A few weeks ago I went to (what seemed like) the umpteenth funeral in the last couple of months. So many folks I know passing away lately.....I guess the longer we live, the more this occurs.
This one was different...it cut deep, like it was family..... I guess in a way it was family. Donald Massey was the father of my best friend (besides my wife) and a mentor to me in the shooting/reloading realm. He was a 'shooter's shooter'...... he collected, carried, shot all styles, and loaded for everything he owned. He never had fewer than 10,000 rounds of ammo at any given time and loved loading as much as shooting. He loved teaching others to shoot, and would do anything he could to encourage new shooters to try it out. He would loan guns and supply all the ammo they cared to shoot, if it meant getting folks involved.
When I couldn't afford my own loading equipment, he loaded ammo for me using my brass, and let me pay him in small payments for the supplies.....and when I was able to buy my own equipment, he was the first to offer help in setting up and getting started.
My own father wasn't a gun guy, so I guess Mr. Donnie filled that spot in a way. He was one of those guys who was always willing to help, and never looked down at another or acted in a condescending manner to someone who didn't understand....he just put more time into teaching them.
He was a math professor at our local Junior College, and back when there were no cell phones, he always wrote his home phone number down on the blackboard so any student could contact him for help at any time.
A few years ago, I had one of the most heartbreaking moments in my life at (his son) my friend's range. Mr. Donnie walked up and
introduced himself to me and sat down and we had a good twenty minute conversation....all the while, with him not remembering who I was..... the Alzhiemers had finally won and stolen him from his family, friends, and loved ones. Not long after that he had to be placed in a special retirement home for Alzhiemers patients where, ultimately, the ravages of the disease withered him slowly away.
There were only a handful of people in my life, outside of my father and grandfather, who impacted me in lasting ways that caused me to be the man I am today (for better or worse, opinions vary).
He was one of them.
Donald Leroy MasseyAugust 24, 1941~January 21, 2014
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