Daniel Schleppi was a lifelong farmer, a lifelong believer and follower of Christ, and a fiercely devoted husband, father, and friend to countless folks.

He lost his father, also a farmer, at the age of 7.  His mother, Dora, raised him in a loving Christian home.  She shared her Christian faith with him and taught him Christian values.  She was most influential in the man he came to be.  Her lessons and wisdom guided him his entire life.  He learned his tremendous work ethic and the value of hard work from both of his parents.  He learned to be a responsible family member at a very early age.

He was a very practical man and took great pleasure and pride in fixing things with his ingenuity and with whatever he had available on hand.  He was quite a fabricator, designer, welder, and self-taught engineer.  He kept his equipment, tools, vehicles, tractors etc. in great condition by religious maintenance and shelter.  He didn’t care so much about how it looked but focused on its operation.  He would much rather keep something old working, and often improve upon it, rather than buy something new.  This is not to say he never bought new equipment, tools, etc.  He very rarely spent any significant money on himself.  When he spent money, it was to support his livelihood or to make things better for his family, friends and loved ones. 

He learned mainly by watching others, by firsthand experience, or by just figuring things out by himself.  As such, he didn’t do much teaching beyond giving an example to watch. 

He didn’t let his sons get big heads and had high standards for his expectations of us.  I can count on one hand the number of times he told me he was proud of me.  He may have told others, but almost never would he tell you.  Very similar when it came to love.  You were not likely to ever hear him say he loved you.  This is not to say he didn’t, he daily demonstrated his love non-verbally by his actions, gestures, and deeds.

I never knew how much he loved and cared for others until he retired from large scale commercial farming.  We rarely had time for social events while he farmed.  When he converted to hobby farming or gardening, he had more time to be around so many others much more frequently.  He so enjoyed his encounters with people and befriending whoever he met.  He loved spending time with others and sharing a conversation and a laugh.  He loved to make children (of all ages) smile.  Likely nothing brought him more joy than sharing his bounty of harvest with others.  The sweetcorn, the potatoes, the tomatoes, the popcorn, the turnips and especially his pumpkins.  The joy of putting a smile on a child’s face in his pumpkin, popcorn, turnip, and Indian corn patch.  (All which was always free of charge for the recipients.)  Either from the ride to the patch in his self-built “Poor Man’s Gator,” the pumpkin he let them pick, or the bug they found under the pumpkin that so intrigued them.  It was all about the experience, his sharing, caring, and giving.

As we grieve his earthly loss, let us celebrate his new eternal home.  As a friend of mine recently shared, “…(our) outgrief is just all our unexpressed love.”  For those he now leaves behind, family, loved ones, friends or anyone whom he was a presence in their life, we are grateful for the time we had with him and we will miss him, until we meet again.