Comments from Friends and Family

This is a favorite photo of mine. I stayed with Dad for a week after his surgery and though I caused him much pain with therapy, I had a wonderful time eating dinner with him in his bed and cuddling while we watched "Deal or No Deal". Cubby and I built his new exercise bike. My Dad was so silly. Everytime he rode the bike, he would wear the bike helmet because he said, "It's the law!". He also had a horn that he would honk while he was riding it.

Homero will be missed more than words can say. I am really going to miss his sense of humor and his cooking. I remember the picture he had on the fridge of an Elvis impersonator whose outfit was a tad bit tight. He told me that it was a model for his next Halloween costume. I half-way believed that he would do it. The two of us laughed at that picture every time I visited. He was great with kids – always found a way to make them laugh and have fun. My son, Jayden, had so much fun with Homero playing Spiderman together when we last visited. It really takes someone special to be able to have fun with anyone and everyone.I wish I could have attended the services, but I know that staying home with the kids allowed Karli to be there 100%. My heart and my prayers go out to the whole family.

-Jeremy Stearns

I feel so at home here in New Jersey, and yet I feel so far away from home right now. But I take comfort at my keyboard, because here, I can grieve with my family.
Homero was one of the best Father’s I’ve ever known! I loved and admired how he truly adored his family. He always made me feel loved and special too.
Homero taught me what self-perception was. About 20 years ago……. We were at Karen’s watching Dirty Dancing… Patrick Swaze was confidently dancing across a LOG….. From the recliner, Homero says, “ That’s just like ME”…….. We all laughed sooooooo hard. And to this day, I don’t care what Patrick Swaze does, when I see him, I think of Homero, because if he could see himself in Swaze, I can too… Lol J
I love and miss all of you.

-Kim Thompson

We are your mom and dads backyard neighbors, Steve and Debbie Bartleson. We feel very honored that we had the opportunity of knowing your dad, a WONDERFUL man. Steve and Homer use to talk every once in a while over the fences, but our friendship evolved at River Rock. On occasions when we had time to include eating in our River Rock adventure, we would go into the Restaurant, order some food and visit with Homer. He always came to the table to make sure that everything was just right for us. There were several times he would just pull up a seat and start conversing with us. When we parted it was always with a tight handshake with Steve and a hug with me. He was a warm man who genuinely cared about people. He would ask Steve when he saw him at River Rock, "Hey Steve, what about our fence", when are we going to fix it ?" Steve would reply, " what do you think I'm doing here Homer, trying to win the money for one". Homer would walk away laughing. He use to joke around with us, saying we also worked the graveyard shift with him. The last time I saw Homer at River Rock was about 6 weeks ago. I ran into him in the hallway. He asked me how I was doing. We both did a little complaining, him about his knee and myself about my foot. I told him to hang in, it would get better. We gave each other a hug and he was on his way.

When your family came to the door the other day and gave us the sad news, we were devastated. The shocking news left me crying all night long. To make it even harder, while I stand at my kitchen sink, I can see your backyard which is a constant reminder that he is no longer with us and will be greatly missed.

-Steve and Debbie Bartleson