[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 26, 1997]
[Pages 825-826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Funeral Service for Henry Oren Grisham in Hope, Arkansas
June 26, 1997

    Reverend Hight, Duayne and Conrad and Falva and Myra and all the 
family, we come here to celebrate the life of one of the most truly 
remarkable people I have ever known, a man without wealth or power, 
without position or any pretense, who was, nonetheless, loved, admired, 
respected because he was smart and wise, profoundly good, and I might 
add, very funny.
    There will be a lot of tears shed in the family section today, and 
you might say, well, how could you cry that much for a man who had God's 
gift of 92 years? Because he was forever young, and we wish he'd lived 
to be 192.
    Everyone who ever knew him had a story about him, about hunting or 
fishing or farming, about sharing a meal or swapping a tale. One of the 
young men at the funeral home came up to me this morning just before we 
came

[[Page 826]]

out and said, ``You know, he always kept me up. He made me laugh.''
    One of the members of the family said he was the salt of the Earth 
and the spice of life. Everyone who talks about him has clear, vivid 
memories of his wit and his wisdom and, I might add, his remarkable 
ability to be both brutally honest and always kind.
    When I was a young boy, badly in need of a hand up and a little 
kindness and wisdom, whenever I was at his house and Ollie's, I always 
felt at home. But he always treated everybody that way. After I became a 
grown man, he only called me one time, in our whole life together, just 
once, to tell me that in 1979, a year before all the experts said it, 
that I could not be reelected Governor because I had made people mad. 
And I said, ``Well, what do you think I ought to do about it?'' He said, 
``Tell them you made a mistake and undo it, for goodness sake.'' I said, 
``I can't do that.'' He said, ``Good, after the next election, you'll 
have a lot more time to spend with me.'' [Laughter] And he was right.
    After Ollie got sick and died, he still continued to drive around 
and be active. And I told Reverend Hight this morning the funny story he 
told me. In the last few years, he used to take two ladies who were 
older than he was, in their nineties, driving once a week. He said, 
``Nobody else would go take them out, so I would just go take them out 
once a week and drive them around. We have a grand time.'' He was about 
87 at the time. And I said, ``Do you like these older women?'' He said, 
``You know, I do. It seems like they're a little more settled.'' 
[Laughter]
    The great poet William Wordsworth said that the last, best hope of a 
good man's life are the little unremembered acts of kindness and love. 
I'll bet you every person here today who ever met that man has an act of 
kindness and love that you remember.
    He really did the things that matter most in life very well. He was 
a great husband, a great father, a great grandfather, a great uncle. He 
was a great friend.
    My most vivid memory of him, I think, will always be after Ollie got 
sick and they had to put her in a place where she could be cared for. 
And he was going through this awful period when she was failing, and he 
loved her so much. I stopped to see him one night in his house, and we 
were all alone there. We talked and shot the breeze for a long time. We 
laughed, and he told stories, and everything was just normal. And 
finally, it was real late, and I had to drive back to Little Rock, and I 
said, ``Buddy, I've got to go.'' He said, ``Okay.'' I was on my way out 
the door, and he grabbed me by the arm, and I turned around, and he had 
tears in his eyes--it was the only time I ever saw them--and I said, 
``This is really hard, isn't it?'' And he smiled, and he said, ``You 
know, it is. But when I married her, I signed on for the whole load, and 
most of it's been pretty good.'' I have never heard a better testament 
of love and devotion than that.
    So I say of his great life, all of it was more than pretty good. If 
our country and our world had more people like Henry Oren Grisham, how 
much better it would be, how many more children would have a happy 
childhood, how much more peace and harmony there would be.
    Conrad's poem said it all, and I'm pretty sure God heard it.
    Thank you. God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 10:20 a.m. at the Brazzel/Oak 
Crest Chapel. Henry Oren Grisham was the President's great-uncle. In his 
remarks, the President referred to Rev. I.V. Hight, pastor, Unity 
Baptist Church; and Mr. Grisham's late wife, Ollie, his sons, Duayne and 
Conrad, and his daughters, Falva Grisham Lively and Myra Grisham Irvin.