 |
  |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Casper Sargent
This past week Casper Sargent died.
Casper was a community leader in Ellsworth. It’s hard to think of a board he wasn’t on, a business he didn’t help, a non-profit he didn’t support.
However, Casper was more than a community leader. He was a man who loved his family above all else. He was a man who knew what the word patriarch meant and he wasn’t afraid to be that – a father figure, a wise counsel, advice with a smile.
When he walked on a field at the YMCA to watch his grandchildren rush after a soccer ball, you could feel that someone kind, someone joyous was there. When he walked onto a basketball court to play or to officiate, he made it his own. When he greeted someone, ready to show them a house, he made them his friend.
He owned businesses. Yes.
He was an amazing basketball player. Yes.
He was a fantastic community leader. Yes.
But more than that Casper Sargent was a mentor, teacher, friend. He was someone who absolutely cherished his family and his community. He wasn’t afraid to laugh or to love. He wasn’t afraid to give.
The British politician, Benjamin Disraeli, said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.”
Casper exemplified Disraeli’s words in so many ways. Casper thought heroic thoughts. Casper believed in the heroics of his family. He believed in the heroics of Ellsworth. But we also believed in him. He was a hero to so many people who struggled trying to fill their boards, struggled trying to find a home, or even who struggled trying to make a wicked jump shot. He and his wife, Teresa, created a legacy of love that can be seen in the actions and deeds of their children and their grandchildren.
Will Rogers said, “We can’t all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.” I will be sitting on the curb clapping for Casper. No. Wait. I will be standing up and applauding him, because he truly exemplified what it meant to be a good father, a good husband, a good community member, and a good man. I think a lot of people in Ellsworth would join me in that applause.