From before the moment of birth, through the rest of the child’s life, fathers are essential to the well-being of their children.
Unfortunately fathers and fatherhood in general are mocked and treated as unimportant. Pope John Paul II spoke on fathers in 1981 and said, “In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family.”
Walter Hoye II, Ruth Institute Board member, produced this touching tribute to his father, which highlights the good that fathers do for their families. He will be our keynote speaker at the 2021 Summit Awards dinner.
We have built this Fatherhood Resource Center to give the science, sound thinking, and stories about the importance of fatherhood for children, mothers, and also for society.
My dad’s boyhood dream was to fly airplanes for a living. At age 19 in early 1941, my dad was a licensed civilian pilot, trained by a precocious 22-year-old instructor, Bob Bean at the Max Conrad Flying School. In August 1941, dad enlisted in a Navy aviation pilot program. After the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, dad graduated early from flight school and stayed a few months as an instructor before being a lead bomber pilot for the rest of WWII. Dad taught me that all squadron personnel were told repeatedly, “Do your best. Others are depending on you,” and that I should do my best for the same reason.
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