How do you measure a man?

By the material things he has acquired: the amount of money he makes, the type of car he drives, the price he paid for his house?

Or is it by his heart: how often he comes when he is called, how much he gives when he is asked, how little he request when he does a deed?

There is but one way to measure Arthur Lee Howard – by his heart.

Not one of us can recall a time when he wasn’t willing to go that extra mile for us, to give that extra little bit when there really was not much more to give. And he did all of this without pause, without wanting anything in return.

We can’t count the number of times we’ve called on him and he came. He didn’t have to do it; he has a family of his own. But like many of us, he knows that a family is expansive, that it is more than a wife and children. He knows that his family is every one of us who is connected to him by love. And he sees it as his responsibility to be there when his loved ones call.

Arthur Lee is a quiet man. He speaks and walks softly, rarely gets angry and has the patience of Job. We couldn’t imagine life without him. He’s as much a part of us as we are of ourselves. We depend on him, we cherish him, we love him. And today, we honor him.