Psalm 145:4 – One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.
For the summer months, I’d like to begin a series of reflections on notable people in our lives, community, and country who have contributed to the making of this great nation. As we celebrate 250 years, I’d like to look at the lives of unsung heroes and ordinary people who really were not ordinary at all! Some names, you’ll recognize from history books, but many names we will be meeting together for the first time. If you have a name to share, please email me with your suggestion and their story. In the meantime, please enjoy with me today the incredible life of Clyde Guffey Wright.
Clyde was born at the turn of the last century in 1900, and he almost lived to the turn of the next century! He passed in 1995 with the gift of a sound mind and amazing health until close to the end. What I remember most about my grandad was his positivity and joy of living. He loved conversation and meeting people. As a child, in extended visits to their home, it seemed that Grandad conversed with people wherever we went and seemed to know everyone.
Clyde’s start in life was not so easy. His mother died within days of birthing the youngest of three children. Clyde’s father remarried, but tragically died after succumbing to typhoid from contaminated drinking water. At age 13, Clyde quit school to support his step-mother and two younger siblings. He became breadwinner and father figure while he himself was barely a teen. As he got older, Clyde received a GED (or its equivalent in that time period) and took business classes at the University of Pittsburgh.
To me, among many other attributes, Clyde’s legacy to his family was his lack of bitterness at being handed such loss and responsibility at such a young age. He could have railed against God for permitting such loss, but instead clung to faith as he supported the family. I cannot begin to imagine the weight of financially carrying a household while so young.
Hired by Potomac Edison in his youth, Clyde moved up the ranks his entire career and retired in 1962. He and his wife Pearl had three sons and were active in church and community their whole lives.
Dear Lord, I thank you for the gift of a grandfather who knew how to live life with joy, even in the face of grief and loss. I thank you for his life-long faith – and for his laughter and joyful banter, which I can still hear in my mind to this day. As our focus verse states, may we share the legacy of our forebears, and in their sharing find hope and inspiration in You.
Blessings to all!
Diana
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