Grandpa Speechly

My sweet Grandpa Speechly passed away on Sunday.

Here's the link to his obituary - it is such a wonderful tribute to his life.

I just wanted to write down a few things I will always remember about him.

{This pic was taken in June. We don't get up to Ogden too often, but every chance we got, we would make a trip up to see my grandparents}

- Grandpa was always smiling and laughing. He was so much fun to be around! He was a happy person who loved life.

- Grandpa fought in WWII but didn't talk about it very often. The times he did talk about it, I loved hearing the stories. He was a real war hero!

- Grandpa and Grandma had a house in St. George and had a HUGE cactus plant in the front yard. Grandpa made the BEST cactus jelly out of that cactus! I miss that delicious cactus jelly.

- One of the scariest nights of my life happened with grandma and grandpa Speechly. It was the night the Quail Creek dam broke. It was New Years Eve and I was spending the night at my grandparent's house while my parents were at a party. The sirens went off and grandma thought it was to celebrate the new year. Then a Policeman knocked at the door and told us to evacuate the area, that the dam had broken and they didn't know what kind of flooding would happen. My grandpa grabbed a $100 bill! I thought he was so rich (I was seven-years-old)! We ended up spending the night in town at a bishop's house. My house ended up being one of the homes that got flooded. The water came within an inch or two from flooding the main floor of the house. I was so scared because I wasn't with my parents, but I love that I have that memory with grandma and grandpa.

- Grandpa would always make waffles for breakfast when I stayed at their house!

- Grandpa always drove a nice, new, paid for Cadillac - he liked to drive in luxury!

- Grandpa loved to fish and golf! And he stayed active as long as he could by going to the mall in the morning and walking with his friends :)

- My grandpa always loved Jake - I think the fact that they were both immigrants to the US gave them a special bond. And Jake has a couple of shirts that my grandpa gave him that he still wears! They were bro's :)

- When I was at SUU, I was in a singing/dancing group. We did a Christmas show in St. George (my grandparents lived in their St. George house in the winters) and my grandparents came. I got to choose someone from the audience to come back stage where we dressed him up like Santa and sent them out on stage. Of course I picked my grandpa! He was a good sport about it and was a great Santa!

{This pic was taken in December. Grandpa had just had surgery on the skin around his eye to remove skin cancer. Emmy was so concerned about him, she kept hugging him and asking him if he was ok :) }

I will miss my grandpa so much, but I know I will see him again. Knowing the gospel is true brings so much peace to me at this time. Grandpa was such a wonderful person and lived a long and happy life {he turned 93 in July}.

We love you, grandpa!!! You will be truly missed!