Heaven has gained another good carpenter

Over a year ago, I wrote a post about the sudden illness of my father-in-law, John Engberg. My wife and I were called to come down to the Twin Cities for what we believed were going to be his very last days, and we both brought clothes for the funeral. But Big John, never one to go down easy, made an amazing comeback, and I was able to bring my suit back unworn. This morning at 11:30, John finally succumbed to the cancer that he had been battling for the last year.

My wife had been able to spend this last weekend with him, and had just arrived back in Warroad fifteen minutes before we got the word that John had passed away. Although he was clearly fading, my wife says he continued to pepper her with questions about our high school hockey team. In fact, his last words to me when I talked to him on the phone a week ago were, "Bring home a winner!" Although it was wrenching to see the pain and discomfort he had to go through during the last year, I can only be grateful for the extra time we had with him. I said this in my original post and I will say it again: John Engberg is the most thoroughly decent man I've ever known. He has been a role model for me ever since I met him 37 years ago. I hope that I can be half the man that he was.