A father's advice
by Temple A. Stark

Though some parents say their kids never listen to them, that's rarely the case.

It can be refreshing to mothers and fathers to realize one day that, though it seemed like their children were doing their best to ignore them, they were paying attention to their words of wisdom.

Fathers have a reputation, deserved or not, for sternness and limiting their interaction with their sons and daughters. But what they do say has an impact and is often taken to heart. As examples below attest, they can also literally shape lives.

Horace Townsend
Father of Barbara Meyer, retired tax consultant, red cross volunteer and more.
"You can do it, you can do anything." her father told her.
"That was long before women had any prominent places in careers," Meyer says. "He did very much respect women and their abilities as much as men. My father gave me patriotism, financial savvy, love and family unity."
Meyer carried that independence and savvy into a successful tax service business. She developed her patriotism into an honor and respect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and started the area's FDR Days events.
Townsend was a World War I veteran who had to quit college because his father, a farmer, would not pay for the tuition.

Vern Huffman
Father of Carolyn Regruto. Regruto has a number of jobs, including Star newspaper driver, caregiver, and part owner of R&H Janitorial Service.
"When you go to work, get there five minutes ahead of time so you don't have to rush," she says. "And it did work. Sometimes, if Scott (Hunter, publisher and editor of The Star) doesn't fill up the truck I have to get gas. I need that extra time."

Adam Benner
Father of Darrel Benner, retired high school business teacher.
"If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right the first time."
Adam Benner was a general contractor. Darrel says that if his father got things wrong, it cost him money.
"It's something I've carried on through my life and in my career," the younger Benner says.

Alan Day
Father of Jeremy Day, 1998 Lake Roosevelt High School Valedictorian.
"No one likes a lazy person. Hard work will get you wherever you want to go."
Jeremy said he definitely took that to heart in the classroom, on the basketball court and continues to do so at college where he's just survived his first year.