R.I.P. Grandpa
My grandpa – my mother’s father – died in his sleep yesterday, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was ninety-five. Many of his relations, who are scattered around the globe, will join my grandma at the funeral. Karin & I will travel to Kansas City on Friday.
My grandpa was known to U.S. evangelicals for discovering the bodies of the five slain “Operation Auca” missionaries. The “Operation Auca” story has been told by Elisabeth Elliot in Through Gates of Splendor and other books; in Steve Saint’s book End of the Spear, and in the movie of the same title; in the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor, for which my grandpa was interviewed; and in my grandparents’ 2010 book, Unmarked Memories: Five Friends Buried in the Jungle of Ecuador. Many people also read my grandparents’ earlier book, Mission to the Headhunters: How God’s Forgiveness Transformed Tribal Enemies (1961; revised edition, 2002), which recounts their first years among the Shuar people.
My grandparents lived in Ecuador for thirty-seven years and then retired to the Missouri countryside. They helped out with various ministerial projects, traveling often. At home, my grandpa farmed pine and fir trees and beef cattle. I used to lend him a hand – bitterly, against my will. My grandpa didn’t understand why this teenaged grandson was so sullen. He enjoyed working with other people; he was naturally chatty and upbeat; as my other grandfather describes him, he was as confident as a person could be without turning downright cocky. Recreationally, he liked to fish … and to work (but I’ve already mentioned that) … and to be around other people who were fishing or working. He would attend a tractor auction for the fun of it.
He also could be very witty – even when he suffered from dementia (I describe this in a blog entry written during my last visit to him). A plain man, he enjoyed deftly pricking the balloons of pretense.
Here is a picture of him that I found on the Internet. With one hand, he holds his Bible, and with the other he greets a Christian of a warmer clime.
My grandpa was known to U.S. evangelicals for discovering the bodies of the five slain “Operation Auca” missionaries. The “Operation Auca” story has been told by Elisabeth Elliot in Through Gates of Splendor and other books; in Steve Saint’s book End of the Spear, and in the movie of the same title; in the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor, for which my grandpa was interviewed; and in my grandparents’ 2010 book, Unmarked Memories: Five Friends Buried in the Jungle of Ecuador. Many people also read my grandparents’ earlier book, Mission to the Headhunters: How God’s Forgiveness Transformed Tribal Enemies (1961; revised edition, 2002), which recounts their first years among the Shuar people.
My grandparents lived in Ecuador for thirty-seven years and then retired to the Missouri countryside. They helped out with various ministerial projects, traveling often. At home, my grandpa farmed pine and fir trees and beef cattle. I used to lend him a hand – bitterly, against my will. My grandpa didn’t understand why this teenaged grandson was so sullen. He enjoyed working with other people; he was naturally chatty and upbeat; as my other grandfather describes him, he was as confident as a person could be without turning downright cocky. Recreationally, he liked to fish … and to work (but I’ve already mentioned that) … and to be around other people who were fishing or working. He would attend a tractor auction for the fun of it.
He also could be very witty – even when he suffered from dementia (I describe this in a blog entry written during my last visit to him). A plain man, he enjoyed deftly pricking the balloons of pretense.
Here is a picture of him that I found on the Internet. With one hand, he holds his Bible, and with the other he greets a Christian of a warmer clime.
