Our Final Goodbye

Last Saturday, July 14, 2012, 15 hikers and 4 horseback riders gathered at Gus' chosen hillside to honor his last request . . . spreading his ashes.

Those that were there included Scott, April, Lindsey, T.J., Grayson, Lane, Dr. John Madany, Neil and Gloria Barnosky, Dennis Fettig, Chuck and Jan Bowey, Chris and Dave Schultz, Ron Leafgreen, Brian Redfield, Billie Taylor, Derrick Miller, and myself.

Scott picked the date and organized the day. It was a cool, overcast day just perfect for hiking. He and April had gone in the week-end before just to check everything out and make sure we could do it.

Brian Redfield was in Afghanistan when Gus passed away. Brian was suppose to be on guard duty this week-end, but he was admitted into our local hospital with severe dehydration instead. Brian was released Friday night at 8:00 after spending four days on IV's. He joined us 11 hours later to say his good-bye to Gus.

Ron Leafgreen lives in Okinawa, Japan. It was not easy for him to join us, but he also was out of the country when Gus passed away.

The last summer Gus was alive, he had taken his family on horseback to this spot. Without Scott and Dennis, I would never had found the right hillside.

(Double click on the photos so you can view the entire picture)

Just starting the hike

L to R: Jan, Chris, April, Dave and Scott

Horseback Riders, front to back: Derrick, Lane, Billie, and Lindsey

Hikers: T.J. and Grayson

L to R: Dave, Dr. John, Dennis, Gloria, Neil, Brian

This picture is taken at the official hunting camp site. Gus never missed one time in 27 years of being with his friends to hunt. He had to be a little creative a few times considering his son was in football and some years the guys could not get into this spot due to weather. Oh, and did I mention my due date for our daughter's birth was opening day of hunting season in 1984. The majority of years, Lindsey's birthday was celebrated the following Saturday when her dad came home.

Lane and his horse, Shantie. He rode 9 miles in to get to where the riders camped, 6 miles the day of spreading the ashes and then 9 miles back out on Sunday when the riders came home. He loved every minute because of who he was with.

The trail from the camping site to our destination

L to R: Dr. John, Dave, T.J., Gloria, Jan, April, Neil, Chuck

This is the hillside which was much steeper than the picture shows

Scott packed this urn with the ashes to the site

Scott talking about his dad and what this hillside meant to Gus and why Gus chose this spot. Scott so honored his dad with his beautiful words. Each person was given the opportunity to actively spread some ashes and say goodbye to Gus. When everyone was through, Scott buried what was left at the base of the tree directly behind him. 

The photographer, Ron, had a sense of humor. He felt the day was officially over when Scott was headed home and all that was visible was Scott's backside. Three people were packing guns that day in case we met a predator.

The mountain in the background and in the center of the picture is called "The Hogback". Just to the right of that is the "Notch" and that is where we were hiking. This picture was taken on our way home just before the rain started.

Memories can never be taken away when loved ones are. At the time of Gus' Memorial Service on April 23, 2011, there had been 14,464 pageviews of this blog. There is now more than 16,521 pageviews from all over the world.

Gus So Blessed All Of Our Lives.

The Rest of the Story

Well, here it is . . . the final posting on Gus’ Walk. There are so many emotions as I try to write the final script. One of the biggest lessons Gus and I learned as we walked this path was we could still have joy through our tears. Life truly is what you make out of it.

Scott, Randy and I made the famous move last Monday night. The lettering was finished on the sides of the manure spreader and it was time to move it to its final spot. Scott will finish up the last details at its new location.

Starting the Final Move

Scott giving Randy instructions on how exactly we were going to fit this in the barn

The picture on the left is when Gus had reached his limit physically and could go no further on restoring his project. The picture on the right is "The Rest of the Story".

This picture was taken with Scott strategically placed so no one could tell we do not have the seat attached yet or the tongue in place. We're still deciding how we want to do it.

I could not resist the "smug look" on Scott's face and the smug feeling I had when we had reached this moment. There were so many hours of intensity, both emotionally and physically, to achieve this picture. It was a healing experience.

Gus' Memorial Service

One of Gus' lifetime highlights was singing with this group of men. They blessed everyone with 45 minutes of praise music before the memorial service began.

Kelly, our Pastor’s wife, asked us for three of Gus’ golf clubs, preferably his drivers. She created this beautiful arrangement. Gus would have loved this expensive flower arrangement.



Gus’ memorial was such a blessing. I knew no local church could seat the people who would come to honor Gus and to honor his family. I never dreamed we would see so many. The entire service was anointed.

One of the areas I am able to go in and view on this blog is the statistics. I was not even aware of this page until a few months ago. As of today, there have been 14,464 pageviews of this blog. There are people all over the world being touched by Gus' story. The Netherlands, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Taiwan, Malta and even Latvia. In April alone, there were 4,908 pageviews. As Gus would say, "Only God could do this".

Scott and I are going to finish Gus' manure spreader as soon as possible. I have the writing on the sides and Scott has the seat and the tongue to attach. Those pictures of our finish will be the final posting of this blog.

I was reading a booklet on grief. One of their recommendations was to finish a project your loved one had started. I hope when Gus' project is finished and moved to its permanent spot at the old homestead, it will be a healing moment for the family.

To the People who Blessed Us

I had a request last night for my mailing address to be put on the blog. Kathleen Wuelfing, 170 Duncan District Road, Sheridan, Montana 59749

To the people who followed Gus' Walk, who prayed for us, who left comments for Gus to enjoy . . . you so blessed our lives. Gus would spend time regularly reading what his wife had written and loving the comments from you. When he was lying in a hospital bed knowing his fight was over, I would read him the comments. You continued to bless him to the very end.

When I decided to honor T.J.'s wishes and keep a blog on his dad, T.J. and I never dreamed it would span over a 33 month time frame. We never dreamed people all over the world would be following it. We never dreamed how Gus' story would bless so many lives.

I have plans on this blog being put into a book so Gus' children and grandchildren have a permanent record of Gus' story. His strength under adversity was amazing.

Memoirs

Last evening we were blessed to have our Pastor and his wife cook us an amazing steak dinner at Gus and Kathleen’s. It gave the family the time to sit and reflect on Gus’ walk and more importantly, the man he was. Amidst laughs and stories shared, Kathleen mentioned it was too bad we had not written down a few of Gus’ favorite stories. Those who knew Gus know how captivating of a narrator he was.

Then a call from family in Washington came today with an answer to Kathleen’s wish. The idea was to have family and friends share their memoirs of Gus, the family, the ranch, hunting, etcetera with us so that each could be shared at the service.

We are asking that those who have an antidote to either email or mail it to be shared and on display Saturday the 23rd at Gus’ memorial. Later the collection will be placed into a binder as a keepsake for Kathleen and the family.

Please send your favorite reminisces to:
Scott and April Wuelfing
PO BOX 512
Sheridan, MT. 59749
Or Email: Gus.swalk@gmail.com

Memorial Service

The memorial service for Gus will be April 23 in the new gym at the Sheridan Grade School. This is the only local facility large enough for our needs and the 23rd was the soonest available date. The service will start at 11:00 a.m.

I was opposed to the Easter week-end until I realized how appropriate. Gus truly believed that Heaven was not the consolation, but the great Prize.

Memorials may be made to the Ruby Valley Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 564, Sheridan, MT 59749 or to a charity of your choice.

The Battle is Over

Gus just stepped into the presence of Jesus about 45 minutes ago.