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Royce Wetherbee Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for Royce Wetherbee
Sponsored by Royce Wetherbee's Family.
Lola Newton Wetherbee Perkins
March 29, 2010
Royce Your Family Will always Love You.
Your Sister-in-law
Lola Darrell's wife
June 28, 2009
Hi Dad,
I am sitting here remembering my trip to Oklahoma and wishing so much you could have known your granddaughter Kathryn. She is such joy. Loves to sing,and any music is ok with her. reminds me of me in a lot of ways. I am missing you so much right now I hurt. You always had a way of taking the hurt and turning it into something positive. I love you, kate
serenity wetherbee
June 27, 2009
grandpa , i miss you ,i wish that you could see our family today , i love you.....
Sheryl Wenstrand
October 8, 2008
Hi Dad,
Do you remember the time I called you from a pay phone because I missed the bus and I wouldn't be able to make it to my job on time and it was a fairly new job and I had to leave my daughter with a babysitter and life was just the pits? You calmed me down and comforted me, inserting wisdom and advice in your comfort so it wouldn't make me feel foolish or dumb. I felt like I'd been wrapped in your big, strong arms and I felt stronger and bigger from your strength. Well, Dad, I wish I could make just one more call... Missin' you terribly.
love,
sheri
Lola Rosella Perkins
December 26, 2007
Thank you for remembering me. Lola Rosella Newton Wetherbee
Rexine Wetherbee
December 24, 2007
December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas, Sweetheart!. Again you get to celebrate the birth of Jesus with Him and all our loved ones there in Heaven. What a celebration it must be! I can hardly wait to join all of you!
Yesterday, we had the family Christmas party at Diane and Phil's. It was lots of fun. Of course the food was excellent, and we had time to enjoy visiting with each one. The weather was nice and made the backyard inviting so the men spent time out there. Lynette and Joedy joined us and the kids were delighted to visit with their cousin. Nette is lots of fun. I think Joedy gets a little over-whelmed by the size of our family. I told him, it gets easier as he participates. We played the "white elephant game" but changed the rules this year. Everyone was to bring something from their home rather than buy a gift. What a time of laughter. David brought your ceramic birdhouse and a mouse pad with your picture on it. Duane won those. Mike and Janelle brought the Scout license plate and a picture of you in camos in front of the Scout.
Trisha and John won it, but I was next so I swapped opening a gift and stole theirs. Both the picture and the license plate will be hanging on the bunkhouse wall from now on. That way, all the family can enjoy them. By the way, the Scout is restored, running and ready to be painted the original colors. Mike has worked hard to get it ready for use. He will be a new papa any day now. Janelle is due on the 29th, with Duane and Sheila's first grandchild, a girl, who will be named Sara Wynne. That will give us 23 great grands.
Trisha married a former Marine named John Hejl in September. You would really like him. They bought a home off of Sandario Rd and Rudasil, about a mile from where Phil and Diane lived when Trisha was born.
Also this year, after 10 years of waiting, Kristen and Mikey have a little girl named Kathryn Joyce. She looks like a Gerber baby. Emily and Robby had another son, Britain, and Darrin and Kara had their 4th daughter, Ella Jane. We really started something 57 years ago! Our numbers now add up to 70 family members! That is a whole village!.
Tomorrow I shall be with son Duane's family for Christmas Day and you shall be there too in all our minds and memories. Each one has a memory of the Christmases shared with you and sometime during the day, most of them are voiced. "Remember when Grandpa-----"
is heard a lot when ever two or more are together.
I still miss you very much, but know that before many more years are past I shall have joined you on that Heavenly planet and that makes time go by much faster. I am well, love, and well cared for by our big family. I shall not wish you a Happy New Year, since time has ceased for you. But I will say that many times, I envy you. You have reached your goal, and are living in the reality of God, but I am still "occupying" in this science fiction world, awaiting my graduation day into eternity. You are still my one and only love, and I remain your wife,
Rexine
Vic wetherbee
October 25, 2006
BRO, It's Fall again,Time again to be first to see the huge aspen gleaming golden nearing the valley floorin Indian Creek.miss our letter exchanges wherein I could use any word I wished without fear ofbeing accused of showing off Your vocabulary,like the rest of your being was exemplary and,boy, do I miss you.,Eldest of the "second litter bro vic
Joyce Grover
October 22, 2006
Dear Friend,
It has been a year since you have broken the bonds of earth and gone to the mansions He prepared for all of us.
I talk to you often, when I see things that remind me of you. Did you hear me when I planted the cactus from your yard that I picked up last winter? Surely you know that I finally was able to grow that purple prickly pear pad that was all dry and wrinkled up! You must be giving my green thumb a little help because 3 days ago I went down to the basement and found several new buds on the other cactus. I had babied it all summer long to no avail----And I thought of you.
