GRANDPA, A VERY SPECIAL MAN
Grandpa Bunker was a very special man in my life. I always loved to go to Bunkerville to see him or to have him come to Caliente or Las Vegas to see us. I think his great ability was that he made me feel so special. I, like all the girls in his grandaughter family, was made to feel a “queen or princess” as he liked to call us.
I learned a great deal about work from grandpa. He came to Caliente to help us put in a basement. I helped him push the scoop while daddy pulled with a little tractor. We had great fun doing it. Work was made fun and my father must have learned this trait from his father.
I never knew a man that could wear so many clothes in the middle of the summer. There he would be in a long sleve flannel shirt and a sweater, and the temperature was at least 105°. We asked him why he was wearing the sweater and he would say, “Why queen, don’t you know - what keeps out the cold in winter also keeps out the heat in summer?” I really wasn’t quite converted to that particular philosophy.
Thanksgiving was always fun if we could spend it with grandpa. It was during this time of year that I had an unusual experience with grandpa. I was in the 7th grade. We were at Bunkerville and after dinner the cousins decided to play catch. Roger and I were on one side and Mina and Jay on the other. I was determined to beat Roger to the ball, which was quite a feat in itself, but I did this time, by diving under the table for it. I must have bumped my leg on something, but I didn’t notice it at the time. Later on that evening I felt a large lump on my leg and the pain was awful. We were at a dance in the old high school. I had to get home and I know it took me a full twenty minutes to get to Uncle Merrill’s house. Grandpa was there and when he saw my leg, he had me elevate it, then he got out the “Sloans Liniment”. He spent a long time rubbing my leg with this liniment. I could feel of his love and concern for me at this time. I was grateful that he was there for me at that time.
When I met David and we decided to get married, there was one person who I really wanted in my wedding line, and this was grandpa. He looked so handsome in his “Tux” and Aunt Reva told mother that it really pleased him that I would ask him to do this. I will always be grateful that he could do this for me.
One of the saddest days of my life was when I couldn’t be at grandpa’s funeral. The day I brought Paul home from the hospital he died.
I loved grandpa and even though he wasn’t a very big man in stature, he was a giant of a man in my eyes. I could always count on grandpa knowing the truth and living the gospel. There were never any gray areas of gospel living in his life. He left me a great heritage of which I am very proud and of which I am well aware of my obligation to try to live as he would want me to.
When I think of grandpa, I remember the times he would fall asleep with a fork full of food in mid air, and the way he had of pinching our bare skin when we wore sleeveless dresses in the summer, and the way he always went to church with us. I think of his faith in prayer and his devotion to his family. I think of the love he gave us all; and of this knowledge and truth I will always be grateful.
Janet Bunker Williams
Source: Brent Bunker