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Chapter 32: Family and the Gospel – The Twin Pillars of Life

Life has taught me the enormous importance of family. As I have
said elsewhere, my Mother was a highly intelligent woman, the hardest
working I have ever known, and was deeply devoted to her family. My
Dad was all that I could ever wish for in a father. He was wise, deeply
kind, hardworking and devoted to his family. He had a marvelous sense
of humor. He was a mentor to me in developing a business sense that
was highly helpful in my working career. The noted American architect
Frank Lloyd Wright once observed, “To be successful, one must choose
his ancestors carefully.” I was blessed in that way.

My brothers and sisters were of help to me repeatedly in my
life. The oldest in any family has a unique opportunity and responsibil-
ity. Laurine brought her siblings what might be termed a “class act.”
She gained an appreciation for art, music, theater and human relations
that she then exhibited in her life and taught us. She and Grant Ellis
set a wonderful example for us younger kids of a devoted and loving
marriage relationship. My sister June brought an inborn kindness and
love to us boys that was a blessing always. She loved people as my Dad
did, and this feature not only blessed her husband and children’s lives,
but our lives as well. I said in her funeral services, “If every person for
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Sam and Gord have been good and devoted brothers all my life. In his
later years, Gord would periodically call and say, “I need a consulta-
tion.” Jean and I would then join him and give an opinion. In some of
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years, Sam and I became much closer and he often invited me to join
him and his son Ted for Sunday dinner.

When I met Jean at age 15, I was impressed with her positive
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she was ten years old, she never pitied herself nor was bitter about bad

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