Once again, Amy, I am so sorry for your and your family’s loss.
The board will not be the same without your Dad, but rest assured, if you choose to remain, you will be welcomed with open arms.
Ileen
Amy…
Your dad was a treasure to this world, m’dear, and I’m sure he passed some of that on to you.
We’ll always be here.
How like Wally to make sure they were taken care of.
I know that Wally’s American friends were especially concerned about your family dealing with the hospital bills etc. Isnt Canada is a wonderful place sometimes?
I hope you can find some peace of mind with your uncle and your family. I can only repeat the offer of assistance, we really are here if you need anything.
Thank you, Amy, for letting us know how you’re doing.
We will miss your dad, but we will miss you too. Come back when you feel ready, okay? We’ll be here.
((((Wally’s family))))
Amy,
Thank you for checking in. We have all thought of you, your Mom and brother these last few days and wished there was a way we could do something, anything for y’all.
The words we wrote about your Dad were from our hearts. We will remember him for a very long time.
I hope you will post again when you are able.
Ayesha and LIONsob
Amy,
Our thoughts are with you and your family. Your father was a great, kind man with a unique sense of humour. It does make me glad to know that his soul lives on in you, and your brother, and all who knew him.
He won’t be forgotten. Ever.
"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle morning rain
And when you wake in the morning’s hush
I am the sweet uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand, do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die."
~In Rememberance, Annonymous poem, part of Eleanor Daley’s Requiem, sung tonight in memory of your father.
Helene
Amy-
I didn’t know your dad well, having just gotten involved with this board a month or so ago. Wally, however, was so absolutely marvelous, and witty and wise, that I grew to love him quickly.
I lost my mom three years ago, and I still cry quite frequently when I talk about her. She was such a big part of my life, and her passing leaves a hole in my heart that is too large to ever fill. I believe that you will find that this is so for you, as well. I found a book quite helpful for me “Living With an Empty Chair”. It presents the facts in a way that I could relate to. It says that when you lose someone you love, your loved one is gone, but the relationship lives on. When you love someone, just because their physical presence is gone, the relationship and love live on. I don’t know, maybe you will find other ways to understand and deal with your grief. This book helped me to understand and deal with mine.
Your poppa was a unique and entirely darling person. You can be proud to be his daughter, and you will cherish every single wonderful memory. The pain will never go away, but you will find a way to channel this into an appreciation that you HAD him for the time you did.
PLEASE don’t allow any of the well meaning idiots in the world to urge you to move on quickly. You loved your father, and he loved you. You both deserve whatever time you need to grieve, to remember, to find peace with the tragedy. You need to do this in your own time.
You don’t know me, and I am sure that you have a myriad of friends and family who will help you through this. However, if you should need to talk to someone who has survived the loss of a beloved parent, please feel free to contact me. My email address is Scotticher@aol.com.
My love and prayers are with you and your family.
Scotti
Amy, it is safe to say you and your family will always have a home here. Feel free to make yourselves felt here whenever you want. We all miss your dad, and I know the board and the world will not be the same without his influence. But, his memory will always live on thanks to the wonderful person he was.
Keep in touch ya hear.
Wally was a very sweet guy, he is missed.
Wally’s passing reminds me of a guy I was friends with in school. A really wonderful and charming soul. One of those guys you could talk to about anything. He passed away in a freak accident years ago and it really hurt.
So Amy if you ever need any help in school…this is the place 
I wrote a song for your dad and just recorded it, I hope to have it up on Opal’s tribute page sometime next week, consider it yours.
take care,
Mike
::group hug::
Yes, Amy: please keep in touch.
First, I hardly think that this is mundane or pointless. I haven’t been coming around here very often lately, but I always expected the regs to be here- you know who you are. And of all the regs, I always looked for what Wally had to say. He had a way of typing his mind that both amused and enlightened. I can only imagine what he must have been in person. He will certainly be missed here.
Amy,
I’ve been thinking a lot about you and your family this week, and missing your dad’s on-line antics. It sounds like you’re getting through this terrible time as best as could be expected - don’t hesitate to come back to the board later on.
Is there any charity that Wally favoured that would take donations in his memory?
Amy, you are a chip off the ol’ Wally.
