Eulogy for Eugene F Mallove by Daughter, Kimberlyn

Gene, Patrick, Matthew, Kim, Joanne
Matthew Grant Woodard was 11 weeks old at the time of Gene's death.

Funeral remarks
May 18, 2004

On behalf of myself, my mom and my brother, I want to thank everyone for being here....On the one hand, I was dreading today. I don't want to cry anymore. I don't want to yearn to hug my dad one last time, long to see his smiling face or hear his cheerful voice. On the other hand, I wanted today to come so that I could be around all of the people who love my dad so that I might feel his presence through sharing memories of him,....sharing tears....and maybe even sharing some laughter.

How do you come to terms with the loss of your beloved father? How do you find happiness again? How do you move forward despite your aching heart, emptiness and sadness? It's like I'm in the midst of a nightmare that doesn't disappear when I wake up. I desperately want to find peace within myself about my father's death. I want my faith to reassure me that my dad is still with me in spirit. I think if I take this time to share the kind of man my father was, we might all feel like he is still very much alive.

My dad was the most passionate person I've ever known. When he believed there was truth in something, he strived to educate others in the hopes they might open their minds to new possibilities. He was silly and zany with a great sense of humor. His lively presence was always felt in a room. He was a voracious reader. If I ever had a question about something, he always had answers because he'd read an article or a book recently about it. He was generous with his time. He would do anything for anybody at any time. My dad loved toys. When I was a kid, he'd buy me things that he really wanted to play with like capsella and model trains. He was an extremely sentimental person. When he visited his grandson for the first time 2 months ago, he bought him his first model car and purchased the New York Times that came out the day after so that Matthew would someday know what was going on in the world the day he was born, he saved all magazines, he framed simple notes sent by friends that signified an important time in his life, he couldn't bare to sell his childhood home. My father was also very proud of his Jewish heritage.

I will remember many wonderful things about my dad. As a child, he'd laugh at my temper-tantrums, he'd put me on his back and gallop around the house eventually flinging me onto his bed, if I was scared at night and I called out I knew my dad would always hear me and come to my side. I remember staying up all night to watch many eclipses with him and loved how he'd dance around to be silly.

As an adult I will remember how he always wore his cowboy hat wherever he went and how the post office was like his second home. I'll remember how he walked extremely fast wherever he went--always on a mission to accomplish,  how he loved to watch the news, and how he took care of his parents when they needed him. I'll remember the excitement in the room when he would speak about his work, how enamoured he was with his first grandson and his constant use of the word "mind-boggling." I'll remember how he always called my mom "bapper," how he loved his cat Shmaltzy, the taste of bagels and lox and an all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet.

All of us here are suffering from the loss of my father, but the world will also now suffer from the loss of a great man who had much more to do on this earth. If I could see my dad one more time, I would tell him that I love him, that I am so proud of the life he led, and I will keep him in my heart always.