Remembering My Father

My father, Bernard John Schreurs, died 30 years ago this month, on Nov. 11, 1984.  So I'm posting this in his honor.

Dad was born on Feb. 19, 1917, the first of 4 children to Ben & Effie Schreurs.   He was raised on a dairy farm near Cedar Grove, Wisc., when farm work was done by hand and by horses.  He loved horses, and his father trained 2 colts every year, to work together as a team.  He attended Maple Grove School, a one-room school.  As a young man, he worked on several dairy farms.

On Sept. 8, 1949, Benard married Margaret.   Jim was born in ’52, and Wendell in ’55.  Leon Jonathan was born in ’57 but died of pneumonia 2 years later; the minister once told me that it was the hardest funeral he ever did.  My sister Ann came along in ’58, and me 2 years later.  Grandpa Schreurs died of a heart attack in 1961.

Dad started working in a factory that made Mercury outboard motors for boats; he showed us around the factory one time.  My sister Karen was born in ’62 and Jane in ’65. 

My grandparents went to First Reformed Church in Cedar Grove, and so did we.  Dad didn’t say much about religion; saying the Lord’s Prayer at meals and going to church was enough.  When I was 5, Grandma Schreurs passed away.

There were joyous times too.  In Sept., 1974, Jim married Sue.  A week later, Mom & Dad celebrated their 25^th anniversary.  In the next few years, 2 grandchildren, Dale & Dawn, were born.  In ’77, Wendell married Patti.

In 1978, Mom was diagnosed with cancer and died on May 6 which was probably the hardest day in Dad’s life.  I still recall his tears.  In the next 3 years, Ann, Karen, & I moved away to attend college.  Looking back later, it seemed like Dad aged a lot in those years in which his family shrank so quickly.

The factory closed in 1980, and Dad took an early retirement.  A year later, his health declining and unable to take care of himself, Dad reluctantly moved into a retirement center.  It was hard for me to visit him there.

Ann got married in 1984, and at the reception, I remember Dad proudly introducing me to his friends as his son who was in seminary, studying to become a minister.  As I thought about that later – his bragging about my becoming a minister – that said something positive about his faith.

In Nov. that year, he was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus but was spared from suffering because he died of heart failure in his sleep, on Nov. 11.  He was buried on a cold, cloudy day.  Life is short.  Psalm 39:5 says, “The span of my years is nothing before [God].  Each man’s life is but a breath.”

After you’ve died and gone, what difference will your life have made?  I believe that values like faith, hope, love, joy, & peace will matter in the long run.  After you’re gone, those things will last far beyond anything that can rust or rot.  In Matthew 7, Jesus told the story of the wise and foolish builders.  Are you building your life on the rock or the sand?  What legacy are you leaving for your family & friends?  After you’ve been dead for a while, what will people remember about you?

P.S.   Our son, Jonathan David was named after his grandfathers; John is an old family name on the Schreurs side.  Jane’s father is David Stevenson.  Our daughter Megan Leigh is named after her grandmothers.  Megan is the Irish (red hair!) form of Margaret; Jane’s Mom’s middle name was Lee.