Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Good by Dan
Good by Dan [message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 13:27 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
|
Senior Member |
|
|
On Thursday morning it was -10 degrees here in NW Indiana. The wind was blowing at what I estimate was 25 to 30 knots straight out of the south. It stayed that way for this entire trip of 443 miles one way. At 10 AM I left and guess what way I was headed. I was headed south into a major headwind.
This trip was to attend Dan Gregg's visitation and funeral. I forgot that Illinois (outside of the Chicago area counties) only owns two snow plows. Unfortunately they did not get them out on the road until the roads had been hard packed with snow which then turned to ice. I hit the ice pack within the first 300 feet after I crossed the state line into Illinois and it stayed that way all they way down to Effingham, IL. That was about 180 miles of the trip. It took hours to get through that stuff running as slow as 15 mph at times on I-57 in Illinois. Visitation was scheduled to be 5 PM to 8 PM. I had planned to get there before 5 PM. I actually arrived at 6:35 due to the poor road conditions in Illinois.
I have never been in Dexter, Mo. before and as I drove into and through town on the the main street there was no one to be seen anywhere. I thought that they must have rolled up the downtown sidewalks at dusk. There was not a single car moving or parked anywhere. Then as I approached the west edge of town I could see some cars in the distance parked on the street. When I got to the cars I realized they were all parked at the Funeral home that I was looking for. I started looking for a place to park and there was none. The area around the funeral home was jammed with cars. I ended up parking a block away and walking back to the funeral home in the wind. In front of the Funeral home was very professional electronic billboard sign saying "Danny Gregg Visitation 5PM to 8PM". When I made it to the entrance there was a guy stopping everyone from entering the building and directing the people around to a side entrance. I entered that way and then I realized that this was the end of a waiting line that started just inside the door. The line ran through an office, then back to the normal entrance / reception area and then to and through the chapel area. On the opposite end of the chapel was where you could get to see Teri, Dan, and his children who were standing there greeting and talking to the people.
There were several hundred people and I waited in line with them. It took just under 45 minutes to get through the line to see Teri and Dan's extended family. When Teri saw me, she immediately hugged me and started crying. She did not let go for almost 5 minutes. I gave her my best wishes and the best wishes from the GMC community on behalf of all of us GMCers that wanted to be there. It was a very emotional time for her but she repeatedly expressed thanks and surprise that someone from the GMC community made it to Dexter. Talking to Dan's daughter Melanie the next day at lunch, after the funeral, Melanie said the visitation was suppose to end at 8 PM but there were people coming through the line until 9:30 PM. That was 4.5 hours that they all stood there greeting people. I do not know who all of those people were. He must have known everyone for a 50 mile radius and all of them came out to the funeral home for visitation on Thursday evening.
The funeral home had a slide presentation of pictures of Dan with his family, his friends, his VW, and his GMC. There were letters written by his grand kids, and even his corrections department badge on display. It was a very professional arrangement of memories. I was very, very impressed with what I observed on this sad occasion.
The funeral was the next day at 10 AM at the Church of Christ church. I arrived at 9:30 and the same slide show was being shown on two projection screens inside the church. Dan's flag draped coffin was positioned in front of the altar. I would like to tell you what happened during the ceremony and what was said, but with my hearing I missed about 95% of it. There were 6 seating rows (pews) reserved for family and I counted 48 people sitting in those family reserved pews. The rest of the church had a couple of hundred attendees like me.
After the church we went to the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo. which is about 8 or 10 miles away. It was a trip on two 4 lane divided highways. As we pulled on the first divided 4 lane highway we ended up in the right lane parallel to a van and a semi in the left lane. Both the van and the semi slowed down, moved in behind us, and waited for the procession. I was surprised. I am use to Chicago drivers who have to get there now and the heck with everyone else. When we turned north on to the second widely divided highway ALL of the southbound traffic pulled to the curb and waited for our northbound procession to pass. I was shocked as this. It was this way along the entire route. These were not adjacent lanes but a very widely separated highway. Around here the southbound traffic would not have done that. The Dexter Police Dept. escorted the procession the entire way even though we were several miles outside of the city. Again it was a courtesy I would not see in this area.
