Eulogy Richard Cheeks Sr.

Eulogy Richard Cheeks Sr. by Rick Gillespie- Mobley

John 14:1-14:7

Richard Cheeks was sent by God into this world on February 23, 1930. God had filled him with an abundance of possibilities for his life, but much of it would depend on the choices that Richard would choose to make. The same God that sent him into this world, called Richard on July 10th, 2011 to give an account for the decisions and the choices that he made in that rather brief time between birth and death.

Richard Cheeks was, a son, brother, an uncle, a husband, a father a cousin, a friend, and co worker. He was born, he lived, he died, he went home to a place prepared for him. We all go through that cycle of birth, life, and death because its automatic. Yet it takes a willful decision on our parts to go home to place prepared for us.

For those who remain on this side of death, the Bible tells us, there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. A time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to hope and a time to give up, a time for joy and a time for pain, a time to be born and a time to die. The one experience that is common to us all is death. It is as common and as natural as all the other things done under the sun.

The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. If we are all living in order that we might some day die, it should be of utmost important that we live in such way that in the end our lives would not have been lived in vain. Whether or not we have lived in vain will not be determined by how much we accumulated in terms of material goods, for naked we came into this world, and naked we go out.

The only thing that we can take out of this world is what we have given away. For that is how Jesus said to lay up treasures in heaven. If we have not loved and have not given then our living has been in vain. I did not know Richard personally, but I did get a glimpse of his life through the eyes of his sister, Dorothy, his son, Richard and one of his nieces.

God sends everybody into the world with a gift to offer to the rest of humanity. Richard was a man who loved life itself. He had a tremendous love for his family. He especially loved his parents. He appreciated the love his family had for him. Richard was a man of courage. He earned his purple in Korea, charging a nest of enemy soldiers and throwing a grenade into their bunker. The blast of the grenade blew Richard away as he ran in the other direction. No doubt someone owes their life to his bravery in that moment of time.

Richard had the gift of steadfastness. He was a diligent worker and gave 30 years of his life working for the Kayline Company. Richard enjoyed playing pool and was pretty good at it. He was a person who was an avid walker. He enjoyed walking so much, he didn’t bother to always wait on the bus. If it was not time, he was on his way. If you didn’t arrive to pick him up on time, his feet knew how to hit the road. Not only did his feet like to walk, they also liked to dance. Richard knew how to cover some space on the dance floor and he passed that talent on to his son.

Richard was not always an agreeable and easy to get along person in every day life. You may as well be prepared to listen to him fuss about what you asked him to do, but if you hung in there, he had the kind of heart that would do what you wanted him to do for you. When his wife was alive, he was a classy dresser.

Richard was fond of drinking beer, actually drinking a lot of beer. Richard was usually quiet and off to himself. Once he had some beer in him, he became much more sociable and active in conversations. Now if he promised to give you some money while he was drinking, then you had better have gotten it while he was still not quite sober. Once he got sober, if you mentioned the money he had promised, he’d just right it off as a promise he never intended to make and that the beer was at fault.

At times Richard could be very proud. He really didn’t want you to give him anything. At other times he could be quite comical. Many people knew his ability to be a prankster. He mastered the art of pulling a table cloth off a table loaded with food. It was a perfect trick, if you didn’t mind picking up your food and utensils off the floor once he did his trick.