Murray Howe’s eulogy for his father sums up Mr. Hockey’s greatness
By @MichaelCaples and @StefanKubus –
After a public visitation at Joe Louis Arena that lasted longer than 12 hours yesterday, the hockey world said one last goodbye to Gordie Howe today.
At The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in downtown Detroit, members of hockey royalty attended the funeral of Mr. Hockey, and Howe’s son, Murray, started the service with a touching eulogy for his famous father.
Filled with emotional stories, humorous moments and stories he had heard from others about the Red Wings’ legendary No. 9.
“How do I do justice to the life of a living legend, my own hero?” Murray Howe said to start his eulogy, after thanking everyone for attending and mentioning the Howe family members who came across Canada for Mr. Hockey. “I still pinch myself at the realization that he was my father. What more can be said about a man who has been celebrated with his own international bridge, spanning from his adopted home town of Detroit across to his homeland to the town of Windsor, where his mother first settled after leaving Germany in 1912. As if a bridge wasn’t enough, he’s got his name on schools, parks, ice arenas, entrances to ice arenas. There are Gordie Howe books, there are Gordie Howe movies, Gordie Howe elbow and the Gordie Howe hat trick. Even kids are named after him – half the kids in Saskatoon.”
Here are some of the most notable statements from Murray’s incredible speech about his famous father:
“I did many fun things with my father in the last few years – one thing was to go over to the local ice arena in Sylvania called Tam-O-Shanter. And my dad would get pictures with all the little 5-year-old kids in their hockey gear. One boy came up for a picture and his mom was so excited and my dad gave him a big hug and his mom said, ‘His name is Gordie, after you.’ That boy looked at my dad like he was Paul Bunyan. It was incredible.”
“There are endless superlatives that come to mind when describing my dad. Humble. A man came over for an autograph and a woman saw him signing something and she rushed over and said are you somebody famous? And he said no, I just used to babysit that guy.”
He was tough. Even when it was 50-below in Saskatoon, he would say there’s no such thing as cold weather, only cold clothing. I was helping him do a hardware project up at our cabin, and he smashed his thumb with a two-pound hammer, and blood was just squirting everywhere. He shakes his thumb a little bit, and then he just keeps on going. It was broken.”
I never heard him complain about anything, ever. The downside to that, was as kids, we were never allowed to complain about anything. If we lamented about raking for four hours straight, he would just bring out his miniature invisible violin and go, ‘So sorry for you.’ Stopped our whining in our tracks.”
“He was eternally positive. He always had a smile on his face and song on his lips. He once told me, ‘Don’t ever gripe about the cards that you have been dealt. Don’t worry about anyone else’s cards. Just play the cards the best you can, and be thankful that you get to play.’ He was selfless, he never accepted credit for any of his accomplishments. He credited God, his family, his friends, coaches, docs, trainers, his teammates, and he never had a bad thing to say about anyone – except for referees.”
“He was beloved. He’s the only pro athlete I know that’s never been booed. Except in Cleveland – it’s a tough crowd. He’s the only person that I know that where opponents bragged that he knocked out their teeth or broke their nose. Yesterday, a fan told me that in order to fulfill his dying wish, her beloved husband was buried in his Gordie Howe jersey. That’s beloved.”
He was irresistible. Though he was the size of a gorilla, little kids and little old ladies alike flocked to him. The moment he disarmed them with his playful grin and his huge open arms. Dad fed off their love and their positive energy, and it brought him to life, no matter how tired or sore he was. He multiplied that energy and emitted it back to them. He made everyone feel as they were the most special person on the planet. How many people have told me that meeting Gordie Howe was the greatest experience of their life?
Dad was wise. He was a man of few words, but everything he said was worth hearing, such as, ‘A good bodycheck will be remembered.’ Wayne Gretzky at the age of 10 was at an awards banquet with my dad, and the emcee mistakenly asked Wayne to say a few words to accept his award, forgetting that Wayne was only 10 years old. Mr. Hockey grabbed the microphone and said, ‘Anyone who scores 378 goals in a season doesn’t need to say another word.’
“Sudden death overtime. A stroke hit my dad so hard at 86 that I wrote his eulogy at that time. But the comeback king, with the assist of some stem cells, decided to hang on for an unforgettable year-and-a-half victory lap. It kicked off with a bang with a truly moving tribute dinner in Saskatoon, with the Hull family, the Gretzkys and our family after my dad and I went through a 13-hour flight from Lubbock, Texas to get there. One of the greatest parts of that trip was, my son Corey met a girl from Saskatoon and they’ve fallen in love and Corey is now living up in Saskatoon. So thank you Dad and thank you God for that.”
“Dad was able to visit so many friends in Detroit after he got back here and was staying with Colleen. He visited several ill or elderly fans and went over to Tam-O-Shanter (Sylvania, Ohio rink) quite a bit to see the kids there. The coaches would interrupt their hockey practice and have all the hockey players come over to the boards and gather around my dad for a picture and then resume the practice. He delighted cashiers and kids and an endless stream of delighted fans at Kroger and Meijer and the library and the mall, wherever he went. He went to my daughter Megan’s and son-in-law Doug’s wedding and was able to slow dance with Megan.”
“He went to The Joe in October and March so he could elbow the coaching staff and the trainers and several players like Dylan Larkin and Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard and to feel the love of the fans. He went to the Troy Community Coalition Dinner in October and was able to hear me talk about how phenomenal it was to grow up as his son. He joined dozens of kids on stage, all wearing Red Wings jerseys for the Michigan Governor’s Fitness Council Lifetime Achievement Award in April. And he attended the Gordie Howe Traumatic Brain Initiative just this past May 11 in Toledo, giving and receiving hugs and taking pictures for 45 minutes.”
“But less than a week later, he got pneumonia. He did recover from that, but he had lost his desire to eat or drink after that. It was clear he was no longer having fun…Dad always said, ‘If it’s not fun, it’s time to do something else.’ So we filled his final days surrounding himself with friends and family, and he knew he was loved.”
“Mr. Hockey left the world with no regrets and although he did not believe in church attendance, his life has been the epitome of a faithful servant.”
“Jesus tells us whatever you do for the least of my brothers that you have done to me. Mr. Hockey loved God through the way that he loved everyone.”
“I asked my dad a few years ago what he’d like me to say at his funeral. He said, ‘Say this: finally the end of the third period.’ Then he added, ‘I hope there’s a good hockey team in heaven.’ Dad, all I can say is, they won’t just be good; they’ll be great.”
“I will say farewell to you, Dad, with two final blessings: Shalom, I wish for you the good Lord’s boundless, eternal peace, comfort and joy, just as you gave us as you were in our midst. Namaste, I humbly bow to you, Dad, for your magnificent example for all of us. We will do our best to follow your lead until we meet again.”