The Veterans Cemetery was a beautiful place that has only been there about 12 years. Everything was immaculate and all of the graves had green wreaths with red bows on them. All of the identical shaped markers were in rows in traditional military fashion. It was like visiting Punch Bowl, Hawaii or Arlington, VA. military cemeteries. Missouri really did it well. It was sunny and not a cloud to be seen. The temperature had warmed up to 29 with less wind than yesterday. The final ceremony was attended by two honor guards (one Air Force and one from Stoddard County). They had their flag presentation and their three volley rifle salute. Finally someone brought out a bunch of helium filled red, white, and blue balloons. The grand children plus some of the family members each took one. Together they released them into the air. I watched them until I could no longer see them as they blew away in the wind. It was a fitting ending tribute to Dan.
Good by my friend.
Good by Dan from all of us GMCers.
Side notes:
1. After the cemetery ceremony some of us returned to the Church for lunch. I sat down at a table by myself because I knew only two people there. Teri and Dan's daughter that I only met in line yesterday. Someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind and asked if it was alright if he and his wife also sat a the same table. I said "sure" and then I turned around to find that it was fellow GMCer Luther McConnell and his wife. They had driven in that morning from St. Louis (about 170 miles) for the funeral. So I was not the only GMCer attending.
2. I have been to a lot of funerals and I hate attending them. This was the best funeral I have ever attended. I have the feeling that Teri put it together but I do not know this for sure.
3. Teri said "thanks" for the notes and things from all of the GMCers and GMC clubs.
4. My return trip was not any better than the trip going there. The Illinois roads were still messed up but the wind had changed direction. This change gave me a strong cross wind all the way home. So I still had the ice and major wind problems on my return trip. The total trip was a little over 950 miles. I used Laurie's car for the trip and it is currently covered with salt from the Indiana roads. Illinois did not use any salt. With the current temperature below 0 here, it is a little too cold to wash her car right now. She will have to wait for a few days.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
[Updated on: Sun, 11 January 2015 09:56] Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269376 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 14:03 |
jknezek
Messages: 1057 Registered: December 2007
Karma: 5
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Thank you Ken. I thought about Dan a lot Thursday and Friday but this really helps bring it home to me. A good man, greatly missed.
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
|
|
|
Re: [GMCnet] Good by Dan [message #269377 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 13:54 |
Jerry Wheeler
Messages: 246 Registered: January 2013
Karma: 2
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Ken,
Thank you for making this trip and reporting to all of us. Your
description made me feel as if I was there. Wish I could have been there
but it was too far for me.
JR Wheeler NC/OR
On Sat, Jan 10, 2015 at 2:27 PM, Ken Burton wrote:
> On Thursday morning it was -10 degrees here in NW Indiana. The wind was
> blowing at what I
> estimate was 25 to 30 knots straight out of the south. It stayed that way
> for this entire
> trip or 443 miles one way. At 10 AM I left and guess what way I was
> headed. I was headed south.
>
> This trip was to attend Dan Gregg's visitation and funeral. I forgot that
> Illinois (outside
> of the Chicago area counties) only owns two snow plows. Unfortunately
> they did not get out those two plows until the roads had been hard packed
> with
> snow which turned to ice. I hit the ice pack within the first 300 feet
> after I crossed the state line and it stayed that way down to Effingham, IL
> which was about 180 miles of the trip. It took hours to get through that
> stuff running as slow as 15 mph at times on I-57 in Illinois. Visitation
> was scheduled to be 5 PM to 8 PM. I had planned to get there before 5 PM
> but actually arrived at 6:35 due to the poor condition of Illinois roads.