I think of you, when I see the raspberry patch in the woods where you pilfered them for two weeks. It is now over run with wild roses.
You are on my mind every time that I plant, weed & harvest rutabagas and broccoli. I still have a picture of you on your knees on my kitchen floor with a magnifying glass trying your best to find aphids on the huge head of broccoli that we raised.
I missed you in your spot at the dining room table when we visited Rexine last winter. You left a big hole in a lot of people’s lives’.
I think of you when I am in Valdez. You drove that little boat across the ocean with that tree tied in knots around the prop, and me so afraid that we would not make it!
I suppose you and Dad have been reacquainted, maybe you have met my grandparents? Royce ------ We miss you------your letters and your great sense of humor. I will hold on dearly to my cactus and recipes for sourdough pancakes, bean less chili and Sweet potato (yam) pie.
You are on our minds many times each year and we miss you terribly. Will see you soon----Wait for us in Heavens Garden.
Rexine Wetherbee
October 12, 2006
Sweetheart:
Today would be your 84th birthday. I know that you are now ageless, and that birthdays no longer exist for you. Time is no more in Heaven, and you are reveling in the presence of your Savior. My imagination is not great enough to fully appreciate the wonders and beauty you are enjoying there. I try to visulize the type of flowers you are seeing and I know that they all exceed the beauty of the finest blooms that earth can offer. And you so enjoyed the flowers of all seasons, but I think fall flowers were your favorite. I know the fall was your choice time and I wonder if that was because you were born then. I too like the fall because the smell of the earth is greater with this seasonal change. Outside, the smell of Fall is in the air and with it comes the cooler weather and longer nights. A hot cup of tea or chocolate is very welcome when the sun sets, and a warm fleecy blanket feels good while watching TV. The leaves start to change color, and all the little creatures seek their own den as evening approaches. Yes, we all like the fall.
Today, the family and I will gather at your grave to commemorate the first birthday anniversary without you. We miss you so very much, but again we all know where you are and do not wish you back into this life. We are keeping ourselves ready to meet our Lord when He calls, and know then we shall be reunited with you also.
The hospice sent a package of Rosemary sachet to be sprinkled over your grave in remembrance for this first anniversary of your "graduation day." This is so thoughtful of them. They have been in contact with me each month and the letters they have sent has been of great help with my grief.
I love you my dear one, and again thank God for all of our years together on earth, and all the tomorrows He has prepared for us.
Your loving wife,
Rexine
Janet McLeod
October 7, 2006
Bob and I spent a day in the mountains last week photographing the turning leaves, and I thought a lot about how Dad loved the fall. I love the fall, too. It's a different feel than spring, when there is the sense of new life. Fall feels like a cleansing. The crisp air seems to sanitize away summer's dust and heat, and I'm always ready for the change. Even though I know fall signals the approach of winter, there is an excitement in me. And comfort. Who can't love the glorious colors, the harvest of apples and pumpkins and corn, the clean smell of autumn outside and the delicious smell of cinnamon inside?
Fall is often used as a metaphor for old age, and winter for death. But before we die, I believe God is good enough to bring us cleansing breezes for our soul and to show us the changing colors of our lives and of those we love, and to help us harvest a lifetime of wonderful memories and knowledge gained. He helps us prepare for winter, for the blanket of His Spirit that wraps us and covers us until God opens the door to eternity and His Son shines through with new life once again.
I hope that's how Dad felt. I believe he did. I hope too, that his birthday in heaven is filled with the smells and excitement of fall.
Kathryn Callan
October 4, 2006
Dad,
It's coming on a year since you went home to be with our Lord. The family has gone through many firsts without you in the past months. I still have days where I miss you so much I ache. My mind knows you are where all of us want to be, sitting at the feet of Jesus, but my heart only knows how much it misses you. The nights are getting cool again and I wander out onto the lawn and think about the leaves turning and falling at the meadowbrook house. Memories wash over me like a waterfall. I close my eyes and I can see you sitting in the leaves with one or more grandkid climbing on you. You left a wonderful legacy. I keep your memory close to me every day.
I love you Dad.
Kate
Diane Anderson
October 4, 2006
Grandpa,
Your legacy lives on. I was talking with Aunt Kathryn about Timothy. He is the joy and despair of my life right now. He is so smart but so immature. His happy nature is fun and makes me laugh often. I was sharing that he is very much a "math" oriented kid and I'm not sure that I, coming from such a "language" oriented family, know how to raise him. She told me that you were pretty good at math, too! I guess Wade's grandfather's genes and your genes came together and created this little funny bright kid. I'm so sad that he won't know you except from stories and pictures. I do hope that you are getting to watch him and are delighting in his caring heart and mischievious sense of humor. He's a lot like you in that.
I love you, Grandpa, and I'm missing you a ton today.
