Funeral

Phew, I must admit, I'm glad it's over. That funeral was a lot of work to plan, and yet I doubt anyone has ever had more help with it than we did, funerals are just a lot of work and my dad always did them for us. I barely got any sleep because I was up late doing things, and then up early doing more things. But it all worked out and it was a wonderful day.

Let me just start with a little bit of information for those who are still wondering. My father died in an apparently very short manner, most likely without much pain. He had a peaceful look on his face. CPR was administered, but it just wasn't to be. An autopsy was performed, and official results won't be available for approximately four weeks. But the preliminary autopsy results showed a completely healthy person except for some very minor red flags in his heart. We were told apparent heart attack. My dad had been in to the doctor just 6 months ago and had majorly comprehensive testing. He appeared perfectly healthy for a man that age. They even did a plaque test on some of his arteries, and found them to be as large as a man 10 years younger than him. So there was no indication that he would have any problems, thus it is very clear to us that his work on this Earth was finished, and his time came.

We went in on Tuesday morning to dress the body. That is an extremely sacred experience, we enjoyed it with Aimee as well. When you walk into that room there is an amazing feeling of the Spirit. Our dear family friends, the Myers, own a mortuary. They were kind enough to provide my dad with brand new white temple clothing, which was absolutely beautiful. Death is something that used to be scary, or gross to us. Those feelings have been washed away for us, and we enjoy the sacred responsibility of taking care of the body until it is in it's final resting place. In this room, my dad looked SO good. I was almost waiting for him to jump up and say surprise. He looked exactly like himself. I have never seen a body look that good. It was a really neat feeling to be with him and get him all ready. I actually took pictures, I asked the funeral director first and he said people do take pictures. Don't worry, I won't post them. My mom spent a lot of time holding his hand. That was one thing that she could still do, and they still looked and felt the same.

It pays to be friends with the funeral director, he made our lives so much easier through the planning process, and really went above and beyond. We are grateful.

I posted already about the viewing, but I'll just say a little bit more. First of all, that day was very stressful for me as I had to get a video ready. I woke up early to work on it, and it popped out of the dvd burner 2 minutes before we left for the viewing. That was way too close for me. I don't like procrastinating, it's too stressful. I also had to get pictures in to be printed and the program emailed to the mortuary for them to arrange and print. Of course, I was at the Biada house, so I was moving in a triangle from three different computers to accomplish what I wanted to. And of course, as it always seems to go when things are important, the computers weren't always acting very nice. But luckily we got it all done, and an amazing friend, Ruth, picked up the pictures and bought frames for them all, so they showed up framed and ready to put out.

The viewing was tremendous. The line was ridiculously long, and I felt bad for those standing in it. But it was amazing to see the support and love of all these people. So many people came that didn't even know us, but told us stories of how George had blessed their life. He was a man who cared about others, and took time for them even though he didn't have it. He always answered my phone calls, even when he was working, there is no one else I have ever met who will more consistently answer there phone. And he generally answered the phone, "Hey baby." Anyway, this has nothing to do with the viewing. I was extremely touched when my high school friends all came together to see me, and hugging them was just the best. I can't believe how blessed I am to have them. Then my Young Women came. All of them. They drove an hour down to support me. I still can barely fathom that. I really and truly love those girls. It was so good to see them. Directly following them, there was a group of women from the Relief Society of my ward. I shed a lot of tears during those visits, but they were mostly tears of happiness for the incredible people I associate with.

The viewing went late, and I still had to pick up my children from my incredible, not to be named, friend. I can't say enough about how generous she was to take my kids for all this time. What a great example to me.

