GRANDKIDS MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO THEIR GRANDFATHER, WAYNE S. GUFFY SR.
Memories Of Wayne S. Guffy Sr. With The GrandKids
So we all know that Grandpa had over a hundred Grandkids, and we thought we would share a few of our memories with him. All names are confidential as some of our parents still don't know the trouble we got onto. If Grandpa didn't see fit to tell you then neither do we.
Grandpa was always up for taking the kids on adventures. Many of those included gopher hunting, picking berries, getting artesian water, going to the "ribber" or the pond, riding the tractor, and road trips to Alva and Virgil's. When we would ride with him he would go fast over the bumps to tickle our tummies. If you were ever unfortunate enough to get stuck behind him, then you know he wasn't going to let you pass. When someone tried to pass him he'd speed up then slow down then speed up again.
If you ever spent any time with him during the summer then you would remember him taking several of us to Virgil's in Amorita. Sometimes there where so many of us that we had to ride in the bed of the truck, and that in itself was a treat. Virgil's was always a favorite as he let us get a malt or milkshake and pick out candy. Virgil's was not where Grandpa’s sweet tooth ended. Grandpa’s house was always full of sweets. To this day every Grandkid knows about his candy jar. Some of the older kids remember his frozen ding dongs, twinkles, and fruit pies.
Grandpa loved every animal, especially his goat Lucy aka "Lucifer" may she rest in peace, his dog George, and his cat Freddy.
When his goat Lucy passed away, none of us were sad to see her go and Grandma would probably agree. Grandpa used to watch as Lucy would put us into a corner and buck us. He would say "oh she's not mean she's just playing, you just need to pet her".
One evening some kittens appeared (and by appeared we mean some of the Grandkids brought them to the house) and even though Grandma said no, we begged and Grandpa said they could stay.
If you ever kept your show animals at his house you probably wondered why they were getting fat, and when I say fat, they were the largest sheep in the county. Well that's because when you weren’t looking he was feeding them pop tarts and iced oatmeal cookies.
As we all know Grandpa had many cows but, his cows were more like pets than farm animals. If you were lucky enough Grandpa would even let you ride one of his pet cows. When the cows were not using the cow tanks he'd let us swim in them, and if those were being used we borrowed his trash cans.
Grandpa had his own style of grand parenting. He worked hard taking out the trash, mowing his lawn, feeding the cows, loading hay, and setting gopher traps. He also taught the lucky ones how to castrate their own pigs. Grandpa taught us a lot, including but not limited to: doing cross words puzzles and word searches; We learned to never sit in front of the TV, climb on the hay bales......well maybe we never learned that, and to never leave the front door open. In fact, when Papa passed away they say he took over St. Peter’s Job. He is now standing at the pearly gates yelling “Shut the damn gate”.
Grandpa was always there for us even when we were too embarrassed to tell our parents. (Remember when we said we wouldn’t mention names well this is it,) for example: when some of the Grandkids got their car stuck and almost ran into the round bales. Grandpa had to come to the rescue. Grandpa always let us have our fun before getting on to us, especially when it came to playing in the wheat bins or on the hay bales. Some of our more mischievous moments were when we went exploring in the junkyard.
Even though Grandpa got on to us for a lot he still had a soft side. One time he got so tired of all the Grandkids stealing his peanut butter, summer sausage and crackers he decided to get us our own for Christmas. One of our cousins earliest memory was when he saw her playing with a feather and asked her to come over to him (in his favorite chair of course) and he stuck it in her hair and said "now you look like a real Indian".
Something several of us noticed and he may have had a huge influence on many of our decisions, was the love Grandpa had for our country. When one of us had a military achievement Grandpa made sure to let us know he was proud of us in one way or another. The veteran in him showed strong and lives on through many of his Kids and Grandkids.
Grandpa is one of the hardest workers we have ever known. When doctors heard he was still driving a tractor in his 90's they thought he was crazy. He definitely left us with a strong work ethic and a sense of pride having country roots.
We all have had our special moments with Grandpa that we will cherish for a lifetime. He makes us all proud to call ourselves a Guffy.
We wanted to leave with something from Paul Harvey that we felt fit Papa.
“It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners;
somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant
and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish
a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church; somebody who would
bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh,
and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his Son says that he wants
to spend his life "doing what Dad does".
SO GOD MADE A FARMER".
We love you, Papa, Rest in peace".
Co-Authored by Katie, Desi and Courtney...
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