Love, Diane Lynn
Duane Wetherbee
October 2, 2006
Dad
Today is October 2nd 2006. Its been almost a year since the night you saluted me goodby. I still think about your awful night in the hospital and am thankful you don't have that to face ever again. I miss you Dad. I was coming home from Oregon the other day via central Nevada. When we topped the sumit in Austin, I was taken back to a happy time that you and I had just a few miles from there. You remember? We hiked all the way from water canyon back to camp. What a time we had. The smell of sage and the crisp fall air and the special time between a Father and son. Thanks Dad for giving me that time and the countless others we shared in the great outdoors. The sage still smells wonderful. As you know,Its almost hunting season again. That special time we used to look forward to each year. Getting ready for the upcoming hunts by cleaning gear, sighting in guns and talking about the big Bucks around the fire. With you gone,There will be another empty chair by our fire this fall. I'm sure that there is lots of room aruond the one you and Grandpa have going. The old 300 H&H is all rebuilt and ready for action. That old rifle and I will try and do you proud. Miss you Dad, more than I ever thought possible. your son always Duane
Stephanie & Kristi Fabijanic
July 27, 2006
Dear Grandpa,
Well let's see today it rained....like a madhouse...the washes were running like a river! So Kristi and I decided to do something we haven't done in a loooong time. Take an adventure. We walked all through the washes and collected rocks. I colleted some of those pretty white ones I used to all the time and found some other reallllly cool ones, some flat ones, some green ones, yellow, black and above all...I got REALLLLY dirty! heee Kristi wants the keyboard so I am going to pass it over :)
Yes, we both got reallllly dirty, and I got my hair wet, just like I used to do with you all the time. Nothing is better than spending a nice rainy day jumping in puddles and collecting rocks, I collected a lot of speckled rocks. :]. Right now I am enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate, and I just wanted to say that Stephanie and I miss you a lot, but we know that you're with Jesus right now, and that has to be the best thing ever. We love you, Grandpa.
Well Grand-dad until next time. Love you sooo much. Right now I would be giving you one of those huuuuge hugs we like :) Maybe later Krissy and I will play Kings in the Corner, one of our most favorite games! Miss you.
Steph & Kristi
Sheryl Wenstrand
July 4, 2006
Well, Dad, just wanted you to know that your Birthday Grandson had a lovely wedding this past Saturday (July 1st). He is a happy man. His wife, Heather, is fun and spunky and a go-getter. She is majoring in Civil Engineering. You would have been so proud of your Grandson, Dad. He looked so, well, RESPONSIBLE. So grown up. So manly.
I finally understand the pangs you felt when your kids married and started their own families. Pangs of pride and happiness mixed with, well, lonesomeness. I missed having you there at the wedding, Dad. Just like I did at Diane's and Darrin's. I hope that God has a big screen projector and will show you every happy family moment you missed. I'm sure He would if you asked Him.
I love you, Dad.
Your eldest,
Sheryl
Kate Callan
June 11, 2006
It will soon be Father's Day. The first Father's Day without Dad. It blind sided me the other day when I stopped by the store to look for a card for my husband. I have always loved picking out cards for my father on special days. He got a kick out of all the cards his kids gave him. I reached for a card and started reading it and it hit me that I wouldn't be buying one for my Dad this year and I fell to pieces in the middle of the store. Our family has already gone through several "Firsts" without Dad and they have been difficult. Fortunately we know that Dad is with our Heavenly Father celebrating the ultimate Father's Day this year.
Lola Rosella Wetherbee Perkins
April 12, 2006
Thank You for a second copy.
Rexine Wetherbee
March 19, 2006
Hello sweetheart:
Today it has been five months since you went to your heavenly home. I love to picture you there, sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to and perhaps looking at the creation of this universe. Watching the beginning of mankind and seeing our earth as it was before sin entered and began all the woes of we humans, including death. I picture you at about age 35, strong and healthy, carrying one of the children on your shoulders, laughing ant telling one of your many happy stories. Not only ours, but all children were drawn to you like a magnet. When you sat down, you were covered with their squirming little bodies, and as they grew up, they still sat on your lap while holding their own kids. You became the neighborhood Grandpa!
I know you are so happy in the "real" life of eternity. We who must endure a while longer on this mortal, science fiction earth, (occupying as the Lord told us to do,) realize how free you are of the bonds that bind us to this realm of mortality. Thank God we no longer live to be hundreds of years old!!!
I miss you more each day but know that God still has something for me to do before I join you in "reality," where time ceases. Just think, no more clocks or calendars!
I love you always, your wife,
Rexine
Rexine Wetherbee
December 28, 2005
My Dearest One:
The holidays are behind us and we missed you so much, but we made it through by remembering as many of the former Christmas's as possible. We laughed and cried but uppermost in all of our minds was the joy you are having in celebrating the 2005 birthday of our Savior, with Christ Himself! What a wonderful gathering and time of adoration it must be. And since there is no time there, it is probably still going on!!
