Earl Chase Eulogy
Where do you start when you’re trying to describe a person’s character? It’s probably not how they act when times are good, but how they react when they aren’t. Although when I close my eyes and remember my Dad, I’ll think of how he was when he was healthy, I’ll never forget how he handled himself at the end. Cancer may have taken his earthly body, but it only shone a light on his humanity and faith.

Terminal Cancer is kind of a mixed bag. On one hand, the long-term prognosis is almost 100% dire, but on the other, it gives you time to get things in order, on many different levels. I had decided that if I couldn’t do anything about the tumors growing in his body, I could at least help make the time he had left as pleasant as possible. We were pretty close before all this started, but during the time we spent together during the hospice care, I realized how much I didn’t know about certain points in his life. It was a great experience to learn so much about him.

Besides just knowing more facts, it really helped me to understand him better. I knew this, but he was definitely someone who thought of others before himself. One of the points we had to drive home to him at the beginning of hospice care was that now was the time to be a little selfish. If you feel like something isn’t worth your time, don’t do it. If you you’re uncomfortable in some way, let us know and we can probably help. He did eventually embrace the concept, but I got the idea it was mostly to please us.

At first, we went out to eat a lot, every day pretty much. That period of time reminded me how much he enjoyed going out to eat with people. He had told me that he really didn’t have much of an appetite anymore, but that he felt like he should eat. I could see that when he was around his friends and family at a restaurant, his energy level would really go up, as would his appetite. It was as if the love he was feeling, for a while anyway, could win out over the Cancer.

After a month or so, he became much weaker, started on oxygen, and didn’t feel like leaving his condo anymore. He was still mentally sharp, but just not very mobile. We had a very open door policy on people visiting. A few days may have almost been too much, but we didn’t want people thinking they had to make an appointment or something. We had many visitors for this month or so, and he really treasured them all. I knew how much the people he loved meant to him, but seeing it every day is something wonderful that I’ll never forget.

Thankfully, he was only bed-ridden for a few days at the end. Even as he was becoming less responsive, he still was thinking of my sister and I, not wanting to inconvenience us. Through all this I also saw his strong faith in salvation through Jesus Christ. He did not fear death and was only sad about those he was leaving behind and how fast it all happened. He seemed to have no regrets and had lived his life as he wanted to. My hope is that all of us he left behind can find that kind of peace in our lifetime, like he did, and not just at the very end. His example is something I’ll always remember.

- Bob Chase