Many of you know that the owner of my company has been sick with pancreatic cancer for 2+ years. (I'm not saying the name of my company because our Adv. Man. has G. set so that anytime our company is mentioned on the internet, he gets an alert - I think most of you know it anyway.)
Anyway, Mr. C went to be with Jesus early this morning. He was in the office daily until about 6 weeks ago and has been going steadily downhill. Through his leadership, the company grew from a few accounts to the 230,000 plus that we have today, from 1 employee to 1,200. I've been privileged to be in the office daily with him and his wife for nearly 14 years.
My favorite quote of his from the book we wrote about him is this: "I was never in it to make money; money was never my objective. Adding another route meant giving another person a job and putting food on the table for his family." Joey and I have discussed it a lot, and we feel like this is what business ownership is about - using commerce to provide for others and to "rule and reign" on this earth.
Several months ago, when they had said they had done all they could for him, I said to him, "Well, you've ruled your sphere of influence so well on this earth. The Bible says that our rule in heaven will be according to how we've ruled on earth . . . so I can only imagine what you'll be doing in heaven." His wit was always quick: "Well, one thing's for sure - I won't be killing bugs!"
I don't want to put a damper on Shelley's great birthday post - we're very happy that he ran his race well and that his faith has become sight. But we'll miss him. He was a great man.
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p.s. I forgot to say that when his first employee died many years ago, he was convicted that he had never shared his faith with him. Since then he has lovingly and consistently shared with each monthly training class (they are told in advance what will happen and they are not required to attend). Many have come to faith in Jesus because of his witness. That's really what I meant when I said he ruled his sphere of influence well.
He was a great man and kind of reminds me of Uncle Ralph--a humility that one would not realize the influence and power he had.
I know many will miss him, and I will miss seeing him in your office when I visit.
Guess I'll add my two bits. Of Ann's recent former principal, a tribute was "One meets only one or two such men in a lifetime." I don't know where the statistics come from and they would surely vary for each individual. But the John Cook that Lynn and I knew was such a man. John would surely say that he was but a sinner saved by grace.
I know you have often spoken well of your boss and you and your fellow employees will miss him. How nice to have confidence that with the sadness there is sweet Victory.
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