GRANDPA HOYING

herman joseph hoying
march 14 1914 - nov 10 2005

my grandpa just passed away at the age of 91, on what happened to be my 22nd birthday. its difficult that he left us on my birthday, because thats one day that i always find myself thinking of him. on probably my 16th birthday, i was sent a card by grandpa hoying that ive kept to this day because of the simple message that he wrote on the inside, "paint me a picture." the fact that he took the time to hand write that simple request, in his shaky, imperfect, wonderful grandpa hoying handwritting, made a big impact on me. a few years later i did a portrait of my grandpa that hung proudly by his sofa. it wasnt great, but it won a first prize ribbon at the mercer county fair, and most importantly, my grandpa liked it. there are 53 of us that were lucky enough to call him grandpa, and he always found a way to make each one of us feel special. i hope that the portrait that i did, however simple, made him feel special too. im really going to miss him.