Henry Yeiser

Obituary

The quote, “The eyes are the window into the soul,” deeply resonates with me. I can detect a deeper level of communication, the eyes make. At times it can feel like telepathy. Some people behold an extra softness, and my Uncle Hank was one of them. He was the “loud” Uncle, but his pupils spoke of a quiet and caring tune. His eyes spoke of compassion, sensitivities, empathy, and pain. These traits make for a huge heart, and that is what anyone who knew Hank would say, “he had a kind heart.” This does not mean he was a perfect human with an always sparkling personality. He sure did love to complain about inconveniences and spoke passionately with great irritation about whatever system, or modern tech was temporarily disrupting his flow of life. Often, I would zone out during one of his boisterous ramblings. However now that he has passed, hearing one of his rants replay in my head gives me the biggest smile, and a little chuckle. It is funny how an off-putting trait during life can become a treasured memory in death. A quirk that made a person uniquely them, is all part of why we loved them so much.

Equal to his expression of irritation was his outwardly animation of joy. You knew when something lit up his entire body. He loved cars and spoke on the topic with wide eyed excitement. The faster the better, cars were always cool to him. As a teen I heard he was so eager to drive that he sneakily took his Dad’s car, nicknamed the “Chuck wagon”, out for a spin, before he even had a license. Not sure how many times as he only got caught once. I was not around to witness his teenage years but I saw how giddy he was when the Tesla first came out! Kid in a candy store. You better believe he got on the pre-order list and was one of the very first Tesla owners. I know since then Tesla may have come under some scrutiny, but remember when they first came on scene? They were slick! Still the first and only time I have been in one, was when my Uncle Hank came over to show me his new ride. He let me take it for a drive, and as I punched the gas it was the smoothest transition to speed, I had ever felt! Nearly howled in delight with how cool it was. My enthusiasm made Hank all the happier, equating to a literal definition of “ joy ride.” He and I were laughing like a pair of bandits on the loose. By far a top shared moment with my Uncle Hank. His favorite feature of the Tesla was being able to leave his dog in the car with the air conditioning on while he ran inside for a quick errand. At the time he had the most wonderful companion, a German Shepard who was given the name, Dude. Everyone agreed this was the best name for a dog, only Hank would name his dog “Dude.” He loved saying, “hey Dude,” to the dog.

Hank had some of the very best pet companions throughout the years including an amazing cat named Cowboy, who would go for walks off leash right along side Hank and his dog, when he lived in Santa Barbara. Hank had true friendships with his pets and an empathy for animals. He enjoyed the concept of “pay it forward,” if a moment touched him. One time at the veterinarian’s office a pet owner was in tears about not having the money to pay for a life saving operation. Hank had such deep sympathy for her sorrow that on a whim he decided to cover the bill for the surgery.

Hank also had an affection for aviation and became a pilot. He flew me, my mom, and my husband Chris once from Cincinnati to Chicago for a trip to Ikea and lunch. At the time it was the closest Ikea to Cincinnati and I needed an entertainment system for my newly purchased condo. Upon arrival back to Cincinnati he asked us the passengers, “does anyone see the airport?” My mom and I sat up straight and panicky, both darting our eyes out the window in search for an airport. Later this became a comical moment because nobody wants to hear a pilot upon an initial approach, ask if we can see the airport. Uncle Hank assured us it was not the big deal we made it out to be and we trusted him, but for us it was definitely a few seconds of fear.

Hank enjoyed the opera and donated to the Cincinnati Opera. He was excited to learn that I too liked Opera and we went to a few shows together. I discovered I do have a favorite, Don Giovani. Both Hank and I were blown away by that particular performance. We would always leave each Opera with the same thoughts about them and it was fun in the car ride home to either say how much we loved it or how much we were unimpressed. I do not even remember the names of the other Operas as we really had that one true stand out experience of watching Don Giovani.

