Sermon Tone Analysis

Celebration of Life

Opening Prayer and Welcome

Thank you all for being here - would like to extend some thank you’s before we begin -

The Ackworth’s, JoAnn Kiple, the Red Hat Ladies of the Night in Pueblo and the OG Coffee family - for all the refreshments.

Justin McDonald - the Technical Art Director here at FOR for the looping video, set up and meeting and praying with me as we prepared for this service.

Samantha Vargas - Communications and Front Office Manager for helping me coordinate all the details.

All the ministry partners here at FOR for setting up and tearing down after tonight.

Paula Speegle - while in Hawaii - she formatted and created all the memory boards in lobby for this service as well as the Hawaii service.

Taylor Martin - also in Hawaii - his professionalism and accuracy in capturing my brother in the Eulogy video he created in Hawaii and the memory video you will see towards the end of the service.

The old-fashioned term for our gathering here today is funeral – but for me its of a celebration of

life.

Time to celebrate, reflect and remember the life of our loved one that has passed on but the

reminder to celebrate the life we still have to live – to love – to forgive – to cherish – enjoy and not take for granted the time that God has blessed us with.

Faith – Hope – Love

This is how I started the funeral for my grandmother – Baci in January – little did I know that just 9 months later, I would have the honor to eulogize my own brother who just turned 45 two weeks before passing – and who is 2 years younger than me.

“It’s never easy to get through a day like today.”

As a pastor one of my most difficult challenges I face is to capture – in a few minutes – the greatness of someone’s life or to even sum up a life that has been lived.

This has become even more challenging when it is for someone whom I’ve shared so much of my life with.

We weren’t just brothers – we were friends.

Eulogy –

Tony was born, September 12, 1975

Tony was born with a baseball in one hand, a basketball in the other with his feet tickling the ivory of a piano and a paint pallet around his neck – I will explain this more later.

Tony was always lively and full of life and center of attention – making everyone laugh.

I always said if sales didn’t work out, he could be a stand-up comedian.

While his life goal was to always be the family dog, his cousin Dawn thought he should be a model for little girls clothing growing up – unfortunately there is no picture evidence that could be found at the time of writing this – but if found at a later date, message me for pricing.

I don’t remember Tony ever having any enemies, but he was not afraid of the fight.

One of my parents’ memories of this was when I was in gymnastics (no picture evidence of this either) and another boy pushed me out of the way and cut in line – Tony only being about two at the time walked up to him, stood on his tip toes, grabbed the boys shirt and said you don’t do that to my brother.

And while walking home from elementary school, some middle schoolers tried starting a fight with me and a friend and Tony stood toe to toe to them.

We all hustled to my Baci’s house, not Tony’s choice of course, but he followed my lead.

And while he was not afraid of the fight – Tony was very scared of the dark and heights.

Tony would always turn on all the lights on – he would never leave a room and shut the lights off.

I remember playing hide and seek and watching him walk down the hallway – his butt suctioning to the wall he was so close to it.

Right before I got married – I fell off the roof and shattered my arm but we were building a house and the eaves the under part of the roof where the gutters attach had to be painted.

Tony was helping – I of course could not be on the ladder so he was.

His knees were shaking so hard paint was flying out of the can and he started cussing me out - I told Tony to look down – I was 5 ft away from the ladder – I was not shaking the ladder his knees were.

And to get into his attic at one of his old house – just to be on a step stool would shake him like he was in the middle of a LA earthquake.

Normally, the younger brother looks up to his older brother, but I looked up to Tony and spent a lot of my years jealous of the person Tony was.

Tony was an all-star athlete – always varsity – always popular – not me.

Tony was extremely intelligent – could have been a Rhodes Scholar but wanted to have fun in school and not study.

Tony would not do any homework and walk into a Geometry without studying and Ace the test – I picked Geometry because after the test I took Tony to lunch when I was home visiting from college and confessed to me he didn’t do anything but yet a few days later when the test was graded, an A.

Tony was artistically talented like our mom – what I would give to have another drawing done by my brother.

Tony was musically talented – he could read sheet music but he could also play by ear.

I remember him sitting at the piano in our living room, listening, rewinding the tape, listening and playing Guns and Roses November Rain and Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive.

Tony could be friends with anyone – he always had a huge group of friends and was never without.

Although he was popular, talented and athletic, he never forgot the values that our parents taught him.

Reading through Facebook comments, one reoccurring comment from East High School former students, he was always nice to me.

