TO TAKE YOU TO A NEW HOME. DON'T FEAR THE SUMMONS, THE STRANGE JOURNEY, OR THE MESSENGER OF DEATH. GOD CAN BE TRUSTED TO DO AS MUCH FOR YOU AS YOU WERE KIND ENOUGH TO DO FOR ME SO MANY YEARS AGO. AT THE END OF THE ROAD. YOU WILL FIND LOVE AND A WELCOME WAITING, AND YOU WILL BE SAFE IN GOD'S CARE. I SHALL WATCH YOU AND PRAY FOR YOU UNTIL YOU ARE OUT OF SIGHT, AND THEN WAIT FOR THE DAY WHEN I SHALL MAKE THE JOURNEY MYSELF AND FIND YOU WAITING AT THE, END OF THE ROAD TO GREET ME,"

This afternoon we give thanks for the inheritance of a good man. A man who left much in contributions and memories to his family and others who had the pleasure of knowing him.

- the Rev. Donald F. Garrett