Terry Krall Obituary

I’M SURE SOME IN MY FAMILY FELT A SENSE OF DREAD WHEN THEY SEE ME COME UP HERE WITH PAGES IN MY HAND THINKING OH BOY HERE WE GO. WELL THEY’RE RIGHT. UNFORTUNATELY THERE WILL BE NO HALF TIME OR 7TH INNING STRETCH DURING THIS ONE. I WILL TRY TO GET THROUGH THIS AS BEST I CAN.

FIRST ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY LET ME THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. THERE WILL BE TEARS BUT NONE OF US WANT THIS TO BE A SOMBER OCCASION BUT AN OPPORTUNITY TO REJOICE IN THE LIFE WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE.

YOU’VE HEARD THE PHRASE WHAT DO YOU GET THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING. In THIS CASE WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THE MAN WHO HAS ALREADY SAID EVERYTHING ABOUT HIMSELF?

WE ALL KNOW THE SAME TERRY. OBSTINANT, OPINIONATED, BULLISH, STUBBORN, ARGUMENTATIVE, CONFRONTATIONAL, MILDLY INTENSE, OCCASSIONALLY SPEAKING HIS MIND.
BUT IT WAS THOSE SAME QUALITIES THAT BROUGHT OUT HIS OTHER SIDE: COMPASSIONATE, DETERMINED, THOUGHTFUL, HONEST, RELIABLE, GENEROUS.
BECAUSE OF HOW ADAMENT HE WAS ABOUT WHAT HE BELIEVED, DID THAT ALSO NOT CAUSE US TO NEVER DOUBT HIS SINCERITY WHEN HE TALKED TO US, THE AUTHENTICITY OF HIS ADVICE, THE GENUINE DESIRE TO HELP?

WHEN YOU ASKED HIM SOMETHING, WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT THAT YOU WOULD GET HIS HONEST ANSWER, WHETHER IT WAS WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR OR NOT?
HE NEVER TOOK SIDES TO TAKE SIDES -- HE TOOK THE SIDE OF WHAT HE BELIEVED WAS RIGHT OR TRUE. DIDN’T WE ALL COME TOO DEPENDED ON THAT?

LOOKING BACK ON EVERY TIME HE TOLD ME THAT I WAS BEING A JERK OR DOING THE WRONG THING OR TAKING THE WRONG SIDE, I CAN’T THINK OF ONE TIME HE WASNT RIGHT.

NOW TO THE FAMILY
TO RONNIE WHO HAD THE COURAGE NONE OF US HAD TO TAKE ON THE TOUGHEST ROLL OF ALL– TO ACTUALLY COMMIT TO LIVING WITH HIM. RONNIE WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE YEARS YOU’VE SPENT WITH HIM AND ESPECIALLY YOUR STRENGTH OVER THESE PAST COUPLE. HE WAS A BETTER MAN WITH YOU, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN A LESSER ONE WITHOUT YOU.

BOB. HE NEVER STOPPED BEING YOUR BIG BROTHER. I HOPE YOU SAW THAT. ALL THE RANKING AND JABS AND NEEDLING AND CRITICISMS, THE VERBAL “PUNCHES” IN THE SHOULDER WAS ALL PART OF IT. BUT LIKE A TRUE BIG BROTHER, HE NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING IN YOU AND MARCY, SUPPORTING YOU OR BEING WILLING TO DEFEND YOU AGAINST ALL ATTACKERS. I BELIEVE THE CONVERSATIONS HE HAD WITH YOU WERE THE ONES HE ENJOYED THE MOST.

KORD AND STACY. HE LOVED YOU LIKE HIS OWN CHILDREN. TERRY WAS NOT ALWAYS AS VERBAL ABOUT EXPRESSING FEELINGS AS HE WAS WITH RATIONAL ARGUMENTS, BUT I SAW HOW HIS HEART BROKE WHEN SOMETHING PAINFUL WOULD HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE AND HOW MUCH JOY HE WOULD FEEL WITH THE GOOD.

FOR US HIS OWN KIDS, WE KNOW WE SPENT THE MAJORITY OF OUR CHILDHOOD WITHOUT HIM IN OUR LIFE, BUT HE NEVER STOPPED BEING OUR FATHER. MERCY UPON MERCY, GRACE UPON GRACE, WE DID ALL RIGHT. WHATEVER TIME WE EACH GOT TO SPEND WITH HIM, HE NEVER STOPPED TRYING TO IMPART WHAT HE THOUGHT WERE IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR US, TO GUIDE US, TO HELP US.

THE SINCERITY OF HIS ADVICE NOT BEING SELF SERVING BUT HIM GENUINELY WANTING WHAT WAS BEST FOR US, WAS NEVER IN DOUBT.
I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF, EVEN THOUGH I DIDN’T KNOW HIM UNTIL I WAS ALREADY AN ADULT, HIS WORDS WERE STILL NOT TOO LATE TO TEACH ME.

THE THINGS HE STRESSED WERE NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HE STRIVED FOR:
THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERGRITY AND CHARACTER,
THAT YOUR WORD NEEDS TO STAND FOR SOMETHING.
TO KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND WHY AND BE READY TO DEFEND IT
TO DEFEND THE WEAK AND CHALLENGE THE STRONG
TO SPEAK FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T AND QUESTION THOSE IN POWER.
TO FIND YOUR OWN WAY AND BE TRUE TO YOURSELF ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I LEARNED FIRST FROM HIM.
WHEN I BECAME A CHRISTIAN AND BEGAN TO STUDY THE WORD, I WAS NOT SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT THOSE LESSONS WERE ALSO THINGS GOD DESIRED FROM US.