Then I came back and I still had to write a eulogy. I stayed up until 1:30 writing a eulogy that wasn't good. About 3/4 of the way through writing I realized it wasn't good, but I still felt like I needed to finish it. I woke up at 6:30 and wrote a new one. I didn't have time to even proof read it, or read through it so I could really know what I was saying. We had to go practice our musical number, which was fairly unprepared as well. It was a crazy morning, but I got myself ready, and Dave got the boys ready, and we left. The funeral was lovely, it all worked out. The two speakers were Ken Romney and Brian Taylor. Ken Romney is the mayor of West Bountiful and a very dear friend. He was the one who told my mom about the death. He did a great job. Brian Taylor is only one of the most amazing men alive. Seriously, we adore the Taylor family, and they had four boys followed by girl, boy, girl, I love families like that. He is married to Jill Featherstone, daughter of Vaughn J. Featherstone, who is my idol. She was the one who arranged for her dad to seal Dave and I when he was President of the Logan Temple. Brian's talk was beautiful, and so tender, he spoke to my mom. The funeral was great. We left in the family limo and I felt badly that I couldn't stick around and talk to people.

The amazing thing to me was during the funeral procession. We were told we wouldn't have a police escort. But, in fact, there were 7 police cars. They actually blocked off all intersections for us. Even 500 South, the main street in Bountiful where everything was. They had it blocked off with police cars so we could go straight through. That to me is the most amazing thing. We drove straight through to the cemetery and when we arrived there were military honors. We, as kids, never gave my dad much credit for his military experience. He was probably so happy to have this. It was really neat, and they let us keep the bullet casings to remember it. It was pretty good weather, which was nice, and then the weather turned bad for the rest of the day. Bishop Barton, the man who baptized my dad, dedicated the grave, and then we sang, "God be with you till we meet again."

We did have a photographer there, and I can't wait to post some.

The ward provided a most spectacular luncheon for us that included spaghetti and meatballs in honor of my dad, and even had strawberry shortcake (My dad's traditional birthday food). I was blessed to have all my local in-laws come to the viewing or funeral and a few of them came to the luncheon too. I'm grateful for them.

I learned that my parents live in the most incredible ward of all time. The day after my dad died we had a crew of probably 8 people cleaning the house for hours. On Monday night we had "Extreme Yard Makeover 2010" that got my parents yard looking better than it ever has! Every night meals were dropped off. Dozens of cookies and treats were delivered. People brought smart things like tissues and milk. Large bags of paper goods so we didn't have to do dishes. And so many people offered to take care of my kids. My boys felt like they were on vacation, they did so many fun things.

Meanwhile, at home, I got the same kind of treatment. A crew came in and cleaned my much neglected house thoroughly. It looks and feels great now. I asked if they cleaned my carpets, but they informed me that was just "vacuuming" apparently something I've never heard of. At least not for the last few months. And a crew of about 10 men came over to work on our basement, while the best cook in the neighborhood brought them food. My ward is full of incredible people as well, and I am so blessed to know them all. In fact, my bishop's wife came down for the funeral. I'm grateful for it all!

I heard from a few people that rumors were flying that my dad didn't have life insurance. It's true. AS I UNDERSTAND IT, and I could be wrong, he had life insurance when he was working full time, and when he retired he had type II Diabetes and wasn't able to get life insurance. But none of us would have been worried about that because we were pretty sure he would never die. Really and truly, I 100% believed that he would live to be 110. Both of his parents lived a long time with bad health. I assumed with his good health he would live forever. It was quite a shock to everyone to hear that he died as he was still going strong in every direction. Anyway, many generous people have donated already, and we set up an account at Chase Bank for donations. My mom will be okay, it's just tough having three kids at home still without a husband.

Again, thank you to everyone for all the kind things you have done, and especially for your prayers. We can feel the prayers. And we are immeasurably grateful for them.

Here is the eulogy. Again, I didn't proofread it, but here it is.

While working in Riverton, Wyoming, my father worked with a man named, Dave Parker. My father spent a lot of time with Mr. Parker doing consulting for his business. The day after he passed away we received an email from him which included the following phrase.

“When I first recruited George to work with me I had no Idea of how special he was.”

How a young man raised on the streets of New York City by his Italian emigrant parents became the man Mr. Parker was speaking of is something I will not be able to share with you today. It is the journey of 66 years and 2 days. For some, telling their life story in 10 minutes may not be all that hard. For my father, each day was so extremely full, it would take me months to tell his life story. I will only be able to give you a small taste of my father’s 66 years, and as his daughter, well, his favorite daughter, it is my absolute pleasure to stand here today and do so.

