William Kemp ~ 1919 - 2004

A little while ago I received a phone call from my Mom. She told me that my maternal Grandfather, William Kemp, age 85, passed away peacefully this morning at the hospice. Gramps, as he was called, was very ill with respritory problems and he was deteriorating over the past few months. His lung capacity last week was barely 25%. He was in and out of the hospital on a weekly basis for the past month and there was nothing that the doctors could do for him. He was told that he would not likely live beyond the end of February. Mom told me that Gramps accepted this with grace and dignity and asked to placed in hospice care to make him as comfortable as possible for his last weeks.

Gramps and I were not particularly close. He wasn’t close to anyone really. He was a very quite man that kept to him self and never talked or shared much. I do know that he was a long time Orioles Baseball fan and he followed the team religiously. He worked for the B&O Rail Road and then Chessie System for much of his life. With his passing all of my grandparents are now gone. A small private memorial service is being planned for latter this week and his remains will be cremated. May he now find the peace and comfort that eluded him so in his latter years.