>
> I have never been in Dexter, Mo. before and as I drove through town on the
> the main street there was no one to be seen anywhere. I thought that they
> must have rolled up the downtown sidewalks at dusk. There was not a
> single car moving or parked anywhere. Then as I approached the west edge
> of town
> I could see some cars parked in the distance on the street. When I got
> there I realized they were all parked at the Funeral home. I started
> looking
> for a place to park and there was none. The area around the funeral home
> was jammed with cars. I ended up parking a block away and walking back to
> the funeral home in the wind. In front of the Funeral home was very
> professional electronic billboard sign with the name "Danny Gregg
> Visitation 5PM
> to 8PM" being displayed. When I got to the entrance there was a guy
> stopping everyone from entering and directing them around to a side
> entrance. I
> entered that way and then I realized that this was the end of a line
> waiting starting just inside the door. The line ran through an office,
> then back
> to the normal entrance reception area and then chapel area. On the
> opposite end of the chapel was where you could get up to see Teri, Dan, and
> his
> children standing there greeting people.
>
> There were several hundred people and I waited in line with them. It took
> just under 45 minutes to get through the line to see Teri and Dan's
> extended family. When she saw me, she immediate hugged me and started
> crying. She did not let go for almost 5 minutes. I gave her my best wishes
> and best wishes of the GMC community that all wanted to be there. It was
> a very emotional time for her but she repeatedly expressed thanks that
> someone from the GMC community showed up. Talking to Dan's daughter
> Melany the next day at lunch after the funeral, Melany said the visitation
> was
> suppose to end at 8 PM but there were people coming through the line until
> 9:30 PM. That was 4.5 hours. I do not know who all of those people were.
> He must have known everyone for a 50 mile radius, because all of them came
> out to the funeral home for visitation.
>
> The funeral home had a slide presentation of pictures of Dan with his
> family, friends, his VW, his GMC, letters written by his grandkids, and
> even his
> corrections department badge. It was quite a professional arrangement of
> memories. I was very, very impressed.
>
> The funeral was the next day at 10 AM at the Church of Christ church. I
> arrived at 9:30 and the same slide show was being shown on two projection
> screens inside the church. His flag draped coffin was positioned in front
> of the altar. I would like to tell you what happened during the ceremony
> and what was said but with my hearing I missed about 95% of it. There
> were 6 seating rows (pews)) reserved for family and I counted 48 people
> sitting in those family reserved pews. The rest of the church had a couple
> of
> hundred attendees like me.
>
> After the church we went to the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in
> Bloomfield, Mo which is about 8 or 9 miles away. It was a trip on two 4
> lane
> divided highways. As we pulled on the first divided 4 lane highway we
> ended up in the right lane parallel to a van and a semi in the left lane.
> Both the van and the semi slowed down, moved in behind us, and waited for
> the procession. I was surprised. I am use to Chicago drivers who have to
> get there now and the heck with everyone else. When we turned north on
> to the second widely divided highway ALL of the southbound traffic pulled to
> the curb and waited for northbound procession to pass. I was shocked as
> this. It was this way along the entire route. These were not adjacent
> lanes
> but a very widely separated highway. Around here the southbound traffic
> would not have done that. The Dexter Police Dept. escorted the procession
> the entire way even though we were several miles outside of the city.
> Again it was a courtesy I would not see in this area.
>
> The cemetery was a beautiful place that has only been there about 12
> years. Everything was immaculate and all of the graves had green wreaths
> with
> red bows on them. All of the markers were in rows and identical in
> traditional military fashion. It was like visiting Punch Bowl, Hawaii or
> Arlington, VA. Missouri really did it well. It was sunny and not a cloud
> to be seen. The temperature had warmed up to 29 with less wind at the
> cemetery. The final ceremony was attended by two honor guards (one air
> Force and one from Stoddard County). They had their flag presentation their
> three volley rifle salute. Finally someone brought a bunch of helium
> filled red, white, and blue balloons. The grand children plus some of the
> family members each took one. Together they released them into the air.
> I watched them until I could no longer see them as they blew away in the
> wind. It was a fitting ending tribute to Dan.
>
> Good by my friend.
>
> Good by Dan from all of us GMCers.