In your time of mourning, advising us, a bunch of complete strangers, to what has to be the worst event in your life. I cannot imagine how hard that would be, but I can speak for all of us, thank you for doing so.
Wally was a vital part of our little community. For those who do not understand the online world, the closeness and outpouring here may seem a little weird. Strange, even. But it sums up us Dopers to a T, weird and strange, but in the nicest sense.
If you need to vent or post your own gerbil related stories, you are always welcome here.
Amy, I can only echo what has already been said.
You are a truly special person to think of us when I am sure that your thoughts are going a mile a minute.
Take your time with family healing, and remember we are all here for you when the time comes that you need friends.
Amy,
Best wishes from North Dakota.
On behalf of all the dopers here, that if there is anything that we can do to help . . I don’t think there’s a member that wouldn’t jump at the chance. Just let us know.
Rob
Amy,
I wholeheartedly thank you for sharing your dad with us.
Best wishes to you and your family. Please check in from time to time to let us know how you’re all doing.
Very sincerely,
Chris
Amy: Wally was kind enough to share himself in
real life and on the Message Boards. Obviously,
he passed that legacy onto you.
Amy: The fact that you took the time to update us SD Geeks about Wally’s funeral shows me that you’re every bit as generous and compassionate as he is.
I wish you the best, and hope to see you here on the board again sometime. Not just to update us, but because you are an excellent poster (For a newbie ;)).
To Wally’s family: I pray that in time, the pain will pass. Or at least lessen. I pray that someday you will be comforted by the memories of a good man. Wally is still with you, and always will be.
Amy,
I’ll join my voice with all of the others here: thanks for taking the time to let us know what’s on. I know you must miss your dad tremendously right now; I hope the funeral helped you say goodbye to the father you loved, and who clearly loved you.
jti asked:
The same thought has been in the minds of a number of us. We’d like to do something tangible to honor our friend. If your family could name a charity that would be appropriate for donations in Wally’s name to be given to, it would mean a lot to us if you would share that with us.
Our thoughts and our prayers are with you.
Eve had asked about Wally’s business in another thread, expressing a desire to know more about what he did. The above quote inspired me to go back to our ICQ history and pull out some things Wally had to say about his work and employees. He absolutely loved his work and loved even more to talk about it. I wasn’t quite sure where to post this, but I figure that here, it will be more likely to be seen since the other thread has sunk to the 2nd page by now. And perhaps Amy might like to see this, and this would be the most likely thread where she would. I hope the following excerpts bring some comfort to all those who are mourning.
**WallyM7 6/12/00 7:22 PM ** Hon, I just looked at the clock and I see that’s time for me to go back to the shop. I’m baking new insulation into the motor I mentioned and I have to shut off the oven or the stuff will carbonize. That’s a bad thing. I’ll be back in 45 minutes, and if you’re still on, we can talk some more.
**WallyM7 6/12/00 8:49 PM ** Hi. I guess we got home at about the same time.
**Shayna 6/12/00 8:50 PM ** I’m still at work. We’re having problems transferring my data files for Quickbooks over to the new computer. How did your engine thingy turn out?
**WallyM7 6/12/00 8:51 PM ** I think it went okay. I’ll test the motor tomorrow and if it’s okay, I’ll install it in the afternoon.
I hope they pay you for this overtime
**Shayna 6/12/00 8:52 PM ** Nope. I’m on salary. But he makes it up to me in other ways. Pays for all my car repair, gas, routine maintenance, etc.
**WallyM7 6/12/00 8:55 PM ** That’s good. I pay my guys time and a half after 40 hours and double for Sundays. Plus, I give them a bonus from time to time. There’s only two of them, but I love these guys. They’ll do anything for me. People like that are almost impossible to find. I pay them about 20% above the industry standard and they are worth every penny.
**WallyM7 06/12/20 9:42 PM ** I was out of town all day. One of my customers had a faulty motor that was still under warranty, but the time frame for repairs was too long, so he cried the blues and I bailed him out. It voids the rest of the warranty, but the guy was desparate. I couldn't say no, even though I hated doing it. It's a $35,000 motor. I'm sure it'll be fine, but still...
