My Aunt Sharee called this morning to let us know Grandpa was not doing so well. Tracy and I went and spent the morning at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we were given the opportunity to reflect on our life and what we had all become...... Its an amazing thing that we all start out our married life with pictures such as these. Young people wildly in love, not quite sure what the future has in store. Time tells all...more quickly then we would like to sometimes imagine. I couldn't help but think of the exciting things that lie ahead for us as we grow old together. I want to remember to enjoy each step of our lives together. Today as I sat holding Grandpas frail little hand I thought about the resurrection and the day when Grandma and Grandpa will be able to hold each other again. What an amazing gift that is.
These are all of my uncles and one aunt that managed to survive a childhood around eight crazy boys (My dad is on the top row directly in the middle)! All those boys are pretty dang awesome....they cook clean and do dishes. My Dad says "I am who I am because my dad taught me well."
For family home evening one year we decided to take Grandma and Grandpa out to get our pictures taken together. The kids still talk about it, they had a good time. Audrey Celeste is named after Grandma, Celeste Audrey.
On Fathers Day Grandpa was asked by the Arizona Republic if they could interview him. This is the article they published.
Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic::
Claude Woolgar kisses his father Clifford Woolgar's head during a family get-together at Clifford Woolgar's home.
One man's cancer won't darken his Father's Day:
The Arizona Republic;
Clifford Woolgar is dying. Cancer is spreading through his body, he's just about blind, and he tires easily.
If you ask him how he feels, he has a one-word answer for you. "Lousy."
Two months ago he was told he had, at most, six months to live.
But Woolgar, 83, will spend this day in his west Peoria mobile home as happy as a man can be.
Not because of his great accomplishments, although he helped defeat the Nazis in World War II.
Not because of all the money he made, because he didn't make all that much.
This is a great day for Clifford Woolgar because it is Father's Day.
"I am a father. It's what I did. It became who I am," Woolgar said. "I have been - I am - a lucky man."
Clifford is lucky because he loves his children. He is lucky because they love him back. But most of all, he is lucky because at the end of his life he knows for certain something he has always suspected.
Being a good father allows an ordinary man to have an extraordinary life.
When Clifford and Celeste Woolgar got married 60 years ago, they did not expect to have nine children.
Celeste said Clifford thought four children would be nice because he always thought Bing Crosby was a good guy and Bing Crosby had four kids at the time.
But after the fourth came a fifth and a sixth (finally a girl), and then a seventh, eighth and ninth.
The sheer number of children, especially the eight boys, challenged Clifford and Celeste because they decided to name each of them with a name that started with "C."
"When we had our first couple, we thought it would be cute," Clifford said. "By the time we got down to Claude, it became a problem."
As the children began to fill the Woolgar home near 57th Avenue and Indian School Road, Clifford made a conscious decision to be the best father he could be. To be active, involved and present.
Not every father made that decision in 1950, but Clifford, who spent his career as an accountant for Reynolds Metals, thought it best.
It was, in part, a reaction to his upbringing in Milwaukee. His parents loved him but were not deeply involved in his life.
"I was not going to be overbearing, but I was going to be there every day," Clifford said. "Camping, golfing, whatever."
While his intentions were good, Clifford was a complete novice when their first son was born 58 years ago.
"I'll never forget when I was left alone with him for the first time. I was scared, frightened," he said. "All this responsibility."
Dad was always available
Six of the Woolgar children live in the Valley. One lives in Prescott. Two are out of state.
Their ages range from 43 to 58, but they all - Cary, Craig, Curt, Clark, Chuck, Colleen, Chris, Carl and Claude - remain close to their father.
When they visit him now, they kneel down in front of his chair, getting just inches from his face so that he can see them.
When they speak of what they will miss the most about their father, their answers reflect Clifford's quiet nature and the fact that he was always available.
"I think I'll miss talking to him more than anything," Colleen said. "Just being able to talk to him."
Clark will miss being able to stop by the house to spend some time with his father.
"Him being around," Clark said. "He's a quiet man, but he can talk about anything."
When asked for his deepest regret as a father, Clifford had only one.
He wished he had been able to spend more time with each child alone.
He remembered a trip to the Grand Canyon with his oldest child, Cary, when the boy got his learner's permit allowing him to drive.