The Christmas gifts you chose last July from the catalogs mean so much to the kids. That was really an insight on your part. Duane continued your tradition of getting me a box of See's candy. I wept but rejoiced at the same time to see how much of you is ingrained in our children. I hear your voice in their way of speaking, and see you daily in their actions, and this gives me much comfort. Your brother, Vic, and sister Shirley, told me that Sheryl's Christmas letter was like receiving a letter from you. Same type of humor,speech, and manner of writing.
I miss you so much my husband, but I know that I will join you one day, and then no more separation ever. I love you with all of my heart. Your wife, Rexine
Royce Cleveland Wetherbee, US Army, 1943
November 14, 2005
Royce Cleveland Wetherbee
November 14, 2005
Mitzi Callan
November 12, 2005
I am Mitzi Ann Callan, the youngest daughter of Robert and Katie.
Dear Grandpa:
We had a wonderful time at your house swimming with my cousins. You have been there when I needed someone to talk to. You were always loving, patient, kind and understanding.
You will always be my grandpa who taught me about my Heavenly Father. You taught us grandkids valuable lessons about looking at inner beauty above outer beauty, about treating people the way you want to be treated, about respecting your elders, about loving someone for who they are...
You told us stories that had life's lessons in them. You made the most wonderful sourdough pancakes. When we visited you, we always had loving arms open up to us.
You took an angered child and turned her into the most loving person that I am today. I miss you dearly and I will always love you.
Adam Tryon
November 12, 2005
My name is Adam Tryon. I am the fiance of Mitzi Callan, Robert & Katie’s youngest daughter. I first met Royce last year per Mitzi’s request that I drive her up to visit him in Marana. At the time, I drove there simply to please her. Little did I know what a great couple I would soon be acquainted with…Royce & Rexine Wetherbee.
When I first arrived, I assumed the role of a stranger, a guest, and conducted myself accordingly: polite, reserved, and quiet. But then a change took place that I didn’t even realize until I had long left and had a chance to reflect on it. Unlike any two people I’ve ever met, these two made me feel like a part of their family virtually from the moment I set foot in their home. In fact, without even a few words, I was soon calling them “Grandma & Grandpa”, something that I never imagined I would feel comfortable doing… but I did… and I do.
I’ve never gone hunting with Royce Wetherbee; I’ve never gone swimming with him; and I’ve never had any of his famous sourdough pancakes; but despite all that, I feel a real connection to Grandpa and I will miss him. As a fellow veteran, I hereby render a heartfelt salute to the one man who has ever in my life made me feel as welcome and as part of his family as he did.
Royce C. Wetherbee, you are truly a man among men and to you I say this: While for the rest of my days here on Earth I can only ponder what it must have been like to know you better, I already take comfort in knowing that I will someday meet with you again, Grandpa, to resume our everlasting bond that you somehow forged between us in what seemed like the instant we met.
Rexine Wetherbee
November 11, 2005
My Darling:
Today I placed red,white,and blue flowers with two small flags on your gravesite. I know how much you loved and honored the Stars and Stripes; the symbol of this mighty nation. The nation you were willing to fight for to keep it free from opression. You lightly told me about "touring Europe" in a medium tank as you fought under General Patton's orders, but you also told me in a choking voice of emotion how you saw the death camps that murdered so many Jewish people. About the warehouse full of shoes that were removed from adults, children, and even babies before their bodies were burned. You told me about the liberation of POW camps and the emaciated comrades you helped to free, as well as losing over half of your battalion in the train wreck in France before you reached the front lines.
I think those experiences helped shape the remainder of your life. You dedicated each day to try to become the person you felt God had preserved you to be. And you succeeded! Your large family and many friends are a testimony to your loving and caring life. I remember when you declared the words of Josuha: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" And we are my dearest husband.
I love and miss you so very much, but I am content in my heart that you are with Jesus in Paradise, as He promised. Just think, you will get to celebrate the Lord's birthday with Christ Himself this year! It can't get better than that!
See you in the morning, darling.
Your loving wife, Rexine
Janet McLeod
November 11, 2005
Dear Dad,
Today is Veteran's Day, and your guestbook wouldn't be complete without a tribute to your military service and the great love you had for your country. I want to say thank you for the years you spent in France during WWII, driving a tank and putting yourself in harm's way to protect America and preserve our freedom. We all remember how the battlefield was a painful subject for you, and that you were reluctant to talk about it. Growing up, we all marveled at how God spared your life in that packed railway car filled with soldiers when minutes before it was destroyed, you moved to the front of the car; and you and the guy you sat by were the only survivors. Today, I marvel that war didn't make you hard. Your kindness is the subject of many entries in this guestbook, a testimony to the fact that you didn't let the war change you. Thank you for that.
