Uncle Wil's Eulogy

The following is the Eulogy Eddie delivered at Uncle Wil's Memorial Service.



TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF WILFORD H. DAOUST

As Delivered September 25, 2007
St. Johns Catholic Church
By: Edward J. Braman
Contributions by Irene Daoust, Joanne Braman, Ellen Bigelow, Suzanne & Gary March, Paul and Judith Daoust & Aunt Marie

Good Evening,

We are here tonight to celebrate the life of Wilford H. Daoust. I have been asked on behalf of the family to say a few words and share some remembrances of Uncle Will. I want to thank all of you who contributed -- especially Aunt Irene, my sister Joanne, and my cousins Ellen Bigelow, Suzanne and Gary March, Paul and Judith Daoust & Aunt Marie.

It is very difficult to capture all of the complexities of Uncle Will. A life is made up of roles, characteristics, experiences and memories. Uncle Will played many roles -- he was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a leader and a friend. These were just a few of his roles. The one thing we all can say about Uncle Will -- he sure was a character. His exterior was gruff, he didn’t sit still for long, and he did things with a passion and purpose. He also was caring, loving, proud and funny man. Rarely was he seen without a cigar in his mouth. Finally, there was his signature trait; he could mumble a sentence better than anyone we have ever known. His family and friends mastered the art of understanding about every third word and filling in the blank. That was the only way we knew what he was saying.

Aunt Marie recalls that Will came into this world number fourteen of nineteen children in the Daoust clan. He was a blond curly headed boy with a mind of his own. He was competitive which was not unusual for a child in the Daoust family because there were so many brothers and sisters. Aunt Irene remembers that at dinner time (one of the most competitive parts of any Daoust sibling’s day) Will would start off with a plate full of mashed potatoes before heading to the main course.

He grew up to be a fine young man and with a sense of pride and duty -- off to the Air Force he went. As happened with many of our service men and women back in those days, the U.S. Mail Service became a matchmaker and Uncle Will fell in love with the girl next door, Aunt Frankie’s best friend Phyllis. They got married and Uncle Will was deployed to Japan where Michelle and Andy were born; then back to the states where Darlene and Mathew joined the family. While he served two tours in Viet Nam, Aunt Phyllis found herself back on Second Avenue where the cousins quickly became friends.

All of the “Second Ave. Crew” remember those years with Uncle Will’s family. We were very young but our impressions of him will last a lifetime. Uncle Will always liked to play with the kids. Joanne fondly remembers how Uncle Will nicknamed her motor mouth. For those of us who know Joanne, its not hard to imagine why. It stemmed from an incident one day when Michelle and Joanne were playing with their dolls. Uncle Will interrupted them because he only heard Joanne’s doll talking. Joanne explained that was because her doll was old enough to talk, Michelle’s doll was a baby and only old enough to cry. Next week Uncle Will bought Michelle a new doll that was as old as Joanne’s so she could join in on the conversation. In retaliation, Joanne came up with a nickname for Uncle Will -- he was now officially “Uncle Mumbles.”

Eventually the Air Force would move Will and his family to northern California where he would retire. Uncle Will always enjoyed having his family visit. Cousin Ellen was one of the first and ended up staying with him while attending college. Her memories of him are of a very giving person who always opened up his home for family. Whenever anyone would visit he made sure there was never a dull moment. Gary and Suzanne made their way west and remember him whisking them away to see all the sites, and going camping. Uncle Will and Aunt Pat in an RV and Gary and Suzanne had all the luxuries their pup tent had to offer. Paul and Judy drove across the country when they were first married and Judy met Uncle Will for the first time. He came out of the garage naturally chewing on a cigar and mumbled something. Judy looked at him and asked “are you saying something important?” They were fast friends from that point on.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Uncle Will and Aunt Pat a few years ago. After a nice visit to his home, he was excited to take us to lunch at his favorite gourmet restaurant – Jack-in-the-Box. Now looking back, it was the best gourmet fast food I’ve ever had.

These stories are examples of how important family was to him, even though he lived so far away.

Upon his retirement from the Air Force he became a postal worker. Will was very active in his community, getting involved in the local Moose Lodge where he was a legend for his friendship, loyalty, volunteerism, coffee and cigars. He was also active in St. Rosary Church where he was an usher.

The last sibling to visit him was Aunt Irene in 2003. She had been to see him many times throughout the years with various friends. It never mattered who she was with, Uncle Will and Aunt Pat always made them feel at home. As with all who visited he would keep them on a busy itinerary that would include memorable trips to Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Napa Valley. On her last trip she and Uncle Bill went to visit him in Zamora, California. Not a big town -- Zamora consisted of five houses, a Post Office, a Community Center and a Catholic Church. Besides his love of people Uncle Will loved pets. With 4 cats, 2 dogs, a rabbit, 8 fish and a potbelly pig, he had more pets at his house than the entire human population of Zamora. When Uncle Bill learned that the pig’s name was Bacon, he told Uncle Will he should have named him Breakfast. Fortunately for Aunt Irene and Uncle Bill, they never did have Bacon for breakfast.

We will all miss Will very much are blessed to have had him in our lives.