THE WORLD’S GREATEST DAD

THE WORLD’S GREATEST DAD

George Patrick Deering  September 25, 1931-June 26, 2023

One of my most cherished memories of my dad is from when I was in high school.  I was a sophomore and I was busy.  We had a work experience program whereby I could get out of school at noon and go to my job until 5:30 pm and get credit for it and get paid.  I worked after school Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday at a travel agency.

I was a cheerleader and that came with attending games at night and practice after work.  I was also on the gymnastic team and we had evening training and meets.  And, of course, there was homework to keep up the straight “A” report card.  All this just to reiterate that I was very busy.

When I was in high school there was no Internet or online shopping or FedEx.  Stores were not open on Sundays or in the evenings.  So, when I was invited to the semi-formal homecoming dance,  I did not have time to shop for a dress and I didn’t own anything appropriate to wear.

A couple nights before the dance my dad said he had something for me.  He had gone shopping all on his own and bought me a glittery gold homecoming dress.  It fit perfectly, I loved it, and proudly wore it to the dance!

I don’t know how my dad found the time to get me that dress, but he did.  I am the oldest of six kids and we are all about one year apart.  He had a demanding sales job, five other children with hectic schedules, a wife, and one car.  My dad’s actions let me know early on that he was never too busy for his family.

And just one more example of my dad never being too busy.  I grew up in Michigan and I loved to ice skate.  I thought I was going to be the next Peggy Fleming.  (If you’re young and don’t know who she was, she was the 1968 Olympic Gold medalist in Figure Skating.)  My dad built us an ice-skating rink in our back yard and I would skate before school every morning in the winter and then the entire neighborhood played hockey after school.  Every night my father was out in the frigid weather fighting with the frozen hose to flood our rink.  He never complained.  Not ever.

When I was 18, my dad got a promotion to San Francisco, California to the world headquarters for Hills Bros Coffee.  He was the youngest person in the company’s history to get such a promotion.   It was a big deal.  The whole family packed up and moved to sunny California – expect me.  I was already married and I had just been made the manager of the travel agency where I started working at age 16.

A few months after my family moved, my dad called me with an idea.  He said that since you are the manager of a travel agency in Michigan, why couldn’t you be the manager of a travel agency in California?  You and I could be partners and we could open our own travel agency and you and Patty could train your mother.  (My sister Patty had worked with me at the agency in Michigan and she was working at a travel agency where she was attending college.)  Why not indeed!?

My dad and I scraped together all the money we could conjure up and opened Sonoma Travel Service in 1974.  I was 19 years old.  My dad believed in me.  He trusted me.  He taught me that anything is possible and instilled a confidence in me that would serve me throughout my entire career.  I am proud that Sonoma Travel is still in business today when very few travel agencies are still in existence.

Sonoma Travel opened doors for our entire family to see the world, but more importantly it was the vehicle that blessedly enabled us all to be together on our yearly family get-together trips that my dad put together.  Family and being together were always the most important components of my dad’s life.  (Oh, and golf, of course!)

My dad loved children.   I never gave birth to any of my own kids, but all the children that came into my life through marriage were welcomed and loved by my parents as if they were their own blood and the same was true for my siblings.  Our family is like a mini United Nations.  It’s as though we have representation from all the countries in the world that we traveled to.  Our immediate family members total almost 80.

Below there is a very recent picture of my dad with great granddaughter, Beauie, and me with him on a walk in Europe.

At my dad’s 90th birthday party one of his golf buddies said that he never heard Pat Deering say a bad word about anyone.  I realized that was true.  In my entire life I never did hear my father say a bad thing about anyone.  What an example!  What a man – kind, caring, loving, compassionate, generous, and forgiving.  Through just a few snippets I believe you can understand why I say that I have the world’s greatest dad.  I don’t say “had” because I believe he is still with me and I can still continue to learn from him.  Thank you Dad for everything, including my naturally curly hair!