Harold Foertsch
In loving memory of Harold Foertsch whose birthday is April 27.
Today we celebrate the birthday of someone dear who is no longer with us. He was a father, brother, grandfather, great-grandfather, fiancé, caretaker, provider, friend, farmer, and more. One man with a thousand roles who filled each one to the best of his ability, and thus filled each one just right.
A man who was 50% stubborn bull and 50% barn cat, who lived all nine of those lives to the fullest and would tell his near-death stories and jokes with a laugh and a twinkle in his eyes. 100% a man of God who loved his life and took both its blessings and hardships the way only a farmer can, pushing forward with grace and thankfulness.
Harold loved the poem “So God Made a Farmer” by Paul Harvey, and as one thinks back on those lines one might wonder “What does a farmer do in Heaven?” That amount of work and strife does not align with what people describe as heaven, but the ability and drive to do that work, walk that path, and live that life, is the very heart of a farmer. So again, what does a farmer do in heaven?
According to Genesis “The Lord God took the Man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to till it and tend it.” So, if the Garden before the fall needed a farmer, maybe heaven does too. But now Harold can do what he loves where the equipment never breaks down, where the weather is perfect, the crop never fails, and the livestock doesn’t die. Where his back doesn’t hurt, his joints don’t wear out, his bones don’t break, and his heart beats smooth and strong. And at the end of each day, he can sit down with Grandma and Sam, drink a cold Yahoo, and look down on all of us to see how far we’ve come with his legacy—the farmer’s heart he gave to all of us. The fields we work may differ, but the drive beating in our chests to move forward is the same. He passed that on to those he raised and those he loved. May we be as out-standing in our fields as he was in his.
Forever Loved and Deeply Missed until we meet again. I love you, Pap; We all love you!
Thanks to All that came out to make His Celebration of Life such a wonderful and memorable day!
