Tribute to My Father
**This is the speech I delivered at Toastmasters this morning**
Exactly 84 years ago today, on
June 4th, 1931, my father was born.
It seems fitting to honor him on the anniversary of his birth. During the next few minutes I will celebrate
the life of my father by re-visiting his early years, his rich life experiences
which shaped him into the man he was, and how I personally remember my father.
Phillip Lee Wright III was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Phillip and
Kathleen Wright. Later, his mother would
re-marry to Elliott Schwab, who adopted her son as his own, bestowing the
family name to become Phillip Carter Schwab.
Growing up he was surrounded by a very loving family, consisting of both
parents, two Grandmothers, and his maternal aunt and uncle. Young Phillip would finish High School and
eventually earn an Associate of Arts degree at a university. (As I continue to research the life of my
father and his family, I have yet to discover which institution of higher
education he earned his degree.) In
1950, roughly at the age of 19, my father was drafted to serve in the army
during the Korean War. He held the rank
of corporal and served for three years.
In sorting through many boxes of family documents, I discovered several photos
of him with the troops, and quite a few letters written to his parents.
My father and I share a common thread in the fact we gained a very rich
work history early in our life. To name
a few of the companies he worked for: he was a salesman with Kimberly Clark in
Michigan, a salesman with Nash Phillips-Copus homebuilder in Austin, Texas, and
a salesman with Luv Homes, a subsidiary
of Clayton Homes, in Victoria, Texas. It
is from my father I acquired the art of true salesmanship and the skill of
networking. He would be proud to have
passed on this legacy as it is an almost lost art. During this time he raised one daughter,
Cynthia Kathleen Schwab, and two sons, Phillip Elliott Schwab and Patrick
Carter Schwab.
My father passed away on August 24th, 1997 in Austin,
Texas. Certainly I am one to look back
in life and recognize missed opportunities.
Often I think of the movie The
Godfather, the beautiful cinematic portrayal of a son taking on the mantel
from the patriarch of the family.
Michael Corleone would figuratively sit at the feet of his father
seeking advice. If I could rewind time
by a few years, I would love to capture some time with my own father once
again. First, I would tell him something
I rarely spoke in to existence, and they are the three words, “I love
you!” Then I would ask his advice
concerning how to live as a gentleman with character and integrity in a world
which doesn’t seem to value such principles.
In spite of not making the most of our time together on earth, I may appreciate
the time we did have. His memory lives
on through the lives of his wife and three children. In addition, I am performing a family
genealogy of the Schwab family, researching their lives through pictures,
letters, and other documents.
As our time comes to a close, please help me to honor the man whose
life I am celebrating by lifting our glasses, “To my father…!”
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