**WallyM7 06/12/20 10:22 PM ** I did two small service calls in the morning, one was a proximity switch replacement, and another was a limit switch repair. Then I got a call from the cry baby. I tested the motor, found that the winding and carbon brushes were out to lunch, and arranged for a truck to take it to my shop. There, we rewound it, replaced the brushes and the tach conrol and insulated it. Then we put it in the oven. Tomorrow we’ll assemble and install.
**Shayna 06/12/20 10:24 PM ** That’s sure a heck of a lot more exciting than my day went!
I still have no idea exactly what you do. Something technical and it involves motors. LOL
**WallyM7 06/12/20 10:32 PM ** These machines make plastic bottles, mostly cosmetic and pharmaceutical. Oh since you’re wondering, motors is a small part of my business. Primarily, we install, repair and rebuild plastic blow moulding machinery. These machines produce plastic bottles, mostly for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It is very technical, as you guessed I’ve had the business for 22 years. You would not believe the heartbreak and sacrifices for the first 6 years. But the business is doing very well now. I was hardly missed when I was recuperating.
**Shayna 06/12/20 10:36 PM ** Yes I would believe the heartbreak and work you put into it. I give you so so so much credit for the toil and sacrifice it must have taken to build what you have built. Congratulations to you for that. You deserve to be enjoying the fruits of your labor.
And I don’t think what you do sounds boring at all. I know a little about it. I used to be a buyer for a furniture manufacturer and I was responsible for buying aluminum extrusions. I had to work with engineers to make samples to spec, etc. I think it’s really fascinating. And very cool that you do that!
**WallyM7 06/12/20 10:42 PM ** I can’t believe I’ve found a girl interested in my work. It’s a miracle! I promise to keep it to a minimum. Even my friends, some whom I’ve known since high school, start hitting each other if one of them accidently brings up the subject. Especially Dennis the Cop, who goes ballistic over anything technical.
**Shayna 06/12/20 10:45 PM ** LOL - you can talk about it all you want, hon.
**Shayna 06/13/20 8:00 PM ** Hi honey. How are you tonight?
**WallyM7 06/13/20 8:00 PM ** I'm fine. Had a weird day, though
**Shayna 06/13/20 8:01 PM ** You did? How come? What was weird about it?
**WallyM7 06/13/20 8:04 PM ** The motor we repaired is made in Germany, so when we plugged in, it decided to go schpitzenshparken and popencorken. The guys installed one of the carbon brushes upside down. So we had to take it apart and do it again
**Shayna 06/13/20 8:05 PM ** Ok, it's not funny, but the way you tell it... LMAO
I'm sorry that happened though. Was that it? That's what made it a weird day?
**WallyM7 06/13/20 8:06 PM ** I took a real strip out of those guys. I said. "you fucking morons! You're imbiciles! Did you serve an apprenticeship in Stupidity? Putzes!"
**Shayna 06/13/20 8:07 PM ** Yowza! That really WAS a bad day for you, hon. You love those guys. Are you still having headaches? I wish I could give you a hug right now.
**WallyM7 06/13/20 8:07 PM ** I did the exact same thing less than a month ago. They wouldn't let me forget it for days. I would never, ever talk like that to them for real. Ever.
**Shayna 06/13/20 8:10 PM ** Whew! You had me worried there for a minute. LOL
**WallyM7 6/15/00 4:52 PM ** How’s my honey?
**Shayna 6/15/00 4:53 PM ** Hi sweetheart. Give me a few, I’m wrapping up something for my boss. In the meantime, you can tell me how your day was today.
**WallyM7 6/15/00 5:01 PM ** Today was a walk in the park. Everything went the way it was supposed to. We don’t get many like that. It’s usually periods of routine punctuated by moments of panic. Just like your job, I’ll bet.
My customers are in a production environment, and when a machine goes down, they want it fixed. Now. Most of the time the diagnosis takes longer than the repair, but they don’t see that. They just see you thinking, and they wonder why the hell you haven’t started working on the problem.
Because I don’t know what the problem is yet, yo-yo! Leave me alone and let me think!
But today was a good day.
Oh, how I wish the last one had been. :(
Amy, I am so glad to know that your dad's employees offered to buy the business. You and Steve are making the right decision. Clearly he thought the world of them and would be thrilled to see them carry it on.
My heart is with you during this difficult time.
Love,
Shayna