I love you and miss you on this Veteran's Day, the first without your presence on this earth. I salute you, Dad, and consider you a hero. Your daughter, Janet
Lola Rosella Wetherbee Perkins
November 6, 2005
Dear Royce & Rexine.
I Love you both. I have the Last Picture of "My" Darrell Leland Wetherbee, taken at your house as we were coming home from Our Texas Mission. Rexine I will mail you a Copy over the internet. It is a Very Good Picrure. I want to Thank You & Royce for being There for us as we came home to Oregon. I Love You and Always Will..
May Our Father in Heaven Bless You Always..
Your Sister Lola
Kristen Sirmon
November 5, 2005
My grandfather was the most precious man on the planet. He taught me and everyone else he came in contact with what unconditional love is. We shot rubberbands, loaded shot gun shells, and cooked lots of food together. He was not a typical grandfather, he was an extraordinary one! I love and miss him very much.
Lola Rosella Wetherbee Perkins
November 4, 2005
I hope my note to you went to you
Charlotte Violet
November 4, 2005
I met Royce at his home when I went to work on quilts. He had a great personality. He wanted to know if he could help me , so I showed him what I was working on and asked him what he thought about it . we had a good talk. A charming man and a real Gentelman was Royce Wetherbee. we broke bread together a couple of times. I feel fortunate to have known Royce.
Juleen Turnage
November 4, 2005
Uncle Royce was a great favorite of mine all my life, and when I married Vance, he and Vance became great friends. I have so many warm memories of Uncle Royce although he lived in Arizona and we in Missouri.
I remember in the late l960s when we had moved to Santa Ana, Calif. for a time and decided we were driving home to Mo. for Christmas. Well, we got as far as Phoenix and a toad-strangling snow storm hit from Texas through Missouri so we knew we couldn't drive home. So Dad (Bob Holderby) sent us air tickets so we could get there. We spent a night with Aunt Rexine and Uncle Royce in Phoenix then the next day, Uncle Royce took us to the airport. Now our car was fairly packed with goodies we were taking home to Mo. but obviously, we couldn't get them all on the plane. However, we put on our heavy coats (I think it was near 90 in Phoenix), loaded down bags of cookies and other goodies we had made and started to board the plane. Uncle Royce came over to hug us bye and said, "Juleen, all you need is a couple stalks of celery in those bags to look like real Beverly Hillbillies!"
Every trip he made this direction was greatly looked forward to by Vance and me. We LOVED his stories, his unique way of expressing things, and his jolly spirit. Even after strokes robbed him of some of his vocal skills, he didn't quit communicating.
Our last memories are of the trip we made to Arizona 3 years ago with Mom and Dad. Uncle Royce and Aunt Rexine met us in Flagstaff for 3 days and we had a ball. Uncle Royce would write notes to Vance and Vance would write back while the rest of us were gabbing and singing. Then we would hear those two laugh heartily and wonder what those notes were saying.
He was such a unique person and such a loving person to all his family--nieces and nephews included. Aunt Rexine modeled for all us what it means to keep the wedding vows "in sickness and in health." Frankly, I was in awe the last time we saw them of all she did everyday to keep all his counts regulated, get him the kind of food he needed, and do it all with great love and cheerfulness. Thanks, Auntie!
I can only imagine the great time Uncle Royce and my Dad have had these past couple weeks in heaven. I suppose they still haven't run out of stories to tell each other. And both of them are perfectly well--free from the bodies that gave out down here and the effects of aging. It will be so wonderful to see them again in heaven and forever be with them and our Lord around the throne.
Joe Hennington
November 4, 2005
I worked with Royce and have known him since 1957. We had many special times together, especially when we went to schools and meetings for the Air Force, to learn our specialty about an aircraft. Even when we were on these trips, Royce would say how much he missed his family, whom he dearly loved. We had many good times talking about the Bible and the Lord. Royce was one who always left a good impression on people he came in contact with. Friends like that are ones you will remember for ever
Kiana Wetherbee
November 3, 2005
How can I explain my memories of Grandpa. I really didn't get to see him as much as I would have liked, but when I did get to see him, I loved every minute of it. He was so full of compassion and loved everyone. One summer I went to stay with him and Grandma and I was out by the pool when I stepped on a cactus. I started to cry and Michael went to get Grandpa. When he came to see what was wrong, Gandpa just took me into his arms and held me as he pulled the needles out of my toes. Another summer I was staying there, he went swimming with me and Janell for three days straight. We all looked like lobsters and were very miserable. But the one thing that I remember the most is all of the sourdough pancakes...:)
Charles Cantleberry
November 3, 2005
An Afternoon with Royce
We pulled in to Weatherbee Flats in January or early February and to our surprise just Rexine and Royce were there. It was a first for us because it’s seems to us that there was always other people around
As we visited, Royce said to me do you want to go for a ride to the desert? You know we could go out to where we shot the black powder guns out by the waterhole. We checked the gas cans and Royce said we’ll have to go get gas at the feed store but you will have to drive. I’ve had to give up my license, So off we went to fill up with gas and came back to the house.
