Norman Brooke Dix

Eulogy by daughter Gabriel 1992

MEMORIAL TO DADDY

On behalf of my sisters and myself, I would like to say a few words about Daddy. I know you all know him as a great friend. In recent years you have admired him as a formidable croquet opponent as well as a patient teacher on the court. We know him as our beloved father and I would like to share some of that part of him with you.

One of my earliest memories of him was when I was around 6 or 7. Daddy used to drive me to school everyday. It was the greatest thrill for me because he would often let me steer the car on quiet roads. I knew we weren't supposed to do that. It was all the more exciting because we shared this bit of mischievousness together. This was the beginning of my experience with a wonderful man. He not only taught me to drive at 7 years old but he taught me many things. He was always willing to show me how something worked or how to repair things that had broken. He made me feel I could do anything I wanted to do if only I put my mind to it. I learned to think independently and as an adult I am a small business owner just like my father was.

During most of my life my father owned and operated Moneybogue Boat Slips and often took us on boating trips on the Lone Star. Through these experiences Daddy imparted onto my sisters and me a great love of the sea. I remember sitting next to him on the flying bridge while he was letting me steer and just looking out on the water with him. We didn't need to speak to tell each other just how perfect it felt to be out there in the elements with our family, the wind, and the sea.

I think the most remarkable thing both my parents taught me was the love they shared for each other during their fifty-two years of marriage. In these uncertain and changing times for relationships, my parents embodied a rich and deep commitment to each other which lasted their life together. They had a truly old fashioned marriage. There was never a question that they would always put each other first. When I would ask them why their relationship worked so well, they would mutually reply, "We are best friends". As a child I took this for granted but as I got older and I looked around me, I realized how extraordinary my parents marriage was.

On the other hand, being the designated Black Sheep of the family, my growing up in this household was not without a few hard bumps. Daddy's viewpoints tended towards the Republican right whereas my more contemporary views moved fashionably left as I came of age. Somewhere in the middle we managed to meet and in these last few years my father and I became close. I think I finally began to appreciate and admire what was great about him and he realized there wasn't too much he could do about me. We made peace.

How can I describe to you what my father meant to us. He was the kind of person who always encouraged us to be our best and pursue our ambitions. He communicated with equal graciousness with everyone he encountered whether he was at the grocery store or at a formal event. When he became seriously ill and was at Deaconess Hospital in Boston, there was some question about where he would be taken when he got out. I asked him, "Daddy, where would you like to go?" His reply, so much in character was "Well, would make your mother happy?" He always thought of others first. Of the things my father taught me he once said, "To be successful in life, you have to give more than you take". I don't know if I will ever know how to give the way my father did, but I can remember his example and keep him alive in me always.

Gabriel Brooke