George Henry Biada Jr. was born on April 27th, 1944 in New York City, New York. Born to two Italian emigrants, as their first son, George Henry Biada Sr. and Lena Parolari Biada, held “Georgie” as an absolute treasure for right from the start. As I was growing up, I only ever heard good stories about him from his mom, he could do no wrong in her eyes. If I asked his older sister, Mary Anne, I sometimes got a little different perspective on him. But nonetheless, these young proud emigrants had no idea just how refined this treasure would become in his 66 years of life, and how many people he would bless along the way.

George grew up with an older sister MaryAnne and a younger sister, June. George graduated from Curtis High School in 1962. He began attending college at Seton Hall, but much to his parents disappointment, decided that formal education wasn’t for him. As the Vietnam War was approaching, George joined the Navy. In his two years serving in the Navy, he learned many valuable things, but probably the most important thing, which was a blessing through the rest of his life, was a certain technology on the boat operating with Sonar. When George returned from the Navy this knowledge enabled him to be hired with IBM working with these new futuristic machines called computers. From there forth George’s knowledge and understanding of computers grew right along with the technology, and I recall seeing a certificate from the early 80’s stating that we were the first people in the state of New Jersey to own a PC Junior for our home. He had a very successful career with IBM that won him many awards throughout the years, as well as many promotions. This career also brought him many transfers which brought his family to: Rochester, MN, Santa Fe, NM, Newtown, CT, Randolph, NJ, and finally to Bountiful, UT. After a few extremely successful years for him at IBM, George retired in 1997. Well, he retired from IBM anyway, not from work, that’s for sure. After retirement, he began doing independent computer consulting, and was doing that right up until the day he died.

George Biada had many hobbies and talents. He loved to play golf. He always wished he were playing more golf. In his earlier years he was a talented bowler. He was on many bowling leagues and scored very high. He of course had a talent with computers, and a talent I was always amazed by was his ability to fix things over the phone. He could tell you the exact sequence of commands over the phone to do exactly what you needed to do. He could do just about anything on a computer, and if he didn’t know how, he would figure it out. George loved to cook, and was always impressing us with good food. He kept his Italian heritage present with his meals, and taught us to always, always use garlic.

In 1969 George visited his parents in Ogunquit, Maine. They had a beautiful young woman renting out one of their spare rooms for the summer there and George offered her his phone number if she was ever in the New York area. If there was one good decision I could tell you about from his life, this would probably be it. George Henry Biada Jr. and Ann Bromley Carmichael soon fell madly in love and were married on June 5th, 1971 in a beautiful Episcopalian chapel in York, Maine by a Methodist minister. Thus began this love affair that would last for all of eternity. Few women on this Earth have ever been loved for and taken care of like Ann. His love for her was beyond measure. His love for her would take a tough Italian man from New York City, and make the sides of his mustache droop as he choked up talking about how special she was. His goal in life was to make her happy, he would do whatever it took, and he did a pretty good job of it. Together George and Ann had 5 daughters: Aimee Danielle, Jessica Lee, Erica Ann, Lauren Eleanor, and Katelyn Marie. They adopted three more: Joshua Barton, Jacob Konstantine, and Mari Corinne.

George Biada was a loving an affectionate man. He loved his children so much. He had a special way with babies, they always loved him. There was never, and I mean never, a shortage of hugs, kisses, and snuggles for the Biada children. At the age of 28, he still beckoned me to come sit by him, so he could wrap his giant arms around me for a little snuggle. With this love for his children, you can imagine how sad he was when his oldest two daughters, Aimee and Jessica passed away in 2007. George did so much for his children. More than they ever recognized in his lifetime. But there was never a question of whether the Biada children loved their father. Frequently a rolling of the eyes with him, but never a question of our love for him. George very much loved his sisters, parents, and extended relatives as well. He was continually trying to keep those relationships through phone calls and visits. His love was always extended to all his family.

