Don Roth had faith in people

To the editor:

Thank you for your story on Don Roth. I am Don's niece and, speaking for his family, we all miss him terribly. It is good to hear other people say how much he will be missed. We knew him as a compassionate, caring man who put everyone else before him. Don almost never took a day off. If he did, it was for a family get-together, and again he would see to everyone's needs before his own. Once he had, you could always find him asleep under a shade tree for some much needed rest.

Christmas was the same. I can rarely remember a Christmas when someone wouldn't call with an emergency. Don would leave to open the store for someone with broken pipes or blown fuses. Don had a rare quality. He had faith in people -- all people, almost to a fault. He hated when some let him down. In most cases, though, his faith was well -placed and always returned. Maybe it would serve us all to have a little more faith in people.

JENNIFER SPIES, Chaffee, Mo.