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My Dad died December 14, 1945. He had battled multiple scle-
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any warning and he would stagger to regain his balance. It gradually
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people often do who have had a stroke. It was a most insidious disease
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has there been any medication for MS, and even that is only helpful, not
curative. From being a very prominent man in the state to having these
kinds of disabilities had to be terribly humiliating.
In helping him down the steps from 747 San Diego Road, where
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had made a mistake when we were both getting up the sidewalk was a
terrible experience.
I am also reminded of an incident that had occurred in Salt Lake
when Dad was walking down the Capitol steps to meet his boyhood
friend, whom I always knew as Uncle Charles Brown. Dad staggered
a bit as he came down the steps and a fellow standing nearby said to
Uncle Charles, Is Ern Holmes drinking? Uncle Charles was a faithful
Latter-Day-Saint and replied, I wish to God that were the problem.
No one knew what was causing the problem. No one knew of the treat-
ment. No one knew of what the future would bring.
Dad died in Berkeley in his sleep at age 64. The actual cause
of death might have been a heart attack. His death came as a surprise
to me since in his last letter his handwriting seemed to have improved
and I had taken this as a hopeful sign toward his recovery. I telephoned
the Salt Lake newspapers to report his death. When I did so, one of the
reporters called out in the newsroom, Ern Holmes is dead and I could
hear a murmur from them. The funeral was held in the Wasatch Ward
chapel which Mother and Dad had attended after they had moved to
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with friends and relatives who had known and loved Dad. Mother, Lau-
rine and June brought the body to Salt Lake on the train. June stayed
with us for a couple of days before returning to Berkeley and we en-
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