>
>
>
>
> Side notes:
>
> 1. After the cemetery ceremony some of us returned to the Church for
> lunch. I sat down at a table by myself and someone tapped my on the
> shoulder.
> From behind me he asked if it was alright if he and his wife also sat a
> the table. I said 'sure" and turned around to find that it was fellow GMCer
> Luther McConnell and his wife. He had driven in that morning from St.
> Louis for the funeral. So I was not the only GMCer attending.
>
> 2. I have been to a lot of funerals and I hate attending them. This was
> the best funeral I have ever attended. I have the feeling that Teri put it
> together but I do not know this for sure.
>
> 3. Teri said thanks for the notes etc. from all of the GMCers and GMC
> clubs.
>
> 4. My return trip was not any better. The Illinois roads were still messed
> up but the wind had changed direction. So I still had the ice and a major
> wind problem returning. The total trip was a little of over 950 miles. I
> used Laurie's car and it is covered with salt from the Indiana roads. At
> the current below 0 temperature, it is a little too cold to wash it right
> now.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
Re: [GMCnet] Good by Dan [message #269378 is a reply to message #269377] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 14:34 |
James Hupy
Messages: 6806 Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Ken, thank you for making that journey and for sharing your experience.
Many of us, myself included, only knew Dan through pictures, blogs, and
telephone calls. I am sure that Teri was comforted a great deal by your
presence, as well as their families. So long Dan.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403
On Jan 10, 2015 12:09 PM, "Jerry Wheeler" wrote:
> Ken,
> Thank you for making this trip and reporting to all of us. Your
> description made me feel as if I was there. Wish I could have been there
> but it was too far for me.
> JR Wheeler NC/OR
>
> On Sat, Jan 10, 2015 at 2:27 PM, Ken Burton wrote:
>
>> On Thursday morning it was -10 degrees here in NW Indiana. The wind was
>> blowing at what I
>> estimate was 25 to 30 knots straight out of the south. It stayed that
> way
>> for this entire
>> trip or 443 miles one way. At 10 AM I left and guess what way I was
>> headed. I was headed south.
>>
>> This trip was to attend Dan Gregg's visitation and funeral. I forgot
> that
>> Illinois (outside
>> of the Chicago area counties) only owns two snow plows. Unfortunately
>> they did not get out those two plows until the roads had been hard packed
>> with
>> snow which turned to ice. I hit the ice pack within the first 300 feet
>> after I crossed the state line and it stayed that way down to Effingham,
> IL
>> which was about 180 miles of the trip. It took hours to get through that
>> stuff running as slow as 15 mph at times on I-57 in Illinois. Visitation
>> was scheduled to be 5 PM to 8 PM. I had planned to get there before 5 PM
>> but actually arrived at 6:35 due to the poor condition of Illinois roads.
>>
>> I have never been in Dexter, Mo. before and as I drove through town on
> the
>> the main street there was no one to be seen anywhere. I thought that
> they
>> must have rolled up the downtown sidewalks at dusk. There was not a
>> single car moving or parked anywhere. Then as I approached the west edge
>> of town
>> I could see some cars parked in the distance on the street. When I got
>> there I realized they were all parked at the Funeral home. I started
>> looking
>> for a place to park and there was none. The area around the funeral home
>> was jammed with cars. I ended up parking a block away and walking back
> to
>> the funeral home in the wind. In front of the Funeral home was very
>> professional electronic billboard sign with the name "Danny Gregg
>> Visitation 5PM
>> to 8PM" being displayed. When I got to the entrance there was a guy
>> stopping everyone from entering and directing them around to a side
>> entrance. I
>> entered that way and then I realized that this was the end of a line
>> waiting starting just inside the door. The line ran through an office,
>> then back
>> to the normal entrance reception area and then chapel area. On the
>> opposite end of the chapel was where you could get up to see Teri, Dan,
> and
>> his
>> children standing there greeting people.
