A Man Like Henry Westbrook

You may wonder why I have a picture of a Royal Coach Charter Bus on my blog. Below is the story of the man who owned this bus and a few other buses that were used for many a wonderful trip. That man is Henry Westbrook.

I tried to find a picture of Henry Westbrook and I could not find one. But, you don't need to see a photo of him to know the person he was. Let me go back to Monday afternoon to first let you know why I am writing about our friend Henry.

Henry owned a piece of land that he was trying to clear by working to have many of the trees cut down. Henry was not the kind of person who would stand by and watch as others were working. No, Henry was right in there doing what he could to help. Monday afternoon was no different than any other Monday afternoon--Henry, with his big heart, was working right along side those who were cutting down a tree. The chain was already wrapped around the tree, a worker's chain saw had gotten stuck in the tree, and Henry was on the bulldozer. A heart like Henry's doesn't let somebody lose their chain saw. The tree had to be loosened to make way for the chain saw to be released. But, Heavenly Father had a different plan; as someone said this evening to us "Heavenly Father just plucked Henry right off this earth to go straight home".

You see, Henry saw the tree start to fall; he jumped off the bulldozer to get out of the way. The tree fell, not on the bulldozer; but it fell on Henry. And Monday afternoon, thousands of people lost a dear friend.

Eric went to the hospital as soon as he was called. Eventually there were over 100 people at the ER, people that Henry's wife Margaret didn't even know.

This evening we went to the funeral home to pay our respects. Henry and Margaret lived in a little town called Buna. It's a cute, country town where folks know folks. For such a small town, for a guy that was just "one of the folks" how were there so many cars and trucks parked by the funeral home, by the road, in other parking lots? Who were all these people lined up to go into the funeral home to pay their respects? These were the "folks" that loved Henry. These were the "folks" that knew Henry was their friend. These were the "folks" that knew if anybody needed help, Henry would be the first one in line.

I lost count of how many flower pieces there were in the funeral home for Henry. I stopped figuring out the number when I hit 100, and these 100 were from all over the United States, including so many from those who lived within miles from Henry's house. While we were talking to Margaret (Henry's wife), she told us that most of the flower arrangements were made by their granddaughter who owns a flower shop by the funeral home. Eric said to her "That must have been hard for her knowing they were for her grandpa who had died." And Margaret's answer to that was "No, she did it out of love. It was one last thing she could do for a grandpa that she loved so much".

A woman came up from behind us and started talking to Margaret. Later, Margaret told us that she didn't know the woman; but, she knew Henry because of the bus and truck business he had. She loved Henry..so much so, that she drove from Mississippi to pay her respects and to show her love.

We are asked by the Savior to be "even as I am". The Savior said, "Come follow me". He showed his love through serving others, some small things, some great and mighty things. The Savior was humble, caring, and the one who sacrificed for all.

Henry followed what the Savior said and tried with every ounce of his being to be "even as He was".He loved, he cared, he served, and he sacrificed. Henry was the Bishop of the Buna Ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). Being a Bishop is the same as being a minister who has a congregation. And, Henry served his ward with honor, respect, love, and endless hours of service.

Tomorrow they are planning for 700 people to be there for the funeral. In fact, they had to find a bigger church building that would hold 700 or more people. The bigger building is needed because of the biggest heart of someone you will ever know.

I know that I need to be "even as my Savior". But, I know that if I can be "even as our dear friend Henry Westbrook", that I will be very close to being as my Savior.

Henry, 'til we meet again. We love you and will miss you.