My father

My Dad, Bert E. Glover was born September 28,1931 in De Leon, Texas. His father was WW I veteran Marion Bud Glover and his mother was Bess Estelle Pilcher Glover.  His father was gassed in WW I and never really recovered from it and as a result he couldn't work enough to support their family. So Dad worked from a Cushman Scooter delivering milk as a kid and dropped out of high school in the 11th grade to help the family through some hard times.

Dad joined the Navy in 1949 and went to boot camp in Chicago. When he got out of boot camp as a fireman second class he was assigned to the USS Macomb DMS 23. On the Macomb Dad was sent into the Mediterranean to recover mines left over from WW II. On the cruise he went to Libya,  France, Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia. Dad was honorably discharged on December 31,1953.

The Flag that covered his
casket during his funeral

Letter from President Bush

Not to long after he got home Dad met my Mom, Tina De Harrison and they were married on January 4, 1955. While in the Navy he became acquainted with the barbers and liked the conversations he had with them while getting his hair cut and decided that is what he would do for a living. For the next couple of years while Bert was going to Barber School they lived in Handley, Texas. After graduating they moved to Irving to work for Cliff Shasteen's Barber Shop. He would work for Cliff until he passed in 1991 then he took over the shop for the next 5 years.

 I was born in 1962, my brother in 1964 and my sister in 1966. We lived on the same street for 35 years in 2 houses. Dad worked 6 days a week and took one week of vacation a year. This gave me the work ethic that made it possible to get to where I am today in my profession. We weren't rich by any means so when we were younger we went fishing a lot and picnicked at area lakes on the weekends or just took a drive into the country for entertainment. Sometimes we would go to Great Southwest Airport and watch planes land and depart. One of the biggest times we had was going to the drive-in and watching a double feature. It was always fun and all about spending quality time with the family.

One of Dad's joys was listening to his antique radios and finding some song he hadn't heard in years. He would also listen to the Grand Ole Opry and Roy Acuff. He would imitate Bashful Brother Oswald, Acuff's dobro player, making us all laugh. His favorite was Hank Williams Sr. though and he had all of his records. Sometimes he would get his fiddle down and try and play with them or try and teach us to play. These were good times.

As a kid, Dad was a huge fan of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers movies. As he got older he loved John Wayne movies and passed that on to his kids. He would also enjoy the occasional Chuck Norris and Steven Segal movie and after my son Harrison was born, many times you would find them in his room watching a  movie together.

Dad was well known in our town. He cut some of the police officers and most of the football players and coaches hair. He had cut three or four generations of some families.  He would be interrupted often, when we went out to eat, by his customers and would spend 30 minutes talking to them and would eat his dinner cold much of the time. He loved high school football and could tell you who was the head coach of lots of schools across the state. I went to my first football game when I was little over a month old with my parents and my dad and I went to many more till he was diagnosed with cancer. Going to the football games was something we looked forward to all year till football season started and I missed it once he couldn't do that much walking any more.

He was a great husband to my mother and she was a great wife to him. They were perfect examples of  a successful marriage and I think that is why none of us kids has divorced. We saw them work through their problems and never quit loving each other. He was a great father and would do anything that was possible to help us when we needed it. He would do the same for his 3 grand children.  The thing about my Dad was he never missed a chance to tell each of us that he loved us.

His parents on their
wedding day in 1921

       
When he was nearing the end and chose not to go through the chemotherapy any more we would sit at the dining room table drinking coffee and talking about my future. He begged me to quit smoking and told me he was proud of the man I had become. Our last visit I could tell he was very sick and I told him he didn't have to keep fighting for us, that he could go ahead and rest for now. On the next Tuesday, March 18,2003, when I got home from work my brother called me to tell me that he had passed away. We had his viewing the following day which turned out to be the first day of the Iraqi War and on the next day he was buried next to his Brother and Grandfather.
         
Dad, we will always miss you till our last breath and will love you for eternity. I am always striving to live up to your standards that you set as a man and father. I fear I will always fall short, but people tell me more and more that I look and act just like you. That makes me smile beyond belief. Thanks for all you provided for our family but mostly for just being you.

There is a bronze marker
at the foot of the grave.