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Feature Articles
May / June 2007
Father's
Day
By
Mark Merrill
Behind a successful person we often find the legacy
of a loving father.
We may not know their names. Some are shopkeepers
or farmers or shoe salesmen. Nothing they did in their jobs made
them famous or successful. But what they did as fathers changed
the course of history.
A writer once described the goal of fathering as
this: to ignite a spark in the life of your children that lights
up the rest of their lives. In honor of Father's Day, here are
four dads who did just that. Each gave their child a character
quality that lit up their lives.
Luther was a jaunty, confident man, small in
stature but large in love. He lived in the South Bronx of New
York, and worked first as a gardener on estates in Connecticut.
Later, he went to work at Ginsburg's, a manufacturer of women's
suits and coats. He started out working in the stockroom and moved
up to become a shipping clerk. He worked hard to raise his
daughter, Marilyn, to protect her from the streets, and to make
sure she "ran with the good girls." To his son he gave a legacy of
good character and hard work. Luther's son, General Colin Powell,
says this: "I wouldn't be where I am today without my father."
Alfred Roberts was a small-town shopkeeper. He
managed the grocery store in a place called Grantham. For his
daughter Margaret, he was a fount of wisdom and knowledge, even
though he had little formal education. She remembers fondly a time
when she wanted to go out and hang around with friends rather than
do her school work. "He said, 'Never do things just because other
people do them.'" It was a simple expression, but something she
carries with her to this day. She also recalls his commitment to
serving others. "Service was engraved in his heart," Margaret
says. It was that commitment to service that helped Margaret pick
her career. Today we know little Margaret Roberts as former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
George was a lawyer who lived with his family on a
gently sloping plain next to the San Gabriel Mountains in
California. Handsome and slim, he wore a floppy mustache. He was
elected district attorney of Los Angeles County, but you will
remember him more because of his son. His children--George, Jr.
and Nita--adored him. He took them fishing and sailing, taught
them how to ride a horse and shoot a rifle. "We spent hours in his
lap," recalled George, Jr., "listening as he read aloud." The
reading was particularly important because George Jr. was dyslexic
and had trouble reading. But his father worked hard with him on
his reading, and helped to wipe away the tears that came from the
cruel laughter that accompanied his mistakes in school. George,
Jr. said his father taught him everything he knew, but especially
the value of courage. A high compliment when you consider it came
from General George S. Patton.
Frank had a small place in Sharon Township, North
Carolina. It was a dairy farm, but it wasn't much of a living. His
children often remember him with a sun-browned face, walking up
the hot, dusty path back to the farmhouse. In the 1929 stock
market crash, he lost his entire life savings--$4,000. But his
children, especially his son William, remembered how he persevered
in his faith, knowing that things would get better. "He never
complained about the rigors of life," his son wrote later, "he was
always hopeful about the future." Frank's son credits his father
with teaching him about practical faith. And it’s a good thing he
did: we know Frank's son as Billy Graham.
Each of these four individuals observed in their
father a quality that became the key to their own success. For
Colin Powell it was hard work. For Margaret Thatcher, a commitment
to service. For George Patton, courage, and for Billy Graham,
faith. We like to think that these great qualities somehow just
appeared in these successful people. But they didn't. Each quality
was a gift from their father.
Mark W. Merrill
is president of
Family First, an independent, non-profit research and
communications organization dedicated to strengthening the family.
© Mark W.
Merrill. All rights reserved.
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