By Joshua Benton
Blade Staff Writer
Page 15
WAUSEON — Robert Wyse, a farmer who kept his family together through decades of Sunday dinners, died of cancer Saturday at his home. He was 70.
Mr. Wyse was born in Tedrow, O., to a farming family, and lived in the area for his entire life, his children said. He worked a farm until 1992, and also spent 28 years working for J & B Feed Co., both in Wauseon and Swanton.
But his biggest commitment was always to his family. His children said that could best be seen through their weekly Sunday dinner, in which the entire family would go to Mr. Wyse’s house after church for a big family meal. He’d get a chance to play baseball with his grandchildren and catch up with his children.
“It was like his upbringing, keeping the family together,” said his daughter, Michelle Holman. “His mom would have liked that.”
Family members could remember only a handful of Sundays in their lives when they missed dinner with their parents. “It was a tradition, every Sunday,” Mrs. Holman said.
His son, Dennis, praised his father’s strong sense of morality. “He always said, `A Wyse never lies,” he said. “If you made a promise or you took a vow, you kept it. He had very high family values.”
Mr. Wyse learned he had cancer in February, and his final Sunday dinner was June 21. He had been in very poor health for the previous two days, and his son Dennis asked his mother if the children should come over for the traditional meal the next day – Father’s Day.
She insisted they should.
“He was a whole bunch better that Sunday than he had been,” Dennis said. “`He wanted one more Sunday where he could see everybody.”
He also enjoyed fishing and hunting, particularly for fox.
Surviving are his wife, Ila; three sons, Michael, Dennis, and Pete Wyse; a daughter, Michelle Holman; a brother, Melvin Wyse; a sister, Edna Bonar; and nine grandchildren.
Arrangements are being handled by the Edgar-Grisier Funeral Home, Wauseon, where the body will be from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight and 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Evangelical Mennonite Church, Wauseon.
The family requests tributes be made to the Twelfth Man (for the football field at Wauseon High School), Evangelical Mennonite Church Outreach Center, or the charity of the donor’s choice.