Vern Hammel 1962-2024. He was 62 this year.
My dad was one of the best men I have ever known. On June 2nd I got the call from my mom that he had collapsed and the ambulance had arrived and was working on him. He did not make it. He was out whipper snipping and all we could think at first was man he is going to be mad that he didn't get to finish dealing with the lawn.
Now about my dad. Many people have stories about how great he was and how he would drop anything to help someone who needed it. He had the grumpiest face, but the softest insides. Someone described him as Shrek with a big heart( because of his build and grumpy face). He loved is children and grandchildren so much. When ever he thought I needed him he would just show up and do whatever I needed and beyond.
The first time James had a big surgery my dad showed up at the hospital and just stood and sat with me as I waited for him to get out. He brought me something to drink and talked to me for 2 hours. He then spent the very little time he had off from work driving me to the hospital and home.
Whenever I texted or called and complained about the stuff I needed to get done or even just mentioned in passing something I needed to work on, it would be a few days later and I would get a call from him asking if I would be around on such and such a day. He made arrangements each time on his days off to come and help me accomplish things sooner than I would have been able to do alone or without tools he had. Mower broke down, he would show up and fix it while also bringing more tools that are better than what we have. Too much stuff to haul away, up he would come with his dump trailer. He would drive up and often not even stay the night, that is three and half hours here and then home again on top of the work he did. He even read every blog I wrote.
The last visit he got the mower running and made sure all the lines had stuff(that I don't even know the purpose of) in it. He bought me special stuff to make sure our chain saw and whipper snipper would work even if they sat for a long time. It was what the fire fighters used for their equipment, which meant it was what his daughter needed to have for my equipment.
I still can't believe he is gone. I won't be able to text him meals and baking I made and him do the same. We didn't talk on the phone but texted every week and talked for hours when he came for a visit or I came here. The last text I have was from noon and he sent me a picture of the banana bread he made for his granddaughter(My brother's daughter). He would send me recipes and share how they turned out as he tried different things to make them gluten free. I won't be able to ask his advice or have him figure out the most recent issue with the tractor that is in the blog that I never finished because I got the call.
The funeral is at the end of June. He will be greatly missed.
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