When Royce told Rexine our plan we got that look from her that said, I think you’re both nuts but that isn’t going to stop you two. She said you better take a gun and here is my cell phone ( I really wonder if it would have worked out there on the back side of the mountain)
I said Royce “you drive because I get lost as soon as we get through the gate". (I’m sure that he did not get much opportunity to drive because of his eyes then). “And I don’t think there will be many patrol men out there anyway”. So off we went.
After a few miles he said ,”you know I can’t find the turn off. Do you want to go around the mountain?” I said I’d never done that, so as we went he told me all about the history of the area. At that time he had only the use of the one eye . I was riding shotgun so he would turn to talk to me and once in a while he would glance at the trail. He showed me the old town of Silverbell and we came back on the pipeline right of way with no trouble and just a great outing.
Royce always enjoyed the music we played and he liked the singing too. I can never recall him ever saying anything about his health problems, just always had a smile. He always asked about my farming as we live less that a hundred miles from where he grew up and he always told me about his early years in Minnesota.
It got to be a thing with he and I, that when it was time to leave after the big breakfast , I would sing very very loudly “Adieu Adieu my friend Adieu, I can no longer stay with you” and he would join in “and I’ll hang my hat on a weeping willow tree.” ( that’s an old song from way back the we both knew. )
So I say Adieu old friend till we meet again.
Chuck Cantleberry
I had the opportunity to meet Royce just last year. I was immediately struck with the brilliance of this man who obviously had great physical restraints. He made me feel he was so interested in me and my life, I was very impressed. Later I also saw his humor and his patience with his situation. The major thing in his life was his beautiful wife. That was clear from the very first. The love they share and the joy they took in each other was a beautiful thing. I shall always be glad I had to opportunity to share just a few moments with such a sweet and wonderful man.
Allora Cantleberry
rexine and
Michael Callan
November 3, 2005
Grandpas funeral was the most beautiful ive ever seen. There is one thing that I wanted to say that I didnt get to say at the funeral. Its about the one time I remember most about Grandpa. He took me for a walk one day in Marana. We were just walking and talking on this dirt road when this truck came speeding around the corner. Without thinking Grandpa threw me and himself into the ditch beside the road. He very well could have saved my life that day. The greatest thing about him was his love and caring for other people. I love you Grandpa.
Phil Wenstrand
November 2, 2005
Remembrances of Royce, presented at his funeral, October 24, 2005
"I wasn't born into the Wetherbee Clan, I was drafted...when I married one of Royce's daughters...the oldest daughter...as her siblings are quick to point out.
Royce welcomed me into the family without reservation. At first I thought it was simply because I was getting another daughter off his hands...but, as I soon found out, nothing could be further from the truth.
Royce Wetherbee was a hero. Royce, just like my own father and many of their generation, were ordinary men thrown into very extraordinary circumstances. He was part of the "Greatest Generation: a generation that was forced to go to foreign lands to defend the freedoms that today we often take for granted.
Occasionally he would talk about World War II and a few of his experiences...something that I found out later he had never discussed with my wife. His stories were not designed to puff up Royce...these were not "War Stories". They were life stories.
He told of liberating a prisoner-of-war camp and finding one of his friends still alive. But he had left many of his friends and comrades on those fields in France and Belgium and I think that experience changed him and probably shaped his life.
He had many passions and loves in his life. He loved the outdoors; he loved hunting and fishing. And probably more than anything he loved to sit around camp fires at night with his family and friends. And he had a lot of friends. Those hunting trips are legendary.
Royce loved airplanes and he loved flying. He often recounted his days at the stick of a Stearman biplane.
He also loved his job with the Air Force. He loved to work around and on airplanes. He developed many life-long friendships with his co-workers.
He was one of the best writers that I ever read. He used those skills on the job to great advantage.
And there were always those stories. He loved to tell stories. He told those stories so many times that the kids began to number them. "Here comes number 37", they would say. But I loved to hear them because they always brought with them a certain joy that he had for life.
The number one item on Royce's "joy list" was family. There was nothing more important in the world than his wife and family. You were always welcome at his house.
I think the kids...the little ones were his favorites. He loved children and unlike many older people he loved to be around them. Because, I think, Royce was always a kid at heart.
He is gone from our presence now...but look around at the children: grand-children and great-grand-children...what he left with us is everywhere."
