The Greatest Man I ever met!

Today, while walking with Laura I began talking about a dear friend. As we walked along it dawned on me that he went to be with the Lord 12 years ago today! 

Coincidence? Hardly! It was a reminder straight from heaven that while I was thinking of him, some how he knew, and prompted me to begin the walk down memory lane:)

The following tribute was written and presented at my dear friend Rick Epler’s home going celebration service, following his epic battle with leukemia.

 My incredible friend...how I miss you!

This is what I said  12 summers ago:

Of course were going to miss him! Miss him for the duration of our own lives. Memories warm and vibrant will tug at our hearts reminding us of the great privilege that was ours to have known him, to be loved by him.

How could I have known that when the screen door at 104 South Garo opened back in 1976, letting in my brother Mike, and his new friend Rick, that he would do more, much more than walk in our home, but our hearts, forever?

Strange isn’t it how in the ordinary routine of life things of significance are taking place…and in a simple hello we can find ourselves on the threshold of a friendship that many search their whole life for and never find.

Someone has rightly said that: “If you have five true friends in your lifetime you will be fortunate” Rick was and is the friend of a lifetime.

The best times, funniest times and most unpredictable times were when I was with him. I have played football, basketball; pool, fished and camped with him! He and Mike would wait up for me to get home from dates in high school so we could play football on our knees! Well I was on my knees they stood up and were determined to keep me from moving the football one inch! I was 16-17 they 9- 10 years old and when on my knees I would look at them at eye level. I will spend forever looking up to Rick!

Mike and I were with him at the now defunct  Starvin  Marvins restaurant for the all you can eat rib night, only to be told that we had eaten all the ribs and could we just eat bread!

I made the mistake of setting next to Rick at the now defunct Pub and grub restaurant in Chippeta Park, a place known for their three alarm chicken wings. (Ironic how we seemed to close eating establishments!) They were hot! As the night progressed they got even hotter! Water provided no relief. I soon found out why, when I wasn’t looking he kept pouring hot sauce on his finger and then rubbed it on the lip of my glass!

I will miss watching him throw a football 75 yards in a tight spiral through the October sky. I will miss playing him in basketball and getting rejected and winked at, all at the same time! I will miss standing inches from his face and in my best Ali impersonation ask him if he wanted to mess with me, and hearing him say “You want some scruffy”

I have so many more memories as do you of him. I suppose if we all could take just a few minutes to recall how he touched our lives we would be here for. …several years!

What made him so special? How could I ever describe Rick Epler and what it was that made him tick? I think he learned kindness and love from his mom. He learned to be tough and have grit from his brother Randy. And everyone here that knew him contributed something to Rick that makes him unforgettable.

Thinking about him this past week, and over the 26 years of knowing him I told my wife Laura, he was like a Knight.

Loyal

Hardworking

Loving

Compassionate

Humorous

Generous

Courageous

Valiant

All those sterling qualities could not get him into heaven however. He is in heaven today because he asked Christ to be the Lord of his life. I asked him recently if he felt the Lord’s presence and strength and he said that definitely he did.

He remarked that Mike and I had helped him to know the Lord. I must say that is what matters most to me. I can’t believe that I poured into his life even half of what he gave me, but if somehow, someway I was a part of his knowing Christ, then our relationship means more to me now than ever before! My prayer and hope is that you too will receive the Lord into your life, and in doing so finding the greatest of friendships and the promise of a reunion with those who in Christ have simply gone on ahead, and wait for us.

What will we miss most about him? I will miss the genuine interest he had in my life! Most of us if were honest enough to admit it are quite selfish. We think about our goals our dreams our aspirations. He always wanted to know how I was doing. I am sure he was the same with you. And it was real, genuine and authentic.

When he was in the hospital recently and we spoke, his last words were drive careful! While standing and swaying under heavy pain medication in his hospital room. He insisted that I take an old TV that he wanted to give to my oldest son Brian.

On one occasion Laura and I stayed overnight with he and Melissa and Brent, and the next morning he wanted to make us eggs. I hugged him recently, and told him how much I loved him, and that he was going to a beautiful place and that I would join him in 30 or 40 years or sooner. He said: “That he wanted me to have a place right next to him” I thought a lot about that since he said it. I wonder if God could stack us like cord wood, cause we all wouldn’t mind spending eternity next to him! I told him that if wealth were measured in friends, he would be the richest man in the world.

I told our three sons Brian, Ben and Tyler that they knew the “best” and if they grew up to be just like him I would feel successful as a father.

I have to tell you that I feel sorry for people who didn’t know Rick. They’re driving down Academy blvd and other parts of this city heading for work or a pressing appointment. Thinking about their dinner plans or what they will do this weekend. Never knowing how much sweeter and enhanced their life would now be if they were blessed to live at 104 South Garo in 1976 when the screen door opened and in walked a little boy who grew into the finest of men.

That’s the legacy of the one and only, Rick Epler:)

Melissa (His Wife, then) I love you too! As you know I had the joy of performing your wedding to Rick. You will go on now; assured that you’re in our hearts and God has much to do with you yet! 

And you will see Rick again Christ assures us of that! You have been a wife that Rick could have only yearned and hoped and prayed for. I admire you for many reasons and this world is a better place with you here.

Brent ( His Son) I too know what it is to have my dad die, I know it’s hard to understand why this has happened. God will carry you through your life, and offers you his love for now for always. 

I hope that you will always know that Uncle Mark is a phone call away, and as you grow up 

I have a lot to tell you about your Dad.

There’s something else I want you to know Brent, I want you know that your dad was and is the greatest man I ever met.

Billy Deans song "Once in Awhile" always reminds me of Rick