A Living Eulogy

by the family and friends of

Harry Leroy Mobley, Sr.
10/12/1932- 9/30/2010

(this is an open post and comments and memories will be accepted and added)


On the morning of Thursday, September 30th, 2010, Harry L. Mobley, Sr. passed away in the loving care of his wife after a lengthy and brave battle with cancer.

He died at his home of 46 years, 2395 Brown Lane, in Florissant, Missouri. This was made possible through the BJC Hospice program.

He had waived all medical treatment, and decided to finish his days being with people he loved and doing those of  his favorite things of which he was still capable; which included watching old westerns on TV,  playing games like Yahtzee at the table with Mom, and his usual wisecracks.

If he was in pain, he never let it show, and handled the end of his life the same way that he lived - at his own speed and on his own terms. After making sure that his final accomodations were set up and that his family was prepared, he simply stopped breathing.

His final words were, " I had almost forgotten. Life is so simple."
______________

Harry was born to Hugh Lafayette Mobley, and Zella Marie Myers Mobley Kurtz in their home in Greenwood , Mississippi on the bank of the Yazoo River.

After graduating Greenwood High School in 1952, he joined the US Army and served in a Signal Battalion from 1954 to 1956.

He worked for WABG Radio, Supreme Electronics, and Greenwood Utilities before moving his family to Florissant in 1963 and going to work for McDonnell Aircraft (now Boeing). He retired in 1995 after 33 years.

Harry loved spending time with his family, attending church, going to bluegrass music festivals, and trips to the beach.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sarah Katherine Lee Mobley, and his children; Harry Jr., and Terry of Alton, Illinois, Gary Keith of Florissant, Kathy Lynn Mobley of Kirksville, Missouri, and Leslie Karen Mobley, of Shalimar, Florida.

He also leaves his eight grandchildren;  Paul, David, Mark, Doris, Michael, Sarah, Shane and Jonah; and two great-grandchildren, Olivia, and Kaiden. 
His only two siblings preceded him in death. They were Freda Rutledge, and Jesse Mobley. 

As he wished, there were no services, and his body was cremated, and his remains are now at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetary in St. Louis, Missouri.

We, as his family, chose to wait and make the announcement until after we could gather and spend time together in remembrance.

There need be no sadness or grieving. We all just feel extremely lucky to have him as a part of our lives for as long as we did.



__________________

(comments below)

10 comments:

  1. " I had almost forgotten. Life is so simple."

    Those are good words to live by. Blessed be, Harry :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aunt Katherine, Harry, Terry, Keith Lynn and Leslie. I am so sorry, for all of you and all who knew Uncle Harry, I have nothing but fond memories of him. I lost my first husband and both parents, and can only say that the hurt changes and becomes easier to bear and a warm loving memory always remains. I hope you know how much love and prayer is sent your way.
    Love,
    Debi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear, Sweet Family,

    My heart breaks at this news as I fondly remember sweet "Brother" Mobley and his wonderfully, silly sense of humor. What a sweet man full of love and joy for his family and friends. The world will not be the same without his sweet face to smile back at us!! :) Love to you all!

    Karen (Moore)Shipley

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elaine - we were blessed.. very much. thanks :)

    Cuz Debi - Dad lost a kidney to cancer and almost died about 10 years ago, but he beat it... and then it came back with a vengeance, and was in the other kidney and spreading. The medications used in his treatment gave him congestive heart failure, and we almost lost him several months back...

    He decided to stop all treatment, and let nature take it's course, and he actually did better for a long time, though lately he had started getting weaker. He even wanted to get out and walk down the road to the mailbox.

    The doctors had warned that things would be getting very bad, and the best thing would be for him to go in his sleep early on, before that time came.

    He wasn't afraid of death in the least.. and told mom he was looking forward to it.

    The last couple of days his body started to shut down, and after he spoke his last, he started fading, and mom spent most of that time
    sitting with him, holding his hand and talking to him. He would occasionally squeeze her hand
    at first, and then that stopped.
    ..
    She said that he was laying with the most pleasant look on his face.. his eyes closed, but eyebrows rising and falling .. like he was dreaming or looking at something.

    She told him that we were all okay, and everything was taken care of and that there was nothing left that he needed to do, and she released him.

    She speaks of it as a very beautiful thing.

    Karen- yep.. he was wonderfully weird. We'll definitely miss that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just found out the sad news from my mom. I'm so sorry for your loss, but I'm grateful that his suffering is over. I feel a loss as well, because of many childhood memories of Harry Sr.

    The Mobley family was like an extension of the Ryder family. We went to various church activities together, celebrated some holidays together at the Mobley home (4th of July comes to mind the most), went to firework shows together, and we kids hung out with the Mobley kids constantly.

    Harry Sr. was almost always at the center of things. Not only was he a very kind, good man, but he was really funny as well. I remember being in a car with him and his kids one time, and randomly (out of the blue) he blurted out, "Smell that Polecat, Harry(with his Mississippi accent)?". He was talking to his son, Harry (whom he usually referred to as, Bubba). It was just one of those moments that cracked us up.

    I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Harry Sr. for many years (he lived in St. Louis and I live in Utah now), but I feel this loss almost as keenly as if I'd seen him just yesterday. He (and the entire Mobley family) will always be a very vivid, happy part of my childhood memories.

    My love and prayers are with all of you.

    Love,
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Harry,

    I knew so little about you, however, one thing I did learn is that you were a wonderful man and father. Thank you so much for giving everyone who knew you the gift of sincere honesty, loyalty, and most importantly, love. Not only a gift from you, but also from your amazing daughter, Leslie. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. thank you all for remembering dad for the wonderful man that he was.He will be greatly missed. kathy lynn

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful. Love, Karen lee smith

    ReplyDelete
  9. from Lynn on Father's Day 2011 : "this is my dad. those that knew him would know that he was a special man. he was sweet, quiet, hard working, always well-groomed. he never raised his voice(except for maybe once or twice, probably because of keith or leslie) he had a great sense of humor. he and mom always made sure we had everything we needed, plus some. we always ...took vacations, had family outings....alot of good memories. we lost dad on sept 30 of this year after a long battle with cancer. dad never complained about pain...never asked for help...he just bravely dealt with it with my wonderful mother by his side.(mom, you took such good care of him) i told him i loved him every day, so...i love you dad. happy fathers day! miss you"

    ReplyDelete
  10. happy fathers day paw paw. we miss you. cant wait to see you again..

    ReplyDelete