>>
>> There were several hundred people and I waited in line with them. It
> took
>> just under 45 minutes to get through the line to see Teri and Dan's
>> extended family. When she saw me, she immediate hugged me and started
>> crying. She did not let go for almost 5 minutes. I gave her my best
> wishes
>> and best wishes of the GMC community that all wanted to be there. It was
>> a very emotional time for her but she repeatedly expressed thanks that
>> someone from the GMC community showed up. Talking to Dan's daughter
>> Melany the next day at lunch after the funeral, Melany said the
> visitation
>> was
>> suppose to end at 8 PM but there were people coming through the line
> until
>> 9:30 PM. That was 4.5 hours. I do not know who all of those people
> were.
>> He must have known everyone for a 50 mile radius, because all of them
> came
>> out to the funeral home for visitation.
>>
>> The funeral home had a slide presentation of pictures of Dan with his
>> family, friends, his VW, his GMC, letters written by his grandkids, and
>> even his
>> corrections department badge. It was quite a professional arrangement of
>> memories. I was very, very impressed.
>>
>> The funeral was the next day at 10 AM at the Church of Christ church. I
>> arrived at 9:30 and the same slide show was being shown on two projection
>> screens inside the church. His flag draped coffin was positioned in
> front
>> of the altar. I would like to tell you what happened during the ceremony
>> and what was said but with my hearing I missed about 95% of it. There
>> were 6 seating rows (pews)) reserved for family and I counted 48 people
>> sitting in those family reserved pews. The rest of the church had a
> couple
>> of
>> hundred attendees like me.
>>
>> After the church we went to the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in
>> Bloomfield, Mo which is about 8 or 9 miles away. It was a trip on two 4
>> lane
>> divided highways. As we pulled on the first divided 4 lane highway we
>> ended up in the right lane parallel to a van and a semi in the left lane.
>> Both the van and the semi slowed down, moved in behind us, and waited for
>> the procession. I was surprised. I am use to Chicago drivers who have
> to
>> get there now and the heck with everyone else. When we turned north on
>> to the second widely divided highway ALL of the southbound traffic
> pulled to
>> the curb and waited for northbound procession to pass. I was shocked as
>> this. It was this way along the entire route. These were not adjacent
>> lanes
>> but a very widely separated highway. Around here the southbound traffic
>> would not have done that. The Dexter Police Dept. escorted the
> procession
>> the entire way even though we were several miles outside of the city.
>> Again it was a courtesy I would not see in this area.
>>
>> The cemetery was a beautiful place that has only been there about 12
>> years. Everything was immaculate and all of the graves had green wreaths
>> with
>> red bows on them. All of the markers were in rows and identical in
>> traditional military fashion. It was like visiting Punch Bowl, Hawaii or
>> Arlington, VA. Missouri really did it well. It was sunny and not a
> cloud
>> to be seen. The temperature had warmed up to 29 with less wind at the
>> cemetery. The final ceremony was attended by two honor guards (one air
>> Force and one from Stoddard County). They had their flag presentation
> their
>> three volley rifle salute. Finally someone brought a bunch of helium
>> filled red, white, and blue balloons. The grand children plus some of
> the
>> family members each took one. Together they released them into the air.
>> I watched them until I could no longer see them as they blew away in the
>> wind. It was a fitting ending tribute to Dan.
>>
>> Good by my friend.
>>
>> Good by Dan from all of us GMCers.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Side notes:
>>
>> 1. After the cemetery ceremony some of us returned to the Church for
>> lunch. I sat down at a table by myself and someone tapped my on the
>> shoulder.
>> From behind me he asked if it was alright if he and his wife also sat a
>> the table. I said 'sure" and turned around to find that it was fellow
> GMCer
>> Luther McConnell and his wife. He had driven in that morning from St.
>> Louis for the funeral. So I was not the only GMCer attending.
>>
>> 2. I have been to a lot of funerals and I hate attending them. This was
>> the best funeral I have ever attended. I have the feeling that Teri put
> it
>> together but I do not know this for sure.