He did not determine who to be nice to by looking at athletic, artistic, musical talent, GPA, or family income – he was just a good person all around.

Remembering our childhood with family – we have been sharing stories of late-night hide and seek over a 6-house area, riding bikes then dirt bikes, going ghost hunting, going with the family to Lathrop in Walsenburg to water ski or the Ackworth’s cabin in Westcliff.

You could give Tony a stick, a string, a paper clip and a cooler of drinks and he would be content for a week at the lake and he would have caught and cooked all his meals.

We remember riding our bikes around the neighborhood early morning July 5th collecting all the burnt-up fireworks people left.

Snowball fights and shoveling driveways, watching him play sports.

On that note I would be amiss if I did not mention that Tony never made it through a game without being injured.

He was much like my dad in this aspect to the point that my mom and believe St Mary Corwin’s filing system was A-L, Misiaszek, M-Z.

Josh Sparks, trying to not be outdone by Tony, tried but I believe Tony had more injuries.

To watch Tony light fireworks was as hilarious as him telling a story.

He would get the big boomers from Cheyenne but when he would lit them he would try and run away but his feet would get tangled and it would look like a mix between a skip, jump and dance move to get away – his laugh always accompanied this awkward retreat.

One story I must share of Tony and his humor is from the swimming pool in our parents back yard.

Our son JB was about 18 months and Kanda being a swim instructor made all of our kids count out loud before jumping in.

Tony grunted his count and made a face.

JB copied him.

1, 2, 3, and a full swim diaper.

Tony made his nephew grunt so hard his filled his diaper.

His laugh and facial expressions are what I am really going to miss, especially when they came with his story telling which always included exaggerating the truth.

While my brother had many honorable traits, truth telling in storytelling was not one of them.

The Red Sox were in the playoffs this year and Tony we could all hear planning on watching Boston take it all – but like boston history they did not!

Even though the Broncos were 3-0 – before he passed many of us could practically hear him saying Super Bowl party at his house to see the Broncos win another or to come see them add another ring.

Keller Williams says this –

Tony has been practicing commercial real estate for over 10 years with a specialization in the Hospitality industry.

With over $50,000,000 in closed transactions, his out-of-the-box thinking, understanding of the industry, and ability to negotiate win-win deals have set him apart in the industry.

He has vast knowledge in negotiating with both commercial banking to assist in financing as well as with the franchises to get the best possible situation for his clients acquisition.

His creative marketing strategy helps sell his properties quicker and at higher rates.

When working on an investment project it is extremely important to have someone represent you in a way to expedite your success as an investor.

He is that agent.

I couldn’t have summed up my brother as a real estate agent better.

I was always impressed with Tony as a real estate agent.

He always used part of his own commission to buy his residential clients a house warming gift – mostly a 55” flat screen TV.

He always went above the beyond to be professional and his giving heart and attitude always showed with everyone he encountered.

He managed to this with a tramautic brain injury.

In 2019 he told me that he had lost 98% of his frontal lobe, which he should not have been as successful as he was.

He just never let the accident or the TBI stop him from doing what God called him to do.

You could not encounter Tony and have any type of relationship with him without leaving changed for the best.

Recently he posted on Facebook for my birthday – summing up perfectly us - We are as opposite as oil and water, but just so you know, I strive to follow the lead and example that you set every day!

I am blessed to have you as my brother, someone that no matter how shitty I can be, will still stand by me, support me, and love me!

Tony actually owns major shares in my ministry.

If he and Jana had not tricked us into going to Fellowship of the Rockies 17 years ago, I would not be a pastor.

It is Tony in getting us to go to that church that set me on the path of pastorship and any and all lives that get touched by what God does through my life and ministry, Tony get some credit for those blessings.

My wife Kanda and I agree, what we miss the most, with Tony’s family in Hawaii are the Sunday’s at mom and dad’s and holidays together.

At this time there are a couple of people that were asked to share if they could come up now

Thank you - at this time we would like to direct your attention to the screen for a memorial video produced by Taylor Martin Media, Hilo Hawai’i.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ~"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Psalm 46:1-3 ~ “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling."

During grief we do not have to walk this path alone.

God who knows grief and pain and suffering and even death can comfort and give you strength and peace all you need to do is draw close to him.

Today is so hard, for we come to celebrate a life that seemed to still have so much more to give.

A life cut short.

People will wonder, Why?

And many will ask, “Why would God allow this to happen?”

I will not stand up here and tell you that I know that God has a purpose in Tony’s death.

I believe in a God who gave mankind free will to make our own decisions and choices.