AS FOR TERRY, I SEE HIM UP THERE RIGHT NOW, THE EPITOME OF NATURAL LOGIC AND REASON FACE TO FACE FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH THE REVEALED GLORY OF THE SUPERNATURAL, AND HIM JUST GOING, “OH, THAT’S WHAT THAT MEANT, THAT’S HOW YOU MADE THAT, THAT’S WHY YOU DID IT THAT WAY.” AND WITH EASE, TAKING A KNEE AND JOYFULLY CONCEDING THE FACT THE WISEST MAN IS BUT A FOOL BEFORE GOD. AND WITH PEN IN HAND, FILLING IN ALL THE ANSWERS TO GOD’S CROSSWORD PUZZLE.

HE WASN’T PERFECT, NONE OF US ARE. HIS LIFE WAS RIDDLED WITH MISTAKES AND ERRORS JUST AS OURS ARE, BUT HIM BEING HUMAN DOES NOT DEMINISH THE TRUTH AND SINCERITY OF HIS LOVE AND INTENTIONS, OR HIS EFFORTS AND DESIRE TO MAKE EACH OF OUR LIVES BETTER

LET ME END WITH THIS
GOD IS A POET
OUR LIFE IS WRITTEN IN STANZAS, SHORT VERSUS, SIMPLE SENTENCES.
AS WE GO ALONG, ALL THE USELESS WORDS GET BURNED AWAY, BECOME DROSS
GET REFINED SO ALL THAT REMAINS IS THE CORE,
EVERY WORD HAVING MEANING
EACH BUILDING ON THE ONES THAT CAME BEFORE
UNTIL IT IS COMPLETE, WHOLE, A PERFECT GLORIOUS MYSTERY.

REGARDLESS OF ITS LENGTH OR ENDING
NEVER DOES IT MEAN ITS FULL WRITING HASN’T BEEN REALIZED
IT’S IMPACT FELT
ITS PURPOSE FULFILLED
SOME PARTS OF THE POEM WE MAY UNDERSTAND RIGHT AWAY,
OTHERS WE MAY NOT SEE AT ALL
BUT WE DO NOT HAVE TO FULLY COMPREHEND TO PERCEIVE ITS BEAUTY
KNOW ITS HEART
SHARE IN ITS TRUTH.

GOD HAS WRITTEN ON EACH OF OUR HEARTS A WORD
ON SOME MAYBE A SENTENCE, ON THE LUCKY FEW
A WHOLE STANZA
BUT IT’S ONLY AS A WHOLE THAT EVERYONE HERE TODAY,
EVERYONE THAT HE HAS TOUCHED
COMES TOGETHER TO SHARE THAT PART WHICH THEY WERE GIVEN
WHERE THE POEM THAT GOD WROTE FOR TERRY’S LIFE,
ONE OF HIS GLORIOUS MYSTERIES,
IS FULLY UNDERSTOOD AND REVEALED

THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING YOUR PART OF THAT POEM WITH US TODAY.

I love Terry, and to me he will always be here.
Paul Anka wrote a song for Frank Sinatra called “My Way”. That could have been written for Terry. He wanted to do things his way and I think he did exactly that till the end. He also said that he really didn’t care for memories. He said that all that is in the past. I kind of think that is one of the things that we all own for keeps, forever.
I always envied Terry as a big brother. Some of the memories I have I’ll never forget -- they belong to me. When we were kids, we slept together. We had an itchy blue blanket. Terry would go under that cover and present himself as “The Blue Raider”. Then we would talk a lot as the “Blue Raider” and he would come back as Terry and tell me I was crazy – there was no “Blue Raider”!
In the early 50’s he begged my folks to buy him a real honest to god “Motor Cycle Jacket”. It was unbelievable. That was the only way to go. I Iooked in awe of the jacket. The first day he wore it to school, he got into a little scuffle and tore the jacket. My folks were livid. I think that was the main reason I had to wear a navy pea coat…a real fashion statement.
In the old days there was a little punching thing you did to each other while you were just standing around doing nothing. You punched the guys arm at the top of the shoulder. It was supposed to be a gentle hit like the current “fist bump”. One day he gave me a real punch. It hurt and believe it or not I couldn’t throw a baseball all summer. Was I mad? I wore it as a badge of honor. I told everyone, “Hey, my brother hit me so hard, I couldn’t throw a ball all summer!” It made me COOL.
We got hit by cars together, and separately. I have many more memories and they will be mine forever.
As a family we never heard the word “love” much in the house. It was just never said. It was just a word that was just never used. I think that I was the same way in our home. I hope the kids know that we did love them. When Terry called from the hospital to tell me the cancer came back, we cried and we said I love you to each other. We only had one call after that. He could barely talk and he said to me….don’t worry.
Maybe it took 60 years, but we did love each other. I think Ronnie helped to get him to that point. He could say the dreaded “L” word. And I do hope that Stacy and Kord and Marcy do love each other. Maybe we can say it more now.
Thanks, Ter
Bob

Terry was a terrific person. He was a good friend, had a fantastic sense of humor and was a man of great integrity.

His kindness made a huge difference in our lives, especially in recent years, for which we will always be grateful.

They don't make 'em like Terry anymore!
We will miss him deeply.

Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to Ronnie and the rest of the family.

Ken & Bea