Madeline Tiger''s Eulogy at Mount Olivet Cemetery

Ed Healy

What is a man? We thought we knew, but we have been given
a new meaning for the word “gentle-man”. Strong, yes; reliable, yes
but tenderly loving, too and with a strength in his silence,
his manly power held in easy silences.

A gentleman doesn’t only hold our chairs:
he carries the chairs his (beloved) wife may need wherever she goes

A gentleman doesn’t merely open the wine: he opens his wine and his
table and his doors to friends and acquaintances from near and far--- old
friends and new (like me) whoever needs welcome. Ed was this man.

Even at the performances of others (like our poetry readings) others who need
to be heard, the gentleman listens (and sells our books!)

Even in the garden, where others need to enjoy the beautiful flowers
a gentleman makes us comfortable, with no demands (and no display)

Even in conversations where the rest of us blare our voices and bluster
opinions, a gentleman listens, and conveys deep wisdom

Ed Healy, a gentleman conveys his acute perceptions in quiet, amused ways.
Leaning back, allowing others to fume with or combust with denials, his eyes
would sparkle. He knew…what was going on! Without a word, he was taking in all
that was going on. A gentleman’s wit is sharp, but his voice is soft. His
passion is intense, but his demeanor easy.

And when a gentleman loves we can learn how a man can love a woman so well
there is never a question and nothing required but love in return.
Ed Healy has taught me to see how this can be.

And Gloria, you have shown what a woman can be in such a pair,
how a woman who came through her own separate fires
and down a path on her own can meet with her rightful man and
can deserve a gentleman’s love

In our complex world, justice is hard to sustain. But now I know
that in the world of love rare as it may be justice may come,
and the scales of justice balance forever.

Ed, you are gone, but you are here in all our hearts, and in our worlds.
Friend, husband, beloved man, you have taught us all
what a GENTLE MAN is.