What is to be said about Buck, or more accurately Sherman Oaklyn Hess III? He was the oldest of the three Hess brothers. He loved to play games. He loved to laugh. He loved his family.
His too early departure saddens his wife, his family, and his friends. He was fundamentally a good person, full of humor and love. He was very shy, but he could be so warm and engaging. We can throw no stones at his life as his failings were utterly human, while his qualities made the world a better place. The world is definitely a poorer place for all of us now that he is gone.
As Sherman Jr. became older and infirm, Buck moved in with him and helped him immensely in his final years. It was an act of love and caring that showed how much Buck loved his family.
His wife, Terry, has a hole in her heart. Buck's children, Sherman Hess IV and Heather Hess, are now without a father. Brendt and Brian, his younger brothers, will miss him terribly. We three brothers did not communicate with many words, but there was no doubt of our love for each other and our enjoyment when we could spend time together. The entire family is so sad and hurt by his passing.
When we were growing up, our father told us a story about when Buck was born. His father (our grandfather, the first Sherman O. Hess) had died weeks before the anticipated birth of his first grandchild. Our father claimed that the morning after they brought Buck home from the hospital, he awoke to find his deceased father standing over the crib gazing down at the newly born grandson. He says he saw him clearly for several seconds before his image faded. Buck will now get to reunite with parents and grandparents, if the universe is just.
We brothers loved playing board games together as we did when we were children. I will miss him terribly every time we have a new game to play together and we will toast his memory with the playing.. Buck's childhood was full of love and fun. Running a hot-wheel set off the back deck - the Lego building competitions - reading comic books in the car on long road trips - getting a bucket of KFC and fighting over certain pieces.
Buck was the ringleader once when we tied together heavy rubber bands from a huge box of them. The rubber band chain was so long it stretched down the road in front of our house and when it snapped it took long seconds for the rubber band collapse to reach the end of the chain. All the neighbor kids would leap back shrieking with laughter as we were treated to an over-sized demonstration of the sudden release of stored energy. This is what we will remember. This and the things like it.
As children growing up, we set trees on fire and had tonsils removed and broke bones and fished and argued and were happy and sad and angry and human. We were human together. We can't be human together anymore. We will miss him. We will miss him terribly. We will try to honor his memory in ways that would have made him smile.