Grandpa Horlacher

My sweet Grandpa Horlacher passed away Friday afternoon. He has suffered from Alzheimers for the last several years, so while his passing is very sad, I am so happy that he is now reunited with Grandma. I am sure that the reunion in heaven was extra sweet after 6 years apart. How grateful for the knowledge I have of eternal families.

It was Grandpa's involvement in the St George marathon that made me so set on running that marathon.  I am so happy I was able to achieve this goal and have him at the finish line. I even ran by a lady during the marathon that knew Grandpa and had so many wonderful things to say about him. That is something that has always made me so proud to be Bob Horlacher's granddaughter, everyone who knew him loved and respected him.

 

 

Every time I saw Grandpa, I was greeted with a hug and a kiss. I remember him often holding my hand as we hiked, walked, or sat and visited. Even though he had 25 grandkids, he always made time for each of us. He always had a kind word to share, and was very interested in our daily lives. I loved hiking the red hills with grandpa and the rest of the Horlachers.

I believe Grandpa was the one taking the above picture.

One of my favorite memories is when Jordan and stayed with G&G for a few days when I was about 6. One day Grandma packed us up a lunch and we had a park day. Grandpa took us to about every park he could find, we would play for a bit and then move onto the next. I think we hit every park in Washington county that day! (There were a lot less parks in St George back then.) Grandpa always had the best bed time stories ever. The stories usually involved children (with the same names as those he was putting to bed) having awesome adventures. My favorite stories were about adventures in the forest, with hidden slides going to neat underground playgrounds. 

 Grandpa always had a song to sing while we hiked along. One of my favorites is Mister Mister Johnny Rebeck. That will most definitely be a song I will teach my kids one day. Also, it is from Grandpa that I learned that pine trees will have either a chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla smell. He always encouraged us to smell the trees as we went along. 

I am so blessed to be a member of Bob Horlacher's family. I know that he is watching over all of us and as my aunt Trish mentioned, he probably went for a nice morning run before getting to work on the other side.

I love you Grandpa-pa. Thank you for being such a wonderful example to me. I hope to have a heart like yours always.

p.s. After Grandma passed away, there seemed to be a wedding boom for Horlacher grandchildren. I am wondering now that Grandpa has passed, if there will be a great-grandchild boom. :)

p.s.s No, this is not any sort of announcement or pre- announcement.