Artie McNary

In Sunday school today, we were charged to name someone in our lives who had influenced us by living as Christ wants us to live. I thought and thought about the saintly Christian people in my life whom I have always admired, but the one name that kept coming back to me was Artie McNary, my former father-in-law. *Artie was a little man with a flat-top haircut. He was a farmer on a 40-acre farm near Greencastle, IN, and an employee of IBM there for many years. He was a tool-and-die maker. In retirement, he had a little lawn mower repair business. People trusted him. *Artie wasn't book-smart. He probably read at a 2nd grade reading level, but there was nothing dumb about him. In old age, when he was undergoing radiation treatments for prostate cancer one winter, he started reading Louis L'Amour westerns, just to keep his mind busy. I think he had every book L'Amour ever wrote and used IBM cards to keep his place, making notes on the cards to keep the characters straight. *When it came to mechanical problems, his son and I were careful not to present too many concerns to him because Artie would keep himself awake nights just figuring out how to fix whatever was wrong. He would worry and worry about something until he finally had an answer, and his answer was most always a good one. *Artie was no saint. He didn't smoke; he didn't drink. Still, he was a character. He had opinions, but never foisted them on anyone other than himself. If he was wrong about something, he admitted it. And he was honest. Maybe TOO honest. He was known in all of the Greencastle area as someone who took care of his things and was meticulous about his relationships with others. I liken him to the image of Honest Abe Lincoln. If Artie owed you a nickel, he would go way out of his way to make sure you got it. He was well-respected in the Greencastle area...and in mine. *It's pretty hard to characterize someone like Artie and his wife. I'm not sure that Artie ever went to church, but he certainly embodied the things that Christ wants us to do. *My special memories of Artie mean a lot to me. On one occasion, as we were walking up the hill to his house, he thanked me for making it easy for he and Helen (his wife) to see their grandchildren (Joe's kids) without divorce jealousies. That was so meaningful, largely because my own husband had never thanked me for the efforts I made for his children. Another time, Artie and Helen were watching our daughter at my house in Plainfield so I could be in IL with my ill father...and suddenly a new cabinet door appeared. The door had been absent when I bought the house. I had no idea how to find someone to replace it, but Artie did. It took a huge responsibility off my shoulders. *But here is the kicker: When my mother died suddenly in 1986, (long story) Artie and Helen drove from Greencastle, IN, to Streator, IL, just for the funeral. They really didn't know my mother, and wouldn't stay for the bereavement dinner, but when I turned away from my mother's grave under the tent, there was Artie, tears streaming down his face, giving me a hug that spoke worlds to me. I will never, ever, forget that moment. *Artie passed from this world in 1994, just a few months after my father did, and my stepchildren's maternal grandfather. All three of the McNary children lost their grandfathers in the same year. I missed my father, of course, but I was shocked at how much I missed Artie. This plucky little guy had made a huge different in my life. I miss him to this day.