Sheryl Wenstrand
October 31, 2005
As I stood by his bedside in the hospital, Dad reached up his arms and pulled me into them, hugging me and patting my back. He wanted to comfort me despite all of his own hurts and pain. That is the kind of parent he was to all of us: kids, grandkids, great-grands. He wanted to make all of our hurts and disappointments go away. He gave us an earthly example of God's love for His children.
Dad loved words. He was a wonderful writer and taught us to express ourselves well. His tolerance for poor English was, well, non-existent! He loved to sit us on his lap when we were toddlers and teach us to pronounce new words. He wrote memos to us in "Air Force Abbreviation". He taught us to make up words and meanings for those words...like "dacky" (which means "awful" or something really nasty). He made words into a game and we loved it.
Dad loved music. He HEARD it like no one else I've ever known and remembered melodies and words long after others had forgotten them. He could whistle beautifully and though none of us ever bested him in this area, we all learned to whistle tunes, too. Music was so important to him that he would not allow us to interrupt or tease or criticize one another when we were playing an instrument or singing.
Dad enjoyed growing gardens and canning the fruits of his labor. He and I loved to make prickly pear jelly. One summer when my family was living in Oregon, Dad, my son Robert and I picked blackberries and marionberries together. Robert was quite sure his Grandpa had left blood on every blackberry thorn, and told me so. Robert's remark tickled Dad and that berry-picking day became one of his many favorite stories.
So many memories...
It is an honor to be his daughter and eldest child. I hope I can leave such a legacy of memories to my children.
Merle Duane Wetherbee
October 31, 2005
I'm Duane Wetherbee, Royce & Rexine's #3 child. As a young boy growing up in the Wetherbee clan, hunting season was a big deal. Grandpa Merle(Royces Dad) always wanted to get to camp three to four days early to keep others from snagging the camp site. It didn't matter that we would not see but two or three other hunters the entire season Grandpa protected the camp site. So every season Grandpa Merle and I left early to set up camp, visit, and wait for my Dad and brother to join us. It was during all those trips that I learned about life while waiting by the camp fire for my Dad. The night Dad was to show up Grandpa would check his watch every so often and say " Sunny Boy your dad should be showing up any time now. Put some more wood on that fire so they can see we're waiting". Well when Grandpa Merle passed in 1975 he told Royce he would build a fire and be waiting up there with the coffee hot. What a homecoming I'll bet they're having!. Well Dad, It's your turn to wait on me. Keep the fire going and the coffee hot,I'll be along shortly. Love you, Dad Duane
Rexine Wetherbee
October 28, 2005
56 years ago, Royce asked me to marry him and obviously I said yes! It has been a great love story. We are the most blessed of people, surrounded by our children, our grandchildren , our great-grandchildren, and our many many friends and extended family.
Royce has gone from us to his Lord, and my prayer now, is that everyone we love and cherish will join us at the Eastern Gate in Heaven.
Stephanie Fabijanic
October 27, 2005
I am Stephanie Diane. I am Diane's middle child. Grandpa lived next door so he was always there when I needed his shoulder to cry on, when I needed a hug to make me feel better, to kiss my owwies or just to simply hang with. I remember the "old house" on Meddowbrook, and I remember Grandpa and I having tea in his old motorhome and him teaching me how to dive in the pool, and I remember him saving me from the pool when I fell in trying to help him skim the top. I remember picking grapefruit, and playing hopscotch on the front yard walkway. Once he and grandma moved out here, the memories just keep getting better and better. Having him there for me anytime of day was awesome, and as Janelle has said even in his weak condition he never stopped any of his past times. He would make us breakfast or coffee and we would play in the trailer and play cards and cook and laugh! Being the second to the youngest grandchild I sit and think well he won't see me graduate or get married or see my first child. But knowing where he is, and knowing that even his body isn't present, his spirit is and his love is, so I know that he will see me graduate, and he will be at my wedding and he will see my first baby. And he will be right there with all my firsts and all my life risking, breath taking, exciting moments. He'll even be there for all of my hurting sorrowful moments. And in the end, we'll be together again, enojoying even more time together for eternity without hurt and without any pain. Grandpa was one of a kind, and all the moments in the past that we have shared will be cherished forever because that man had neverending love, I can still feel his love and as I look at letters and pictures I smile and thank God for keeping him in my life as long as he had. In my heart there'll always be a place for him for all my life.
Stephanie Diane
Janet McLeod
October 27, 2005
I am the fourth of Royce & Rexine's children, the oldest of "the three little girls." My parents enjoyed 56 years of marriage and modeled for us all the kind of love and commitment that makes a house a home and knits a family together. We are thankful for the delightful memories Dad left us and for the deep love he had for Mom and for us. We had a great upbringing and we have a great family. You can't ask for much more than that.
