This January, we had the difficult task of saying goodbye to my grandfather, "Golly." A lot of you probably wonder where that name came from. When I was a little girl, he would say "Good Golly!" in response to things, and I just picked up the latter half of that phrase as his name! Once I had it in my little head that that is what he was to be called, there was no changing me! So he has been "Golly" to the whole family since the early 1980s. :)
Golly hadn't been feeling well since late summer/early fall, but no doctor was able to determine why. He lost weight, lost his appetite, and lost his energy. We could tell he didn't feel his best through the Christmas season, but still came to celebrate with the family anyway.
On Wednesday, January 4th, a full-body scan revealed that he had a severe and very fast moving form of cancer all throughout his midsection - lungs, liver, pancreas, etc. The doctors concurred that he would not be able to withstand treatment at the age of 90, nor would it do much good. My grandfather wholeheartedly agreed.
He ended up a few days after the diagnosis in the hospital and was going downhill very fast. After he was stabilized, he was moved to Beacon Place, Greensboro's hospice facility. We knew he didn't have long, and everyone wanted to make sure he got the best care possible in his remaining days.
The staff at Beacon Place was wonderful. Everyone took such good care of him! David and I visited him every evening during his 2 1/2 week battle except for one night when he was just too tired for visitors. He continued to grow thinner and weaker, but luckily was not in very much pain.
Last Saturday evening (January 21st) at 8:54 pm he peacefully passed away. My grandmother (his partner of 66 years!), parents, and uncle were at his side when he passed. David and I had seen him a couple of hours before. We are thankful that we were all able to show him how much we loved him at the end!
I have posted the text of his obituary here...
Greensboro, NC: Mr. Charles Bernard Spivey, 90, of Greensboro, NC died January 21, 2012 at Beacon Place, Greensboro, NC. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Mr. Spivey was a veteran or the US Army in World War II serving in North African, Italian, German, and French campaigns. Following his military discharge, he returned to Burlington Industries executive offices in Greensboro where he was a member of the Corporate Controller’s staff until his retirement after 43 years. He was a charter member of Starmount Presbyterian Church and a former Rotarian.
Bernard enjoyed collecting and restoring antiques, woodworking, repairing anything that was broken, working in his yard, and being a good neighbor as he helped those living around him. He and his wife enjoyed traveling in the United States and Western Europe, often returning to places where he served during the war.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. Charles A. Spivey and Mrs. Pearl Swaney Spivey, of Randleman, NC, and a grandson, Jonathan Lee Andrews of Greensboro.
Surviving are his wife of 66 years, Florence Coontz Spivey of the home, daughter and son-in-law Beverly and Ed Andrews, of Greensboro, son Chuck Spivey, of Simpsonville, SC, and a granddaughter and her husband, Lisa and David Stubblefield, of Greensboro.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Beacon Place, 2502 Summit Ave., Greensboro, NC 27405 or to Starmount Presbyterian Church, 3501 West Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27403.
Online condolences may be offered at www.forbisanddick.com.
Forbes & Dick North Elm Street Chapel is serving the family
Like my other grandfather and both of David's, Golly served our country in WWII. I am so proud of this legacy for our family! I will once again post the reading from "The Greatest Generation" that was read back in 2004 at my other grandfather's funeral, and that I also posted on the blog when David's grandpa passed in November 2010:
In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the massive and daring Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. There, I underwent a life-changing experience. As I walked the beaches with the American veterans who had returned for this anniversary, men in their sixties and seventies, and listened to their stories, I was deeply moved and profoundly grateful for all they had done. Ten years later, I returned to Normandy for the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion, and by then I had come to understand what this generation of Americans meant to history. It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.
At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front. They won the war; they saved the world.
-Tom Brokaw, The Greatest Generation
Thank you, Golly, for being a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and solider. We love you and will miss you so much!
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