As a married adult, I liked to think that I was very independent from my parents. If you had asked me a week ago today, that’s what I would have told you. But now without him, I see what a huge part of my life he still was. If there was ever a question of “Should we buy it?” we called George. If there was ever a question of “Is it safe?” we called George. If there was ever a question with my computer, we called George. I now look around me and see all these aspects of my life that are so directly influenced by him and realize how ungrateful I was for all the things he did in my life for me. But I did recognize how much time he was willing to spend on me when I needed it. I wrote in the obituary that George was a man who always did his job and everyone else’s. That is so true. I was always amazed that in the midst of working, frequently into the late hours of the night, he had time to do things for me, even insignificant things, that many people would brush off or forget. Checking on a price for this, making a phone call to take care of that. Flying to another state to help you drive my new car back. Taking a day and a half to fix my computer, even though really I could have done it. I knew he didn’t have time for these things. I knew it meant he wouldn’t get much sleep that night. But I knew he loved me and was willing to help me with anything. In fact, I heard last night that he spent the night of his birthday going up to a friend’s house to fix their computer. That was not out of the ordinary for him. Actually, last night I heard story, after story of things he had gone out of his way to do for others, things that most of us just don’t take the time to do. He is a great example to me of service.

In 1982 Ann Biada was converted and baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When she told George of her new found religion he told her he was leaving her if she joined. Well he never left, and after 6 years of her and her entire ward working on him, a man was inspired to take on the job of getting George Biada baptized. That man in here today with us, his name is Don Barton. This friend, bishop, and home teacher never gave up on George. The first week of December, in 1988 Bishop Barton, and the Ledgewood Ward in New Jersey, joined together in a fast, followed by a meeting in the Bishop’s office. During this meeting, the Holy Ghost penetrated the heart of this tough, Italian, NYC man, and my father said it was like being “Spiritually nailed to the wall.” He knew the church was true, and he would never be able to deny it again. On January 1st, 1989, George Biada was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an event that certainly changed him for the rest of his life. This man transformed, softened, and held throughout his life a tender testimony that almost certainly brought him to tears. There have been so many tender mercies throughout the last week, since his death, and our knowledge and realization, that he died faithfully, holding his testimony as the highest priority, has brought us much peace at this time. On February 17, 1990 George and Ann Biada were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Washington DC temple. They were also sealed to their three daughters. And the very next month George was able to perform his first baptism and confirmation. He baptized and confirmed his third, and favorite, daughter Erica. This was such a special experience, and the Biada family enjoyed watching this man magnify his priesthood throughout the years.

As George didn’t take his testimony for granted, he felt the need to share it with others. He could frequently be found getting a little bit pushy with friends, neighbors, and even people he had never met before just trying to get them to listen to the gospel or come back to church. He was a very hard man to say no to. And he was a good missionary. I have no doubt he will be doing missionary work with his Italian ancestors on the other side of the veil, even if he has to get a little bit pushy.

I can only imagine the beautiful reunion on the other side of the veil as my father was blessed with the opportunity of being with those two daughters who he had missed so much for the last two years. We are all a little bit jealous.

In the 40th chapter of Alma, in the Book of Mormon, Alma addresses the destiny of souls during the space of time between death and the resurrection.

11 Now, concerning the astate of the soul between bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are ctaken dhome to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ahappiness, which is called bparadise, a state of rest, a state of cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

Brothers and Sisters, the majority of you who are here knew my father, George Biada. But I would ask how many of you here knew him to be in a state of peace or rest? And from talking to him, how many of you thought he was free from care and sorrow? I want to share with you how grateful my family is for our knowledge of the gospel and knowing that if he can’t be here with us, where we want him, that he can be in a state of peace and rest with his parents, and his two daughters who passed before him.

I now return to the quote from Mr. Dave Parker “When I first recruited George to work with me I had no Idea of how special he was.” He was indeed a special man. A man full of love. A man full of talents. A man willing to serve all. And most importantly a man who had finished the course and kept the faith. He is a man that I love. And now, a man that brings me greater hope for the resurrection.