Natalie & Bill Beckwith
October 26, 2005
Although Royce and I were cousins, we didn't actually meet until we
were well into our adult years when, at the urging of other cousins, we spent part of a winter with them all at "Wetherbee Flats". We were welcomed into the family as if we had been lifelong friends.... for no one was a stranger there. In the course of many outings, as Royce and his brother Murry showed us around, we learned much about the desert and even more about our newfound cousins. The silliness between the brothers over the constant emergence of a black plastic garbage sack showed the love and joy they felt for each other, and was a constant source of amusement to the rest of us. We have so many wonderful memories of that winter! When the time came for us to leave, we learned of the traditional breakfast for departees. I don't believe anyone ever got an early start in leaving Marana, for Royce believed no one could possibly travel on an empty stomach and that required everyone, departing or not, to meet at Royce & Rexine's RV for breakfast on any departure day. We will always remember the last time we saw Royce was a time filled with warmth, love, fellowship and sourdough pancakes. I think he would have liked that.
Frank McNeely
October 25, 2005
It is with great sadness that we note the passing or Mr. Royce Wetherbee. He was a fine man that tried to instill the love of God in his family. I have had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions and I can say that he will be greatly missed. I have known his daughter Katie for over fifteen years and I know that both she and the rest of the family were raised by a good, God fearing and Loving Father. Although it is hard to loose a loved one like this, it gives the heart relief to know that he no longer suffers and has gone to a better place.
Sheila Wetherbee
October 25, 2005
I was welcomed into the Wetherbee family over 32 years ago when I married Duane. Dad loved me as his own and years ago decided to drop the "in-law" and just call me his daughter. What a blessing he has been in my life. He was a most wonderful father and I am grateful every day when I look at my husband. He was the greatest Grampa to Scott & Janelle. We had a very special relationship and I loved him like a daughter.
Natalie and Lacey Burkes
October 25, 2005
I regret that I didn't get to know Royce very well, but I see his and Rexine's legacy in the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren they love so much.
Every family member I've met has been loving and giving, full of faith and kindness. Everyone knows they can depend on the other for whatever they need. I don't think any of them knows a "stranger"-- everyone is treated with kindness and a generosity of spirit. That's something to be proud of.
I'm glad he touched so many lives. So many people loved him and were loved by him. Keep those memories close to you and remember the laughter and good times as you pass through this very difficult time.
Our love, sympathy and condolences to your family.
Doris Ackerson
October 25, 2005
There are so many memories that Mike and I have of the times we spent with the Wetherbee's for the last 10 years. But when I was a child Royce used to come and visit my parents, He would always wear a fringed leather jacket. I tho't it was the most beautiful garment I had ever seen. We Loved him as children,and we loved him as a wonderful welcoming person who never wanted us to leave Wetherbee Flats.
Carol and Don Anderson
October 24, 2005
We did not know Grandpa Wetherbee, but I know he was instrumental in the life of our Daughter-in-law, Diane. We have truly benefitted from his off-spring and wish them God's blessing during the hour of sorrow.
Janelle Wetherbee Edmonds
October 24, 2005
I had a very special relationship with my grandpa. We spent hours together, reading, swimming, and laughing. He taught me to love learning and to always push myself as hard as I could. He loved more than anyone I know. He was good at many things like hunting, cooking, flying, and writing but he was best at being a grandpa.
Diane Anderson
October 23, 2005
I'm Diane Lynn. I'm Sheryl's oldest child. I have two wonderful memories of my grandfather. He and I loved to swim in the pool. Our favorite game I always remember as "Bubbles." We would stand at either end of the pool--he was at the deep end and I, at the shallow. We counted down and dived in at the same time. After swimming underwater, we met and I would turn and grab onto his back. The goal was to do the whole thing underwater but when we met, I couldn't help but giggle and my laughter bubbles would rise to the surface, soon followed by Grandpa, rising so I could catch my breath. It was such a picture of his fun-filled spirit as well as tender care for kids' well-being.
My other memory involves my 6 year old daughter, Alayne. When she was about 20 months old, my husband, Wade, and I brought her down for a visit. Alayne adored him. She was always scrambling up in his lap, loved to "stir" his coffee with a straw, and eat the grapes he grew in his garden. I have a picture that I put into a book for her so she could remember this trip. In it, Grandpa is sitting on the couch with a picture book in his hand and Alayne is sitting on her knees on the couch facing him. They're looking at the book together and just enjoying each other's presence. I see that picture often because Alayne enjoys looking at the little scrapbook and asking me about the pictures.
My Grandpa was the best and I'll miss him. I'm sad that my kids won't be able to really get to know him except through pictures and memories but I'm so happy that I can continue the heritage of love and faith that he has passed on to all who loved him.
Kate Callan
October 23, 2005
My father was my hero. He was the type of father that everyone should have. His love had no bounds, and he lived his life as an example to his children. I will miss him greatly.
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