>>
>> 3. Teri said thanks for the notes etc. from all of the GMCers and GMC
>> clubs.
>>
>> 4. My return trip was not any better. The Illinois roads were still
> messed
>> up but the wind had changed direction. So I still had the ice and a
> major
>> wind problem returning. The total trip was a little of over 950 miles.
> I
>> used Laurie's car and it is covered with salt from the Indiana roads. At
>> the current below 0 temperature, it is a little too cold to wash it right
>> now.
>> --
>> Ken Burton - N9KB
>> 76 Palm Beach
>> Hebron, Indiana
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269381 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 15:22 |
Carl S.
Messages: 4186 Registered: January 2009 Location: Tucson, AZ.
Karma: 13
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Ken,
Thank you so much for representing the GMC group. I too wish I could have been there.
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles, Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
|
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269385 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 15:58 |
Luvn737s
Messages: 1106 Registered: June 2007
Karma: 2
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Thanks Ken. You delivered a lot of our hugs with you.
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
|
|
|
|
|
Re: [GMCnet] Good by Dan [message #269392 is a reply to message #269389] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 18:22 |
Kingsley Coach
Messages: 2691 Registered: March 2009 Location: Nova Scotia Canada
Karma: -34
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Ken
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I could not be there but I thank you for going and for reporting back.
You are a good man, Ken !
Mike
On Sat, Jan 10, 2015 at 7:31 PM, Kerry Pinkerton
wrote:
> Thanks for representing us and the write up Ken. I had planned on driving
> up but we had the Grandkids and near record low temps and I was afraid the
> power would go off with me gone. I hated not being able to attend.
>
> I'm not surprised that the whole town turned out for Dan's visitation.
> Dan was that kind of guy.
>
> Dang, I've got to get a new monitor. This one has been getting blurry a
> lot the past few days.....
>
> Teri posted this on her facebook page. It is a great picture of Dan.
>
> http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/member-galleries/p56865-dan-gregg.html
>
>
>
> Rest in peace my friend.
> --
> Kerry Pinkerton
>
> North Alabama, near Huntsville,
>
> 77 Eleganza II, "The Lady", 403CI, Manny Brakes, 1 ton, tranny also a 76
> Eleganza to be re-bodied as an Art Deco car hauler
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
--
Michael Beaton
1977 Kingsley 26-11
1977 Eleganza II 26-3
Antigonish, NS
I am not an alcoholic; alcoholics go to meetings.
I am a drunk; I go to parties !
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
|
Re: [GMCnet] Good by Dan [message #269394 is a reply to message #269389] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 19:19 |
|
ljdavick
Messages: 3548 Registered: March 2007 Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Kerry,
I don’t think it’s your monitor - it must be Ken’s message. My screen gets blurry every time I read it too.
Missing Dan.
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, CA
> On Jan 10, 2015, at 3:31 PM, Kerry Pinkerton wrote:
>
> Thanks for representing us and the write up Ken. I had planned on driving up but we had the Grandkids and near record low temps and I was afraid the
> power would go off with me gone. I hated not being able to attend.
>
> I'm not surprised that the whole town turned out for Dan's visitation. Dan was that kind of guy.
>
> Dang, I've got to get a new monitor. This one has been getting blurry a lot the past few days.....
>
> Teri posted this on her facebook page. It is a great picture of Dan.
>
> http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/member-galleries/p56865-dan-gregg.html
>
>
>
> Rest in peace my friend.
> --
> Kerry Pinkerton
>
> North Alabama, near Huntsville,
>
> 77 Eleganza II, "The Lady", 403CI, Manny Brakes, 1 ton, tranny also a 76 Eleganza to be re-bodied as an Art Deco car hauler
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
|
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269398 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sat, 10 January 2015 20:56 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
|
Senior Member |
|
|
This posting was not about me. While I appreciate all of the thanks, this posting was about Dan and his loving wife Teri. Dan put up a 15 month fight and Teri was the care giver the whole way. I do not know how to say this, but Teri is one very very strong lady.
