“Of our greatest acts we are ignorant”

My parents took their Catholic faith seriously and they felt it was their sacred duty and obligation to make certain all eight of their children celebrated the Catholic sacraments and attended religious education classes. They hoped this would instill in them a strong foundation of faith and become a rock of support that they could lean on throughout their life.

For the ritual of the sacrament of Baptism, the Church asks parents to choose Godparents for their child. Godparents represent the community of faith at the baptism and their basic function is to step in and serve as proxies for the parents if they are unable to provide for the child’s religious training.

Some children are fortunate to be blessed with one or more Godparents who expand their role well beyond this basic function. I was one of those children. It was my good fortune that my mother chose my uncle Rheo to be my Godfather.

His relationship with me did not end after the baptism ceremony – it was only the beginning. He became an important part of my life and a model to me of Christian living, showing me by his words, actions and friendship what it meant to be a good man.

Rheo Gilbert Meunier 1923 – 1984

Uncle Rheo was one of my mother’s 6 brothers. She grew up with him in the 1920’s and 30’s working on a small family farm during the hard days of the Great Depression.

He left school after completing the sixth grade in order to spend more time helping his father with all the farm work. He grew into a strong, handsome and strapping young man from all his strenuous labor.

He was part of the Greatest Generation, enlisting in the Navy in 1942 when he was 19 years old and serving four years for his country during World War II; seeing action in the North Atlantic and doing tours patrolling the Suez Canal and Russian coast.

When he returned from the war he was able to acquire a good job at the Municipal Light Company in Templeton Massachusetts as an electrician. He ended up working there for 36 years – eventually rising through the ranks to the position of Foreman.

It was while on the job early in his career when he experienced a tragic accident. He was strapped high on a telephone pole trying to repair a downed wire when the pole snapped in half crashing to the ground with Rheo still attached. That he managed to survive this event was a testament to his strength and determination.

He gradually recovered and regained all his strength and athleticism but he did suffer some permanent damage to his lower extremities that would bother him his whole life and make it impossible for him to ever have children.  Although I remember him dating quite frequently, he never married, and I often wondered if it was because he didn’t want to deny his wife the blessings of having children.

It was not in his nature to complain about his unfortunate circumstances though, or let those circumstances drive him to depression. Despite his situation we always saw him smiling, laughing, energetic and full of life. He was a man of action with plenty of money to buy toys like convertible sport cars, motorcycles, cabin cruiser boats and snowmobiles; and to take skiing vacations in the Swiss Alps, scuba diving excursions in Hawaii, fishing expeditions to Cape Cod and river rafting & hiking adventures in Colorado.

Despite his James Bond lifestyle that we admired so much he always had time to spend with his extended family. He made it a point to stop in and visit with each of his seven brothers and sisters every few weeks just to stay in touch with their lives and to show interest in the activities of his 34 nephews and nieces. He once told my mother that he loved his nephews and nieces so much, he didn’t need to have children of his own.

And his nephews and nieces adored him too. He was a giant in their eyes – telling them interesting stories about his travels, sharing with them his talent for yodeling, and taking them on exciting adventures and outings.

He also generously volunteered to lend a hand whenever people needed help. I remember him coming to our house one day when I was a young boy to help install electrical wiring that was needed at our house. I shadowed him while he went about his work patiently explaining to me what he was doing and showing me all the tools he was using and how they worked. I was fascinated and think the experience kindled in me my interest in electricity and electronics that led to my later career as an engineer.

When his father passed away, Rheo became the primary caretaker of his mother, and since he did not have any family he agreed to live with her, support her and take care of her so that she could continue to stay in the home she so loved.

It his 60th year a tragic series of successive events occurred that contributed to his death from a sudden and massive heart attack. The first event occurred on Christmas Eve night in 1983 while he was out working helping to restore some power outages in the town. His Mother was at home when she accidentally started a fire while trying to cook a ham for the family holiday dinner. His mother perished while trying to put out the fire and Rheo lost his mother, his home and most of his earthly possessions that night.

Then, in the space of two month’s time, Rheo’s brother-in-law passed away, his best friend lost his business to a fire and the Camp he owned in Cape Cod also was destroyed by an unexplained fire. The stress was too much for his heart to take – he had a fatal heart attack in March of 1984.

The packed Church and military honors bestowed on him at his funeral showed how he was loved and respected by his community and family. I was honored to be one of the pallbearers selected to carry his casket; beside seven of his other beloved nephews.

Although he was a religious man and regularly attended Sunday Mass at his local church, he never lectured me about religion or preached to me about God. However I learned so much about morality from what I saw him do. Whenever he saw me he would make it a point to sit with me, look into my eyes and take a genuine interest in learning about what was happening in my life. On my birthdays he would give me a birthday card and some money or a cool gift; on Easter he would give me my own chocolate bunny to enjoy!

Beyond that, he would make it a point to spend time with me at various times during the year. Rides in his convertible car with the top down to get ice cream, snowmobile rides through his snowy woods and ocean fishing trips in his cabin cruiser boat. He was a perfect role model for a young boy growing up and learning about the world. Being with him was like a field trip to see the practical application of faith put into action.

Even in death, his generous spirit was still being revealed as he had saved a significant sum of money and he specified in his will that the money should be split evenly between his brothers and sisters. My parents were grateful that they were able to safely invest the inheritance they received from him so that they would not have to worry about running out of money in their golden years.

One of the most precious gifts I ever received was my uncle Rheo’s gold Swiss watch which my mother was able to obtain and give to me after he passed away. I treasured that watch for many years and would always wear it on special occasions and think of him. I decided to give this watch as a gift to my young nephew Rheo (named after his Great Uncle ) when he celebrated his sacrament of Confirmation because I could see in him a glimmer of the same spirit that drove his namesake great uncle.

Emily Dickinson once wrote the words: “Of our greatest acts we are ignorant” to a friend who was unaware that his interest in her had saved her life. I don’t think my Uncle ever thought he was doing anything great and was probably ignorant of the positive impact he had on my life.

I am sorry that because of my uncle’s sudden death I never got the opportunity to tell him about the great acts he did for me, how important he was in my life and how grateful I was for all that I had learned from him.

I hope you take the time while you still can to tell the people you love how much they mean to you and that we all, like my dear uncle Rheo, invest the effort to perform great acts that will similarly touch the lives of all the people in our life.