A young Naomi and her grandfather.

Floyd Ratcliff: April 11, 1917 – July 11, 2009. Floyd was predeceased by his wife, Doris, by three weeks and three days. They are now together again.

My Grandpa:
While most of my life I lived far away from my grandparents, my memories of my times with them are sweet and full of happy moments. I have memories of grandpa turning out all sorts of wooden creations in his shop in Stouffville. I remember playing Crokinole with him and watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune with him and grandma in the den. I remember they would take us to Swiss Chalet and buys us Shirley Temples and Toblerones as treats. Grandpa spent months creating a home in his basement so that my family could live there with them while on deputation before heading overseas. More recently, I am reminded of how he and grandma faithfully prayed and supported me and my husband as we have served in full-time ministry.

My grandpa was gentle, kind, godly, generous, hard-working, a great craftsman, and many other things. I desire all these characteristics to be true in my life and in the lives of my three children.

The greatest legacy of my grandpa, I believe, will be his faithful, godly life. My grandparents raised three children, all of whom continued the legacy through their commitments to serving God in the pastorate, on the mission field and in their communities. His children – Janice, my mother, and my Aunty Lou and Uncle Mal – lived in turn, lives of dedication to the Lord before myself and my cousins. And now we grandchildren are all walking with the Lord, desirous of passing on this heritage to our children and to the world around us. Even all of the great-grandchildren that are of an age to understand the Gospel have chosen to trust Christ as their Savior.
This is an unusual situation in these days: to have an extended family such as ours, in which every member is a believer and is committed to serving the Lord. It is an incredible heritage and it says much about both my grandparents, Floyd and Doris Ratcliff.

It was an amazing, bittersweet moment when, on May 28, 2009, I had the opportunity to talk about my grandpa to my four-year old daughter, Ellie. I explained to her that he would be going to Heaven soon. This led to a conversation about how one can get to Heaven. I explained that when Grandpa was young, he realized that he couldn’t go to Heaven by just being good. He was a sinner. But he also realized that Jesus had died on the cross in his place for his sins. He knew that if he simply trusted in that fact and relied on Christ’s provision for him, then someday, when he grew old and died, he would go to Heaven. Ellie expressed a desire to go to Heaven someday too. That day, while saddened to hear the news of my grandpa’s soon passing, I was able to rejoice as I listened to my daughter express belief in her Savior.

Ellie only met her great-grandpa as a baby and won’t have any of her own memories of him in this lifetime. Yet because his faithful life spilled over into other lives, she will meet and walk and talk with him at a later date, in Heaven.

And this, I think, is the legacy my grandpa would desire to leave above any other.

Floyd looking at photos of his newest grandchild, Ellie.