"I fully intended to do that with each of my kids, and I just couldn't. Celeste was home alone with all those babies," Clifford said.
"I began to realize that I was not going to be able to spend much time with them alone."
Clifford's children, who seem to all start crying when they speak of their father, understood.
"As a father, as a friend, the best," Cary said through tears. "He's the motor to our fishing boat. He spent hours rowing that thing so we could fish."
Colleen looked over at her father, who was sitting alone in his chair. It appeared he may have nodded off. But he hadn't.
"That's him - he sits there quietly unless you ask him something specifically," she said. "He's full of wisdom if you need any help."
Chris, 47, started choking up as soon as he started talking about his father.
"For him, as a dad, to keep a decent house and always have time to give you a hug and tell you what you did right and what you did wrong. I know how lucky we are."
Claude, 43, thinks it was more than good fortune.
"I was not lucky to be his son. I was blessed."
Not taking credit
With the end of his life near, Clifford Woolgar thinks he is the one who has been lucky or blessed.
When he asked his doctor a direct question about how much longer he had to live, he got a direct answer.
He immediately thought of his wife and children.
"I can't imagine getting news like that without them," Clifford said. "It's bad enough to get this news with them. Without them? I can't imagine."
Clifford is reluctant to take much credit for being a good father. He tries to deflect the credit to his nine children.
"What makes a good father? What makes a good father? Good children."
He does, reluctantly, offer one piece of advice on how to be a good father: marry a good mother.
"After 60 years of marriage, I think Celeste and I did a pretty good job," Clifford said.
"It's primary. You can't have a good relationship with your children without first having one with your wife. It's the first step."
Next generations
Clifford and Celeste have nine children, 24 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. And more are coming.
Clifford's influence can be felt in each generation.
"He made our jobs as fathers real easy," Cary, a father of three children, said. "We just had to watch him and do that. It was real simple."
At the end of a long conversation, Clifford looks around him. The walls are covered with pictures of his children and grandchildren. The walls are busy with drawings from great-grandchildren.
"Being a father meshes into your life. You can't separate anything. It becomes who you are. It's who I am right now. It's a special, special thing."
And now his grandchildren are raising their children with an emphasis on simply being there.
"I raised my kids exactly the way I was raised. Exactly," Clark, 52, said of his three sons.
"I was lucky to have that blueprint. And now my kids are raising their kids the same way. It all starts with him."
These are all of my uncles and one aunt that managed to survive a childhood around eight crazy boys (My dad is on the top row directly in the middle)! All those boys are pretty dang awesome....they cook clean and do dishes. My Dad says "I am who I am because my dad taught me well."
For family home evening one year we decided to take Grandma and Grandpa out to get our pictures taken together. The kids still talk about it, they had a good time. Audrey Celeste is named after Grandma, Celeste Audrey.
On Fathers Day Grandpa was asked by the Arizona Republic if they could interview him. This is the article they published.
Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic::
Claude Woolgar kisses his father Clifford Woolgar's head during a family get-together at Clifford Woolgar's home.
One man's cancer won't darken his Father's Day:
The Arizona Republic;
Clifford Woolgar is dying. Cancer is spreading through his body, he's just about blind, and he tires easily.
If you ask him how he feels, he has a one-word answer for you. "Lousy."
Two months ago he was told he had, at most, six months to live.
But Woolgar, 83, will spend this day in his west Peoria mobile home as happy as a man can be.
Not because of his great accomplishments, although he helped defeat the Nazis in World War II.
Not because of all the money he made, because he didn't make all that much.
This is a great day for Clifford Woolgar because it is Father's Day.
"I am a father. It's what I did. It became who I am," Woolgar said. "I have been - I am - a lucky man."
Clifford is lucky because he loves his children. He is lucky because they love him back. But most of all, he is lucky because at the end of his life he knows for certain something he has always suspected.
Being a good father allows an ordinary man to have an extraordinary life.
When Clifford and Celeste Woolgar got married 60 years ago, they did not expect to have nine children.
Celeste said Clifford thought four children would be nice because he always thought Bing Crosby was a good guy and Bing Crosby had four kids at the time.
But after the fourth came a fifth and a sixth (finally a girl), and then a seventh, eighth and ninth.
