He lived long and he prospered.

Live long and prosper. You do not have to be a Vulcan to use that phrase nor do you have to be one to live it. It is a simple phrase that underlies a deeper, more complex desire for one's personal goals, or one's best wishes for another's well being. Live long and prosper. May it be so for me.

As I write this, my grandfather passed away less than an hour ago. I just got the call about 15 minutes ago. As soon as I got off the phone, that was the phrase I thought of. My grandfather did just that. He lived long and he prospered. And though I am not fully equipped at the moment to write him a proper tribute or epitaph, I feel the need to write something. So here is a small tribute to one of the greatest men of the last century and who lived into this century, William Rumalo Brackenridge - or as I grew up calling him, Bill.

Bill was born 88 years ago on March 14, 1917. His grew up in Keiffer, West Virginia, a small town nestled in the rolling hills of Greenbriar County. Bill went to school in Rupert but according to the family he never went past the eighth grade. He chose to leave school and work. Bill has told me stories of only having a few biscuits to take to school for his lunch as a boy. He grew up in a very rural and very poor region during some of the hardest times of our country's history. But Bill did more than just survive, he thrived.

Perhaps it was that experience of such a hard childhood that enabled Bill to rise above the circumstances. Perhaps it was just hillbilly stubbornness. Or perhaps it was something more, something that comes from having your life steeped in the misty hills of West Virginia. I don't know. I prefer to believe that it was a matter of choice, determination, hard work and the providence of God, not merely birthright, genetics, or luck. Whatever it was, Bill was not content to merely survive for the rest of his life. He chose to do more than that.

Bill worked hard and was noticed at Carbon Fuel Company. He started in the warehouse and worked his way up. Way up. He retired from Carbon Fuel after becoming Superintendent of all surface mining operations across two states and superintendent of the company-owned railroad, the Winifrede Rail Road (WRR).

Bill may have never known how much I had always looked up to him, but I did. Bill was a hard man too. People who knew him knew this. But those who really knew him also knew he was a fair man. And if he is guilty of anything, it is he expected others to work as hard as he did, to respect others, and to take responsibility for your own actions. That was Bill. He represented a different age of America. He represented something that people now find offensive perhaps. He held you accountable for your actions. He called a spade a spade when that was the way it was. He held an American ideal that is fading, or already faded from our land.

But it has not faded with me. Bill is permanently ingrained into my head and my heart. He will forever be a part of who I am. And because of that, he also is a part of who my kids are. They knew Bill and I believe that I passed on my respect and love for him to them.

Bill had married my dad's mother on December 20, 1941. Yes, Bill is my dad's stepfather, not his biological father. And I know that those first years were hard, and there is no doubt that they surely clashed at times. But I know that Bill has always been there for my dad and likewise my dad has always been there for Bill. These two stubborn men have been united by that marriage and, as my father matured, they were united by much more than just that.

When my grandmother Clara died in September of 1994, I saw Bill's resolute determination continue. He was older, sadder, but he was still Bill. He was determined to continue on, and he even dared to thrive. I know that Bill loved Clara, of that there is no doubt. But Bill was not ready to spend the rest of his life alone. Bill married Brenda on November 18, 1998. He has spent his remaining years just being Bill.

So you may have never heard of Bill, or even William Rumalo Brackenridge, but I will always believe and assert that next to my father, Bill Brackenridge was one of the greatest men I have ever known.  And though I doubt Bill ever even watched an episode of Star Trek or knew of the phrase, he embodied that well known utterance of Mr. Spock. He lived long and he prospered. May it be so with me.