CRAIG DOSCH MEMORIAL SERVICE
January 28, 2006
I am deeply honored to stand here today. I thank you all for being here to memorialize our lost friend, Craig Dosch and support his wonderful family.
I am John, from Twain Harte, California. I am a husband, a father, a soldier, a surgeon, a neighbor. Specifically, I was privileged to be Craig and Nola's neighbor.
Life is a path. Like the yellow brick road. You walk innocently down it and people and things and events and disease and war and economics come into that path. Good and bad things appear. On my path, and on yours, a person entered: his name is Craig Dosch. He might have, as he did with his wife and daughters, his mom and dad, have walked many miles with you, or as it was with me, just several hundred yards. But he entered my life, with great sustenance... as he entered yours on your journey. He mattered to all of us.
I must tell you... when Craig obviously was dying, I was mad and upset. I had visualized days on the boat, fishing New Melones Reservoir for Kokanee Trout, and dawns breaking over the Delta with Craig and me on my boat, the Intrepid, hunting for King Salmon. I imagined dinners out, snowmobiles, good bourbon, and blowing leaves from decks: but it was not to be and I was selfish and mad and even ranted... in privacy... that this very special person was being taken from me. I thought of me, not of him, nor of his eternal life. I was being normal... because, I knew, like you know, that it will never be the same.
Let me tell you how it happened, so you can fully understand the beauty of this person, Craig Dosch. On a gorgeous April day last year, Craig arrived at my front porch (we live next door) and said, "I have good news and bad news". I said, "Give me the good news first.." and he replied, " We have decided to retire and live up here." I was ecstatic. Then he said, "The bad news is that I have colon cancer." I shuddered, knowing what I know as a surgeon who spent a lifetime in mortal combat with this disease... and we went into my study, the place where I feel safe... with the certificates, diplomas and war medals... and we talked our hearts out. Craig said, "I am going to battle this and fight it." And I was in his corner... all the way as were all of you.
Have your ever wandered the fields of Arlington National Cemetery? Have you seen the names of Admiral Richard Byrd, or President John Kennedy or the Tomb of The Unknown Soldiers from WW I and WW II? Row after row of white headstones as far as you can see; almost un-ending... graves... Our mortality is certain, but how we face it will make the difference.
There is line from Shakespeare's Macbeth, written in 1606: "Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it."
What does this mean? It means... courage in adversity. It is Craig Dosch facing certain death with confidence and faith in his eternal life. It was absolute bravery.
Back in college, my Religion I Professor, Fred Berthold, now in his 90s, first told me this: "If you believe there is no God... you are betting wrong... you will be making a bet, that will cost you eternity." I was just a kid, barely able to shave, much less worry about eternity... but I never forgot those words, and my life, like Craig's has been blessed and at the end, I believe there will be more.
For Craig Dosch, it was an easy fit and we discussed this concept while planting bare-root apple trees two years ago. He asked, "John, do you think we will get to see apples?" I replied, "Craig, I am 70 and on borrowed time... these trees take seven years and neither you or I know what will happen in between."
"Nothing in his life became him like his leaving of it". Craig Dosch exemplified this in his earthly life, taking on the suffering, the difficult, and in the end, the impossible battle, but he had the Faith and was unafraid.
To how many people facing death in a week could you send this telegram: "Craig: We love you. Be brave. Check out the good fishing spots for me. I will be coming along, soon. Love John." He loved it.
"What do you Stand For?" is the title of a book by my friend, author James Lichtman... 100 individual stories written by the likes of Arnold Palmer, the Dalai Lama, Coach Sparky Anderson and ordinary people like myself... the message is: What you stand for is the mark of your life.
Craig Dosch stood for truth, honesty, fidelity, and faith.
Craig died about 8 PM on Christmas Day. Three hours later, Twain Harte experienced one of the most intense and spectacular lightning and thunderstorms ever seen over the last twenty years. There was no time between the brilliant flash and the boom... I woke up, turned to Jeannie, and said, "Craig is letting us know that he is Home and all is well."
In the words of Psalm 23: "Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord... forever."
Amen
And Amen to a wonderful man, a gorgeous person, a gracious employer, a faithful husband and a caring Father. We shall miss you, deeply, Craig Dosch. We love you and will try to spend our days in honor of your life.