Eulogy

for Don Staddon Jr., by Donald Staddon III

In this eulogy permit us the freedom to draw a few parallels between the life of Moses, Israel’s first leader, and the life of Don Staddon Jr., our Dad, our leader. The book of Hebrews records that “Moses verily was faithful in all his house”. Moses was given a pattern for God’s house and he faithfully relayed that pattern to God’s people, the church, so that the blueprint could be translated into reality. I hope that these simple analogies will give you a picture of how it felt to follow a modern-day Moses who humbly drew on God’s grace to translate God-breathed Scripture into everyday life for his wife, his seven sons, and his daughter.

The present-day nation of Israel was born in 1948; that is the year Dad was born. Early in life he recognized his need for deliverance and trusted Jesus Christ alone to deliver him from the house of bondage and use him in the kingdom work.
Like Moses, Dad had one brother, but he had two sisters instead of one.
At age 25, Dad lost his own dad to cancer; while we can’t be sure, Moses as well may have lost his father earlier in life.
Dad was studious and precise, cognitive of what details were important and careful to follow-up on how instructions were being followed.
He earned a prestigious degree, namely in electrical engineering, graduating from West Virginia University in 1979.
However, perhaps like Moses who was “slow of speech”, scholastic proficiency was hard for him to achieve until he had learned to regularly memorize and meditate on God’s Word.
He was tempted in all points like as we, his sons, in the areas of pride and anger but in recognizing these shortcomings he ultimately became known as one characterized by the quality of meekness. Meekness is not weakness; meekness is great strength under great control. Frankly I thought Kara Lee Olson Davies had written Dad’s eulogy already when, in response to an email this September, she said of Dad:

“[I am] so grateful for his life and testimony. He is one of the meekest men I know who loves God with all his heart, earnestly seeks and holds to the truth of God’s Word, and passes on to others the nuggets the Lord opens up to him. My life has been forever blessed and enriched!”

Dad was content at home but at the same time he did enjoy traveling. While he may not have been driven to the backside of the desert as Moses was, he frequented Florida, trained for military duty at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and served his country faithfully between 1968 and 1971, including time in Korea, stopping in Alaska on the way.
In the winter of 1976, Dad met his future wife at a “well of water”—that is, a Bible study being held by the Navigators in Morgantown.
Dad loved the state in which he was born but was willing to move when God led him, his wife, and his firstborn son to a new and different land. As a matter of fact, the border between West Virginia and Virginia represents the sharpest difference in economy between any two adjacent states in the United States. Dad crossed this border with ease.
Dad dedicated his children to God for His purpose in their lives. Focus is something I needed as a nine-year-old. When I wanted to become a naturalist and subscribe to a bird-watching magazine, Dad worked out a way to instead begin listing and classifying bird species together based on the Torah in Genesis chapter 1 and Leviticus chapter 11.
Dad Himself listened for the voice of the Lord through His daily Bible-reading. I remember one morning in our family Wisdom Search in the living room when he shared with us how impressed he was with the simple phrase that was repeated over and over and over: “The Lord said unto Moses … And the Lord said unto Moses.”
Dad made these Bible times a regular habit. Before work and before breakfast he gathered us to gather the manna that God provided for our souls.
Dad was willing to be a pioneer in the wilderness. He did not have a great number of close friends. He was happy with the friends that God brought alongside us as we followed God in the early days of home education. Home education was not valued in those days as it is now. In order to teach us at home he had to make it his personal conviction and was willing to “stand before kings” and speak to our city leaders, making home education simpler for many families who would eventually follow behind.
With time Dad found himself in a “roost with many other roosters”—seven to be exact—but instead of asserting his own authority, he led with meekness and gentle-man-liness. He was a living example to us that gentle outward actions come from inner strength.
Law and principle were more important to him than form and function. He loved understanding the reasons behind what looks nice or works well. He sought for wisdom.
Perhaps it is a stretch, but it could be said that Dad had “10 commandments” that governed how he thought and lived. He adhered unequivocally to the basic nature of the trinity. And beyond sound theology he loved the seven principles of self-acceptance, honoring God-ordained authority, life purpose, moral purity, forgiving offenders, maintaining a clear conscience, and yielding personal rights.
What made Dad passionate about home education was the worldview behind it. He brought the principles home.
Dad put things in writing for generations to come. This entailed many hours on the computer with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. He applied the same thoroughness to his financial affairs, his FEW Conference messages, and his study of music.
Anything Dad wrote was written in stone.
Ten days before he went home to his eternal inheritance, Dad was updating his will regarding our home and inheritance. Even in his last days, the maintenance of property and equipment was important to him. He was faithful in all his house.
Dad died on a mountaintop
Dad looked forward with a steady gaze to the promised land.
Dad prepared me for the promised land as well.

3 Comments

  1. Julianna Staddon October 17, 2024 at 12:33 pm #

    Well written, Donald, and a fitting analogy.

  2. Alyssa Atkinson October 26, 2024 at 10:58 pm #

    Donald, this is beautiful. I’m weeping yet again. The loss of your Dad is a great one and I know the pain and void for you all is unspeakable.
    And, so wonderful is the reality that your Dad (along with my late father-in-law) is so joyfully experiencing now in Heaven.

    Thank you for this great tribute to him. He always shared good insights, always had a smile, always encouraging with a calm, meek, Godly presence.

    The principles you reiterated here which he lived by are so good and we have been so blessed to have men like these in our lives.

    Heaven will be a marvelous reunion. We are praying for you all!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Dad - Lenspiration - October 25, 2024

    […] I am so grateful for the earthly father my heavenly Father allowed me to have here on this earth. In the ways he exemplified Christ, those are the areas in which I want to be like him. And while it is sad that I can no longer see him smile, laugh, and play with his children and grandchildren, there are no words to describe the ecstatic thrill I feel to know that he is now face to face with the Savior he loved so much and lived so wholeheartedly for. […]

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