The sheer number of children, especially the eight boys, challenged Clifford and Celeste because they decided to name each of them with a name that started with "C."
"When we had our first couple, we thought it would be cute," Clifford said. "By the time we got down to Claude, it became a problem."
As the children began to fill the Woolgar home near 57th Avenue and Indian School Road, Clifford made a conscious decision to be the best father he could be. To be active, involved and present.
Not every father made that decision in 1950, but Clifford, who spent his career as an accountant for Reynolds Metals, thought it best.
It was, in part, a reaction to his upbringing in Milwaukee. His parents loved him but were not deeply involved in his life.
"I was not going to be overbearing, but I was going to be there every day," Clifford said. "Camping, golfing, whatever."
While his intentions were good, Clifford was a complete novice when their first son was born 58 years ago.
"I'll never forget when I was left alone with him for the first time. I was scared, frightened," he said. "All this responsibility."
Dad was always available
Six of the Woolgar children live in the Valley. One lives in Prescott. Two are out of state.
Their ages range from 43 to 58, but they all - Cary, Craig, Curt, Clark, Chuck, Colleen, Chris, Carl and Claude - remain close to their father.
When they visit him now, they kneel down in front of his chair, getting just inches from his face so that he can see them.
When they speak of what they will miss the most about their father, their answers reflect Clifford's quiet nature and the fact that he was always available.
"I think I'll miss talking to him more than anything," Colleen said. "Just being able to talk to him."
Clark will miss being able to stop by the house to spend some time with his father.
"Him being around," Clark said. "He's a quiet man, but he can talk about anything."
When asked for his deepest regret as a father, Clifford had only one.
He wished he had been able to spend more time with each child alone.
He remembered a trip to the Grand Canyon with his oldest child, Cary, when the boy got his learner's permit allowing him to drive.
"I fully intended to do that with each of my kids, and I just couldn't. Celeste was home alone with all those babies," Clifford said.
"I began to realize that I was not going to be able to spend much time with them alone."
Clifford's children, who seem to all start crying when they speak of their father, understood.
"As a father, as a friend, the best," Cary said through tears. "He's the motor to our fishing boat. He spent hours rowing that thing so we could fish."
Colleen looked over at her father, who was sitting alone in his chair. It appeared he may have nodded off. But he hadn't.
"That's him - he sits there quietly unless you ask him something specifically," she said. "He's full of wisdom if you need any help."
Chris, 47, started choking up as soon as he started talking about his father.
"For him, as a dad, to keep a decent house and always have time to give you a hug and tell you what you did right and what you did wrong. I know how lucky we are."
Claude, 43, thinks it was more than good fortune.
"I was not lucky to be his son. I was blessed."
Not taking credit
With the end of his life near, Clifford Woolgar thinks he is the one who has been lucky or blessed.
When he asked his doctor a direct question about how much longer he had to live, he got a direct answer.
He immediately thought of his wife and children.
"I can't imagine getting news like that without them," Clifford said. "It's bad enough to get this news with them. Without them? I can't imagine."
Clifford is reluctant to take much credit for being a good father. He tries to deflect the credit to his nine children.
"What makes a good father? What makes a good father? Good children."
He does, reluctantly, offer one piece of advice on how to be a good father: marry a good mother.
"After 60 years of marriage, I think Celeste and I did a pretty good job," Clifford said.
"It's primary. You can't have a good relationship with your children without first having one with your wife. It's the first step."
Next generations
Clifford and Celeste have nine children, 24 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. And more are coming.
Clifford's influence can be felt in each generation.
"He made our jobs as fathers real easy," Cary, a father of three children, said. "We just had to watch him and do that. It was real simple."
At the end of a long conversation, Clifford looks around him. The walls are covered with pictures of his children and grandchildren. The walls are busy with drawings from great-grandchildren.
"Being a father meshes into your life. You can't separate anything. It becomes who you are. It's who I am right now. It's a special, special thing."
And now his grandchildren are raising their children with an emphasis on simply being there.
"I raised my kids exactly the way I was raised. Exactly," Clark, 52, said of his three sons.
"I was lucky to have that blueprint. And now my kids are raising their kids the same way. It all starts with him."
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