This is the eulogy from my Father’s funeral in the church where he was raised in Westchester, IL. This text was a combined effort of his children.
My Father, Richard Walter Nield, born to Margaret and Edward Nield on August 13, 1932. Dad was survived by his two sisters: Dorothy Prack and Pat LaRocca and his two brothers: Robert and Edward Nield, as well as his four children Sharon Robbins, Kathleen Kiesel-Nield, Colleen Lee and Kevin Nield, and his three grandchildren: David, Erin and Brody Ellis; and lastly his companion and dog Caitlyn.
After Dad returned from serving in the Korean War, He eloped with Mary Ann Dolan, his childhood sweetheart, on January 24, 1956. After they married they lived with each of their parents. In the next 22 months, they had their first two children, Sharon and Kathleen.
Some time later my parents purchased their first home in Romeoville. In the next 22 months, they had their first two children, Sharon and Kathleen. During this time Dad was active with the Democratic Party and worked actively on the presidential campaign for John F. Kennedy.
Additionally, Dad ran “unsuccessful” on the Democratic ticket for county auditor in his local district. We smiled in a whimsical way at seeing those pictures of “Elect Nield” in our family pictures.
Soon two more little bundles of joy arrived each in their own time frame; Colleen and Kevin. It was at this point Mom and Dad decided they needed a larger home to accommodate their growing family. After what seemed an eternity, and several Novinas on the part of our Mother, Mary Anne, Mom and Dad happened upon a house in Lemont that they both loved. It was a perfect place to raise their family and at the right price. The house in Lemont was a beautiful older craftsman home that needed a lot of work (electrical, new furnace, new flooring) and with the help of his brothers my Dad was able to fix it up.
Dad was a hard worker in a city that worked, Chicago. He worked for Quaker Oats, Westinghouse, and others. He started as an accountant and often talked about the test he took to get hired initially as a manager. Dad also talked about the process of making oatmeal at Quaker Oats. I can remember Dad working on computers when computers were just beginning. He would take us to work on the weekends to see computers that were a block long. He showed us how we could type a series of keystrokes that would spit out a card that would be gathered together and put into a computer to form a sentence. It was really cool and fun! Dad traveled to work in Downtown Chicago everyday, and he traveled a lot for work. I can remember our family trips during the summer to California, where we all drove with our pets across the country. There are some great memories of dogs almost falling into the Grand Canyon, and checking into a Bakersfield hotel and after unpacking and getting into bed seeing the room move with bugs only to pack up that night and get back on the road, standing outside the casinos while Mom and Dad gambled, seeing the Grand Canyon and San Francisco, eating shrimp cocktails on the San Francisco warf, and watching Colleen catch a box of lizards in the apartment where we stayed and used them to scare Mom.
Dad was an entrepreneur in many senses; he was always there to help. He often did taxes for people in Lemont and Romeoville, and mostly only charged them to do the taxes if they got a refund.
In Dad’s mid 40′s he and my mother joined the local Alyesford Prayer Community and was baptized in the Holy Spirit in approximately 1980. The event renewed his faith in God and the Catholic Church. Soon after, they became a 3rd order Carmelite affiliate with the Aylesford Community in Darien. Sometime over the next 19 years Dad and Mom traveled overseas to Europe and the Holy Land with the Aylesford Community.
Dad formed his own successful accounting business in 1980. He was contracted to Computer Science Corp, SAIC and others.
In 2000, Dad worked with my brother-in-law Eric at All Nation Mortgage. He was a great people person and really enjoyed helping people with their mortgages. It was at this time that we began to see the signs of memory issues, although Mom had been aware there was a problem for a time.
Shortly after my Mother passed away in 2005, Dad moved to Florida to live with Colleen and her husband Eric. Dad enjoyed Florida; especially the warm weather. He spent many of his days at a senior center where he sang, danced , participated in arts and crafts, read stories to the preschool children next door. He went to the beach and would swim out to what seemed too far without any fear. We went on a cruise to the Bahamas for a family vacation as well.
In time, I (Sharon) joined Colleen and Eric in Florida to help care for Dad. While my son Brody moved in with his Father in California. The first year I was in Florida I became a hospice volunteer and took my Dad’s dog Caitlyn to be trained as a therapy dog.
At the end of Dad’s early life, Dad passed away in Colleen’s Florida home surrounded with most of his family by his side. He was comfortably cared for by hospice so his passing was very peaceful. He was strong and relatively active up until last November ’09, when complications with his health started his decline. Everyone who met him said that he a character, strong-willed, a gentleman and always had a great story or two to tell.
Dad is the one I thank for giving me the courage to move forward with my life. His death has taught me such valuable lessons. I suppose the irony is that his death taught me about life. I’ve come to depend on my Dad, but in the last two years I’ve leaned to draw upon the inner strength he instilled in me. I suppose it’s silly to think he is smiling down on me now but I do.