Hank disliked pictures and gift exchanges. One Christmas as a joke I got him a couple of crabs and wished him a “crabby” Christmas, alluding to his dislike of gift exchanges. Except he really made a great effort to take care of those crabs! Here I was trying to be funny and he tried his hardest to understand those crabs, and give them the best life. I felt bad when he was actually sad when they died. I hope he is reunited with all his pets that he lost in his lifetime, including those crabs!

Gift exchanges may have made him crabby but he had great joy in taking my kids to the toy store to pick out their own gifts. One year one of my daughter’s chose to buy a giant nutcracker instead of a toy and he thought that was wonderful. Heavily amused that a 10 year old girl would choose a Christmas decoration over a toy. This was his delight, discovering what kid’s would pick out on their own. After all, who in a million years would think to gift a 10 year old a giant nutcracker? I think this is why Hank had such a disdain for gift giving. He preferred to witness the joy of someone making their own selection, over a present that may have to be returned. Although he did actually give a couple of great gifts! A memorable gift I received from him when I was a kid, was of course a super fast black Lamborghini remote control car. I can still hear and see how excited he was, when I whipped that thing across my parent’s hardwood floors. He also gave my sister a firemans hat that turned on complete with lights and a siren! We kept that around our house for a very long time and then I believe we got joy in handing it down to our cousin Jed.

My Uncle and I share a harmless mischievous side. We are lovers of a good prank and gag gifts. I know if we had both been teenagers together we would have drummed up some minor stunt to pull off and thought it hysterical for all the years of our lives. I adored his fit of giggles when he would share a memory of a prank in the past. His face took on a youthful look and I felt as though the kid with in him was sharing the details. I am sorry to his youngest sister Ellen, who was often the victim of his pranks. One time he slid the coon tail portion of a Davy Crocket hat under the door and wiggled it with his foot, claiming to his youngest sister that he had caught a live Raccoon. He loved a solid prank!

My Grandfather loved that Hank was an artist but Hank did not seem to agree that he was one. However I have seen a painting and must agree with my Grandfather, Hank had talent with a paint brush. He did not claim himself an artist but he admired art and carefully chose the paintings for his house. I loved hearing about what drew him towards a particular painting. He also loved talking about house designs and it was great fun hearing about all his ideas for our house at the time we were building it. He is the reason we a family of five, have two dish washers because it made so much more sense to have one dirty and one clean. I must say it is one of our better decisions regarding the house.

My Uncle and I silently connected over ADD. We never spoke in depth of our experiences with it , but I have a complete understanding to the complexities and challenges he must have faced. I also saw how it showed up in his personality. Impatience with the slow moving, probably why he always loved fast cars and got so frustrated at having to take extra time on something that was detracting from what he really wanted to be doing. Cooking can be fast paced with having to do so many things at once and at one point he really enjoyed hosting all of us for Thanksgiving for several years in a row. He did an excellent job and I miss those days. Towards the later years in his life he found greater joy retreating to his house in Boca Grande, FL. Sadly, I never got to see his place there but I know it was special to him as he would describe it with the same amount of passion as talking about his newest fast car. I heard some in the community of Boca Grande nicknamed him “the mayor.” True to ADD he tested out living in all kinds of places but always kept a tether to Cincinnati, where he grew up. I am jealous he spent some years living in New Zealand, and had I been old enough at the time, I may have visited him and probably moved there myself! He also had once lived in LA, New Mexico, and Colorado.

I am sorry I can’t include any pictures on the site because one, I do not have any and two Hank would hate it so much! He refused to have his picture taken and out of spite would often stick his tongue out when forced to be in a photograph. He did not join any of the social networks either. While I am sad to have so few pictures of him, I am happy to have the memory of how much he hated pictures. Can you hear him responding with grunts and groans when the camera comes out? I forever can. Thank you Uncle Hank for so many fond memories, we can tap into at anytime. We love you, and we will always remember the kind heart bestowed behind those gentle eyes.