I rode along with Dan via email talking about anything that he wanted too talk about. He never gave up and was always positive. But behind Dan was always Teri making arrangements and driving him to bi-weekly appointments 160 miles one way away. Later on it turned in to bi-weekly trips, 390 miles one way. There were also additional trips that consumed 3 to 6 days each during extended hospital stays. Dan once related to me how lucky he was to have Teri managing his situation and caring fir him. He once said that Teri was the best thing that ever happened to him. So if you want to recognize someone,
PLEASE RECOGNIZE TERI.
Teri did it all for Dan, at home, on the road, and during his hospital stays. That is where the recognition needs to go. Give it to Teri who gave her all in this valiant fight.
BTW, I'm a terrible typist. So I re-did the original posting to eliminate some of the typing errors. So if something did not look right or make sense, go back to the first (now corrected) posting in this thread and read it again. Hopefully I fixed most of the wording and typing errors.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269409 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sun, 11 January 2015 10:14 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
|
Senior Member |
|
|
OK just for the emailers. I re-wrote and corrected some of this posting to make better sense I hope. Forum users automatically see additions and correction but the only way for an email user to see it is to send it again all over again. So here it is
Ken B.
On Thursday morning it was -10 degrees here in NW Indiana. The wind was blowing at what I estimate was 25 to 30 knots straight out of the south. It stayed that way for this entire trip of 443 miles one way. At 10 AM I left and guess what way I was headed. I was headed south into a major headwind.
This trip was to attend Dan Gregg's visitation and funeral. I forgot that Illinois (outside of the Chicago area counties) only owns two snow plows. Unfortunately they did not get them out on the road until the roads had been hard packed with snow which then turned to ice. I hit the ice pack within the first 300 feet after I crossed the state line into Illinois and it stayed that way all they way down to Effingham, IL. That was about 180 miles of the trip. It took hours to get through that stuff running as slow as 15 mph at times on I-57 in Illinois. Visitation was scheduled to be 5 PM to 8 PM. I had planned to get there before 5 PM. I actually arrived at 6:35 due to the poor road conditions in Illinois.
I have never been in Dexter, Mo. before and as I drove into and through town on the the main street there was no one to be seen anywhere. I thought that they must have rolled up the downtown sidewalks at dusk. There was not a single car moving or parked anywhere. Then as I approached the west edge of town I could see some cars in the distance parked on the street. When I got to the cars I realized they were all parked at the Funeral home that I was looking for. I started looking for a place to park and there was none. The area around the funeral home was jammed with cars. I ended up parking a block away and walking back to the funeral home in the wind. In front of the Funeral home was very professional electronic billboard sign saying "Danny Gregg Visitation 5PM to 8PM". When I made it to the entrance there was a guy stopping everyone from entering the building and directing the people around to a side entrance. I entered that way and then I realized that this was the end of a waiting line that started just inside the door. The line ran through an office, then back to the normal entrance / reception area and then to and through the chapel area. On the opposite end of the chapel was where you could get to see Teri, Dan, and his children who were standing there greeting and talking to the people.
There were several hundred people and I waited in line with them. It took just under 45 minutes to get through the line to see Teri and Dan's extended family. When Teri saw me, she immediately hugged me and started crying. She did not let go for almost 5 minutes. I gave her my best wishes and the best wishes from the GMC community on behalf of all of us GMCers that wanted to be there. It was a very emotional time for her but she repeatedly expressed thanks and surprise that someone from the GMC community made it to Dexter. Talking to Dan's daughter Melanie the next day at lunch, after the funeral, Melanie said the visitation was suppose to end at 8 PM but there were people coming through the line until 9:30 PM. That was 4.5 hours that they all stood there greeting people. I do not know who all of those people were. He must have known everyone for a 50 mile radius and all of them came out to the funeral home for visitation on Thursday evening.
The funeral home had a slide presentation of pictures of Dan with his family, his friends, his VW, and his GMC. There were letters written by his grand kids, and even his corrections department badge on display. It was a very professional arrangement of memories. I was very, very impressed with what I observed on this sad occasion.
