Having seen the harvest safely in

He's settled now for his winter's nap

While gathered loved ones, friends and kin

Contemplate the present gap

Which once the Pumpkin Carver filled

The gap is there for he is stilled

Though now in sorrow we are wrapped

Still joy and thankfulness abound

That his life and ours have overlapped

And love remains our common ground

We treasure all those earthly hours he wiled

As carver of pumpkins to an eager child

Jan Haigis

written on the occasion of the passing of her father-in-law John W. Haigis, October 1988,whose chosen epitaph is

Here beneath the coldly chiseled name Lies one unknown to universal fame He was gentle, loving, warm and mild Carver of pumpkins to an eager child

click here for a musical version of a poem he wrote "If I should pass" (Music by Jan and John Haigis)