Chuck's Eulogy

by Krista Heubusch

Good morning.

I am proud to introduce myself as Krista Heubusch, the sister of Steve and Paula Heubusch and the daughter of Mary-Ann and Chuck Heubusch.

We are extremely humbled by all of you from around the world who are here to celebrate the life of my Dad. I can imagine the words that you are using to describe Dad as you remember him. I'm sure there are a few of which you are not aware:

For example, did you know that Dad was a very stubborn man? Okay, so maybe everyone did but what you may not know is that when he was in Vietnam, he continued to pursue Mom even after seeing her photo in the Buffalo Evening News announcing her engagement to another man.

Dad was a also a smart man. While in Vietnam, he would also send gifts to Grandma Lucchino. I wonder who fell in love with him first.

Dad was a sentimental man and took his role as a husband and father very seriously. For example, when stationed in Thailand on a remote tour for a year when Steve and I were young, Dad would walk back to his office in the evenings and record himself reading Dr. Seuss books. He would then ship the books and cassette tapes to us in the states so that we could still have bed-time stories with Dad.

Dad was known for his sense of humor but did you know that he could be a silly man? I remember as a little girl standing on Dad's feet while we danced around the living room to the "Bare Necessities" from Disney's Jungle Book. It's still one of my favorite songs.

Finally, Dad was a very spiritual man. He and Mom would always sing at the top of their lungs at church. Now, Mom has a beautiful voice but Dad did not. He was tone deaf and flat. Even as young adults, Steve and I would embarrassingly nudge Dad and ask him to please lower his volume. With a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face would always simply reply, "If you don't like it, drown me out."

You would think that Saturday, August 26th would have been the worst day of my life to date but it actually was a few days prior. On that Wednesday morning when Keith and I were at the hospital with Dad, I held onto Dad's hand as Dr. Ngazia informed him that there was nothing more they could do but ensure his comfort. That was the worst day.

Oddly enough, that evening when Keith and I were at home on our laptops Keith received one of those e-mails suggesting that you forward it to 10 friends in the next 5 minutes so that you have good luck. I rarely forward those e-mails let alone open them. That night however, Keith opened and shared this particular e-mail with me and I'm so glad as it gave us both comfort on such an awful day. The e-mail contained the poem entitled "The Dash" and I am forwarding it to all of you on the back of the program in hopes that it provides you with some comfort and that we all receive good luck without me having to forward a profound e-mail ever again.

As you read the poem and think of Dad, I challenge us all to live by his example:
-  Stubbornly go after what - or who - you want, not matter the odds
-  Make time to be silly
-  Always look for the simple bare necessities of life, and
-  Proudly sing at the top of your lungs no matter who is next to you or if you can sing.

Finally, I ask that you please remember that my Dad, Charles John Heubusch, had one great dash!

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