Robert Lee Tedder

In Honor of Robert Lee Tedder February 16, 1939 - March 27, 2023 by Corinne Guilmain, 4/3/23 He was born in 1939 when average prices were . . . $3,800.00 Cost of new house $1,730.00 Annual wage $ 700.00 Price for a new car $ 28.00 Monthly rent $ 16.00 Toaster $ .25 4 cans of Campbell Soup Tomato Soup $ .23 Sharp Wisconsin Cheese per pound $ .19 Mixed nuts per pound $ .16 Dozen of hot cross buns $ .14 One pound of hamburger $ .10 Gallon of gas $ .08 Loaf of bread $ .04 Fresh peas per pound $ .03 Cabbage per pound His school years are defined by . . . Mock air raids and D-Day One-room school houses and chalkboards Radio broadcasts and the decade of the TV Segregation and violence Patriotism and the American Flag Polio and the White Plague (Tuberculosis) ******** He grew up on a farm where he learned about hard work. He learned about values, integrity, and virtue, too. His mother read the bible to him and taught him everything he knew. Once he left home, his mother’s bible would be waiting for him. Waiting for him to draw closer to God than ever before. He joined the Navy and the world had him now. There was pain and suffering and all that his heart could bear. There were marriages and children and all life has to offer. He was a man with a dream of hot rods and drag racing, too. There’s something about the world that shows the emptiness inside us Whenever I visited, he always expressed his love for the bible. He came to know the real meaning of God’s word. He never failed to mention his mother’s bible with all her highlights and comments therein. Whenever he opened it, he drew closer to God than ever before. He was fighting the good fight. He was a tough man. He had a tough body, a tough personality, and a tough desire to live. He was brass and outspoken and didn’t care what anybody thought about him. I saw a man who fought in a war and a man who was fighting his own war. A man that every highlight and comment in his mother’s bible meant the world to him. For some of us, dying means nothing but to Robert it meant he needed to draw closer to God. He spoke about it frequently. There were times when he worried about dying like I think we’re all going to do. We talked about God in our personal problems and shortcomings, about responsibility, and facing health challenges, about God and what heaven would be like. I saw a man faithfully fighting for life against all odds . . . a courageous man counting on God to be there for him. He wanted to be in the perfect place at the right time. When he was approved for transfer to a new facility he finally whispered in his daughter’s ear, “This place is more beautiful than I ever imagined it to be.” And all the people said, Amen.

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