The funeral was the next day at 10 AM at the Church of Christ church. I arrived at 9:30 and the same slide show was being shown on two projection screens inside the church. Dan's flag draped coffin was positioned in front of the altar. I would like to tell you what happened during the ceremony and what was said, but with my hearing I missed about 95% of it. There were 6 seating rows (pews) reserved for family and I counted 48 people sitting in those family reserved pews. The rest of the church had a couple of hundred attendees like me.
After the church we went to the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo. which is about 8 or 10 miles away. It was a trip on two 4 lane divided highways. As we pulled on the first divided 4 lane highway we ended up in the right lane parallel to a van and a semi in the left lane. Both the van and the semi slowed down, moved in behind us, and waited for the procession. I was surprised. I am use to Chicago drivers who have to get there now and the heck with everyone else. When we turned north on to the second widely divided highway ALL of the southbound traffic pulled to the curb and waited for our northbound procession to pass. I was shocked as this. It was this way along the entire route. These were not adjacent lanes but a very widely separated highway. Around here the southbound traffic would not have done that. The Dexter Police Dept. escorted the procession the entire way even though we were several miles outside of the city. Again it was a courtesy I would not see in this area.
The Veterans Cemetery was a beautiful place that has only been there about 12 years. Everything was immaculate and all of the graves had green wreaths with red bows on them. All of the identical shaped markers were in rows in traditional military fashion. It was like visiting Punch Bowl, Hawaii or Arlington, VA. military cemeteries. Missouri really did it well. It was sunny and not a cloud to be seen. The temperature had warmed up to 29 with less wind than yesterday. The final ceremony was attended by two honor guards (one Air Force and one from Stoddard County). They had their flag presentation and their three volley rifle salute. Finally someone brought out a bunch of helium filled red, white, and blue balloons. The grand children plus some of the family members each took one. Together they released them into the air. I watched them until I could no longer see them as they blew away in the wind. It was a fitting ending tribute to Dan.
Good by my friend.
Good by Dan from all of us GMCers.
Side notes:
1. After the cemetery ceremony some of us returned to the Church for lunch. I sat down at a table by myself because I knew only two people there. Teri and Dan's daughter that I only met in line yesterday. Someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind and asked if it was alright if he and his wife also sat a the same table. I said "sure" and then I turned around to find that it was fellow GMCer Luther McConnell and his wife. They had driven in that morning from St. Louis (about 170 miles) for the funeral. So I was not the only GMCer attending.
2. I have been to a lot of funerals and I hate attending them. This was the best funeral I have ever attended. I have the feeling that Teri put it together but I do not know this for sure.
3. Teri said "thanks" for the notes and things from all of the GMCers and GMC clubs.
4. My return trip was not any better than the trip going there. The Illinois roads were still messed up but the wind had changed direction. This change gave me a strong cross wind all the way home. So I still had the ice and major wind problems on my return trip. The total trip was a little over 950 miles. I used Laurie's car for the trip and it is currently covered with salt from the Indiana roads. Illinois did not use any salt. With the current temperature below 0 here, it is a little too cold to wash her car right now. She will have to wait for a few days.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
|
|
|
Re: Good by Dan [message #269410 is a reply to message #269373] |
Sun, 11 January 2015 10:26 |
lqqkatjon
Messages: 2324 Registered: October 2010 Location: St. Cloud, MN
Karma: 5
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Ken,
I will thank you for the report. and my prayers go out to Teri and family.
One thing Dan made a point to do, was taking pictures and informing others who could not attend rallys, or other events, or enjoy things to tag along with him on some of his other journeys. Thank you Ken, for the report for those of us who just could not be there is the flesh, but were thinking of Dan's family all week.
http://danandteri.blogspot.com
The picture Teri posted is so spot on. I know technical things we discussed, it was all about doing it 1 time.
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/u340-dangregg.html
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Fri Sep 27 12:41:15 CDT 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.01101 seconds
|