Lloyd Crouse was a Member of Parliament for over 30 years for his Riding in Nova Scotia. He also was the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia for 5 years from 1989 -1994. More than all of that, he was Father to our neighbour and good friend Stephen Crouse. On Saturday Lloyd Crouse, P.C. Order of Nova Scotia, went to his rest in Christ. His public service is well noted in his obituary . At 88 years Lloyd had lived many experiences and loved to talk about them. We would look forward to the times that Lloyd and Marion Visited Steve and Sandy as we would always count on a good story or two. I spent one afternoon by the pool riveted with Lloyd as he told me of his first encounter with Joey Smallwood. He told me about John Diefenbaker, Brian Mulroney, Bob Stanfield and Ed Broadbent. There were lots of stories and never enough time to tell them all. At one point Steve came out and sent me home as Dad was getting burned in the hot sun. I enjoyed every minute that I spent with Lloyd and I soaked up every story. He had stories about schooners, about Lunenburg, the Grand Banks and all kinds of good maritime history. He had stories about the war and his service in the RCAF. Lloyd lived a full story, with each chapter of his live yielding something new and something different. For 65 of those years he had his partner Marion with him as they wove the fabric of life together. In the next couple of days I do hope and pray that Marian and Lloyd’s family will wrap themselves in that fabric and relive his story together. God has granted a great gift in each and every person. Their story becomes a part of the collective beauty of creation. I thank God that I had at least the opportunity to get to know Lloyd a little and to revel in his story.
Steve and Sandy are great neighbours and I have no doubt that much of what makes Steve who he is today is the father that he had in Lloyd Crouse. Thursday Lloyd will be laid to rest. Our prayers and best wishes are with the family at this time and I encourage you to pray as well.
I Offer this poem of Henry Van Dyke as a reflection on life and death, especially as it relates to Lloyd Crouse and his living witness to life on the water:
Parable of immortality ( A ship leaves . . . )
by Henry Van Dyke – 1852 – 1933
I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a peck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says :
– ‘There she goes!
Gone where?
Gone from my sight – that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says:
– ‘There she goes! ‘,
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout :
– ‘Here she comes!’
I also like this little video of Bluenosse II under sail. Just turn of the music in the media player at the top left (if it has not already stopped), and double click the arrow in the center of this video to have it begin.
“Some people have an intrinsic desire to be a part of something larger than themselves. Only a privileged few get to realize that dream.” Those words ring true for Lloyd in his life as he from a young age always seems to reach for something more. Lloyd did well and became part of much more than life for just himself. He lived a life that was part of a larger gift of himself to the world, in Marriage, in business, in family, in public service and in honour.
Rest well Lloyd – Well done thou good and worthy servant! May your rest today be with Christ and his dwelling place in the House of the Lord God Forever. AMEN
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