Richard Lee Grimshaw, August 20, 1944 - September 10, 2009
05H & Duffy Morse Instructor for MANY years.
Richard Lee Grimshaw was born August 20, 1944 in Omaha , NE to parents Vertis and Dorothy (Gahl) Grimshaw. He died September 10, 2009 at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 65 years and 20 days. Dick graduated from high school in Omaha and then attended college. He served in the United States Army from 1963 to 1987. He married Martha Benedict in 1982. After Dick retired from the Army he worked for the United States Post Office in Omaha until 1995. He moved to Alcester in 1997 and has resided here until the present time. Dick was a member of the Alcester VFW. He has been an avid ham since grade school. Morse code was a second language. He also enjoyed stamp collecting and fixing anything and everything. The latest was keeping up with Army buddies via email. He was preceded in death by his parents Vertis and Dorothy, paternal grandparents Raymond and Golda Grimshaw and maternal grandparents Charles and Alvina Gahl. His survivors include his son Joe Grimshaw of Alcester; ex-wife and longtime friend Martha Grimshaw; brother Daniel Grimshaw and wife Cheryl of Plattsmouth, NE; and nephews Greg and Eric and many other relatives and friends. And a very special friend and cousin; Carol Bohlen.
http://www.wassfuneralhome.com/index.php?option=com_obituary&task=details&oid=293
This is an email Martha Grimshaw sent out a couple of days before he passed, he was removed from everything but a morphine drip. I had been talking to Grimmy for the last 3 years and in June, when Martha said he would never come home, I decided to go and see him @ the VA hospital over the 4th of July weekend. Rather a live visit than to the funeral. Regards, Debbie Schamel Ziegler
Good Evening everyone, Thank you for all your prayers, cards and best wishes for Dick. I did see him today for a couple of hours. He informed me that he has made his peace with God and that he is ready to go. I asked him, "Go where?" And he replied by pointing up. I reminded him that he has lots of people out there praying for him and wishing him well. He just shrugged his shoulders. I am not sure what is happening. He said he has just given up. He could get off the vent if he would try, but he has figured out that if he does that then he has to move out of ICU to another part of the hospital and will not get as much attention as he does now. He has been off the vent in the last week for as much as seven to eight hours a day. He has done well. The oxygen sats have been good, staying at 97 to 99%. He does not like doing anything for himself. He wants the nurses to do it all for him. Today he had not shaved. Didn't look like he had shaved yesterday either. He said it was the nurses job to take care of him. He has no desire to do for himself. He wants to tell them how to take care of him. I told Dick if he had done a good job taking care of himself that he would not be in the hospital to begin with. I tried everything I could think of to convince him to get off the vent, that it would be a good thing. Then they could change the trach to one that he could eat with and talk with. He said no. I will keep you all posted as to the events a little better than the past month. I hope next time is better news. It has been a really long month. I even got a hold of his closest friends and relatives to call him on his birthday. It helped for that day. Thank you for all you prayers and best wishes for Dick. If any of you would like to relay something to him. Please write me an email and I will print it and take it to him. That way he can read how all of you feel. Maybe that will give him the will again to start fighting to stay alive and move up to better things. Thank you in advance. God bless you all, Martha
Martha sent this out when Dick passed on 9/10/2009. Grimmy already had the msg ready for everyone. Regards, Debbie Schamel Ziegler
Good Morning Everyone, Dick asked me to send this to all of you.
September 9th, 2009
To My Family and Friends,
I want to thank each and every one of you for your kind thoughts and prayers over the last seven months. Thank you for all the cards, letters, emails, flowers and calls.
I have been through a lot. Some real good times, some real bad times. The real bad times are coming more and more often. I have made the decision to end the pain. I am going to become what the VA Medical Center calls "Comfort Care". All of my medication will be stopped and I will be started on morphine to relieve all pain and keep me comfortable. I will probably die in two or three days.
I have a lot of wonderful memories and few regrets. Some of the best times of my life were in the Army. You old army buddies were an important part of my life. You were my family for 22 years. I could write a book about our antics in Ethiopia. It would probably have to be sold as fiction, most people wouldn't believe we really did some of those things. I wouldn't trade the travel experiences I've had for anything. Most of us have been to more countries than most people have been to states!
I have to tell you a story about my Uncle John. He is the kind of guy who, if you knew him, you would like him. I must have been about 12 years old or so; Uncle John and I were in South Omaha crossing 24th Street with a green light. We were almost across when the light changed. There was a kid sitting at the red light in a 55, 56 or 57 Chevy. As soon as the light changed, he started honking his horn. Uncle John very calmly went to the front of his car, opened the hood and finished crossing the street. The kid jumped out of his car - yelling and screaming, slammed his hood closed and drove off. Uncle John was laughing so hard he could just barely walk. To this day, he claims he doesn't remember that happening. I had to pass that on, because when I'm gone, there won't be anybody to tell that story.
I have several regrets, but one huge one you have to know about. It took getting this sick for me to tell my son, Joe, how much I love him and how very proud I am of him. If you're thinking your child or children know that, don't believe it. RUN to them NOW, hug them and say: "I love you and I am really proud of you." It took me 25 years. That is way too long. Don't let it wait 25 years or longer. Now I tell him every chance I get and he tells me the same thing.
Thank you again and God bless,
Dick/Grimmie/Grimmy
Ok all, now this is from Martha.
Today is the 11th. It is 4:16 in the morning. I received the phone call last night. Dick has gone home to be with our Lord and Saviour. At 10:50 last night.
Thank you to all,
Please keep in touch,
God bless you,
Martha and Joe
=========================== ASA-Duffys.Net Links ===========================
Snail Mail & Telephonic Duffy Contacts (no email)
Our Duffy Comrades That Have Passed
=========================== StanPerdue.com Links ===========================
Custom Carpentry Website | Computer Services | My Resume
My Horse Ride Across America | Red, White & Blue Heelers