Jerry’s Signs From Heaven

My co-worker Jerry Groskreutz’s dad passed away last Tuesday, October 27, in Sioux Falls, S.D., 15 years after being diagnosed with cancer. Gerald August Herman Groskreutz was 86 and lived in rural Wells, Minnesota. His funeral is Monday, November 2, at 10:30AM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wells. Gerald and my dad were a lot alike. Hard-working, God-fearing men. My dad's name was August Herman, he was 88 when he died in 2005. I wrote most of this last Monday just before Gerald’s passing. I did not know him well. My thoughts are primarily derived from conversations with Jerry about him. Memorials are preferred to Dougherty House in Sioux Falls, S.D., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wells, Outlaw Ranch or Camp Onamia.

Jerry it’s all right to be sad
I remember when I lost my dad
I know your dad like mine is in a better place
Because of God's amazing grace

It seems fitting your father would go during the harvest
A sign from Heaven for sure he mastered life's conquest
He lived a good life filled with love of his family and the land
I can hear The Farmer’s Polka being played by Heaven’s band

He will probably tell your Grandpa after entering the pearly gates
About the technological advancements helping farmers put more food on people’s plates
Your Grandpa’s eyes will widen when he tells of 200-plus bushel corn
The largest Minnesota dairy farm has 7,500 cows, he’ll shake his head like a calf being born

"How's Jerry doing?" Your Grandpa will ask and your dad will reply "Just fine
he treats the land like you and I, it’s God's not mine"
"The passage of time has brought the realization there are good years and bad
That farming is not an occupation,  but a way of life and that makes me glad."

"You have to experience it for yourself you know, you and I had to learn that way
We both knew that the Lord would call us home someday
The truth is none of us escape the final stage of this life
Death engulfs all of us, yes in this existence it's rife"

I can't think of anything better to feel close to God
Then to get down on my hands and knees and grab a hunk of sod
To plant a little seed and see it sprout into an adult plant
It's another of God's miracles, like the strength of a tiny ant

And if you get too cocky about how you may be making a buck
At no time at all you are on your knees saying God I was such a schmuck
Please take back those grasshoppers, the aphids or rootworm
I'm simply the keeper of your land only you can make the plants firm

Jerry you can be immensely proud of the dad your Heavenly Father gave you
Nowhere is it more evident than on this day, his faith was true
For your dad lived his life as an example too all people, not just his kin
To treat others with kindness and understanding, because we all sin

Gerald asked his neighbors to be his pallbearers today
40 years of dairy and 60 of crop farming, they experienced a lot along the way
When Gerald got sick the neighbors helped tend to the farm
When there was a combine fire, a neighbor ran to make sure there was no human harm

One of those neighbors volunteered his antique tractor to take Gerald to his body's final resting place
A fitting tribute to a man who did more in this life than just take up space
Through his life example of commitment to church, home and school
Gerald went through this life living the golden rule

Jerry when you get that tractor ready in the spring to plant another crop
I guarantee at some point during the hustle and bustle, you will simply stop
It might be a deer in the distance or the way the sun peaks through the clouds above
There will be a sign from Heaven your dad is watching and you'll feel the warmth of his love

That never leaves Jerry. It's a God gift you carry the rest of your days
And it comes in so many different ways
I feel it every time I look at a full moon in the sky
Or sing one of my dad's favorite hymns, a tear comes to my eye

For Jerry you are your father's son and nobody can ever take that away
It is another of God's gifts that is always there to stay
Both of your Fathers are proud of the man you have become
For the measure of any person has nothing to do with any monetary sum

Jerry, I assure you from now until the time of your heavenly birth
Your dad will still be with you, every time you work the earth
Gerald’s spirit will fill your tractor cab, you'll feel his presence inside your shed
From the time you plant your crops to the time you put them to bed

Jerry Groskreutz
Jerry Groskreutz
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