Andrew,sorry for your lost your ndad was a great man.I enjoyed knowning him. please contact me @281-948-7148 or edwardcarranco@att.net

Our conndolences to the Hernadez and Leal families...

Daniel and Rebecca Valdemar

Eulogy for Grandpa

I started thinking this up shortly after we found out about Grandpa's illness, so I could think straight and word this in a way that would truly honor my Grandfather.  I'm going to start this with a definition.  The word is ubermensch.  I'm sure that some people here have heard the word "uber" before another word, like this was uber-hard, or that was uber-fun.  Uber means something more than "super," or something even beyond "ultra."   Uber comes from ubermensch, a German word.  An ubermensch is a person with great powers and abilities; a superman.  Grandpa was my ubermensch.
  
I'm sure that some folks here might think I would be a shrink's dream: an only child, fatherless, growing up in the family where I was the middle child amongst my seven cousins (I'm in fourth place in this line).  But I feel pretty normal, and my life has not felt like a challenge because of these variables.  My family made that possible.  My cousins were more like siblings, I had enough time to myself at home to feel more like the baby of the family than a middle child who did not receive enough attention, and, most importantly, Grandpa felt like a father to me.  In many senses of the word other than the most literal, he was my father.  He raised me.  He provided for me by making sure I had enough food and clothes.  He taught me lots of random things.  He worried about me when I'd go out, and he tried to make sure that I surrounded myself with positive people as friends.
  
Grandpa had an approach to life that I always found admirable in different ways: like a Zen Buddhist, he viewed Heaven and hell as both being right here on Earth.  Then, like the Catholic he was, he'd turn around and take me to church with him for Sunday mass and light a prayer candle when someone was sick or was facing something big.  He worked for 80 straight years, from a child of 7 to the first time a tumor tried to slow him down at 87; he was devoted to his job, working long hours and coming straight home; sketching solutions to job-related problems on a napkin, talking them through while showing me.  When his first tumor was removed, he showed a resilience and zest for life that I knew would help him recover quickly.  And, like a true survivor, he recovered quickly.

Here are some of the things Grandpa taught me: how to use a jack to lift a car and how to check the car for fluids.  How to put furniture together.  How to play the harmonica.  How to have fun without drinking or smoking.  How to communicate with my husband in a way that would provide a solid foundation for a lifelong marriage.  How to be strong for my family.  How to be selfless and charitable.  And how to not take myself too seriously; to always make the most of life and health with humor.  I always knew when he was feeling better, because he'd start joking and punning.  Better yet, he'd pun on English words in Spanish.  Instead of singing "happy birthday," he sang me and many of the kids "sapo verde."  It takes a certain genius to pull that off, and only Grandpa could.

At the core of his being, he had the strength of love and devotion to his family, and an enthusiasm for life, learning, building, inventing, nature, and just about everything; an enthusiasm that is hard to for anyone else, including myself, to match.  These are some of the things that make up a superman.  All of these things, and many more, made Grandpa the wonderful man, the ubermensch, that he was.  I miss him very, very much.  But it's selfish of me to do so; I know better than to miss him.  I know better than to be sad, and eventually, my sadness will settle down and let my reverence for him completely take over again.  The world may have lost him, but Heaven has welcomed him back.  Now, in my prayers, I will ask God to say hello to both Grandpa and Grandma for me, and to let them know how happy I am that they are together again at Home.  I love you, Grandpa.  Thank you for everything.

I'm sorry for the loss of your love one. May the Good Lord bless all of you at this time of sorrow.

My condolences for your loss. He lived a long life and alone is a great gift from God. May God Bless the family at this time of sorrow.

We will always love you and miss you grandpa, thanks for all the memories, I will miss your awesome inventions that you would always come up with.

-your grandson, Andy

OBITUARIO

Andres C. Leal

11 febrero, 1920 – 20 abril, 2012

Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home & Forest Park Lawndale

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