John Schlarman’s Greatest Legacy

Photo courtesy of LeeAnne Schlarman“My daddy’s sick. Is your daddy sick?” asks the happily naïve Evelyn Schlarman. “No. My daddy’s working,” replies my equally naïve son. And with that, the two go back to playing.

Evelyn’s daddy wasn’t merely sick, he was in the final days of his valiant fight against cancer. Evelyn is only four. While the many remembrances of her great father were being written, I found myself praying that she will simply remember her father. Regardless of her memory, his memory is alive in her, his three sons Matt (9), Ben (11), and Joe (14), and his widow, LeeAnne.

The moment LeeAnne knew she wanted to marry John was when he first introduced her to his family. It was a…