We have had a scholarship fund set up in Tracy's memory at the Helena College of Technology since a few months after he died. Tracy found out about most of the scholarships he received by going to the business office to complain about school expenses. Judging by the small number of scholarship applicants we have had, we assumed aviation students weren't finding out about ours either, so we had posters made. We had planned to present them to the school for display in the shop and classrooms at graduation. Those plans changed when another aircraft mechanic student died 2 weeks before graduation. The new plan is to give an actual on-the-calendar presentation about the scholarship to the new students September 12th. Reed graduated from the school in 1979, when it was still called Vo-Tech. I thought it might encourage the students to hear from someone who has made his living as an aircraft mechanic for 46 years. Reed seems willing to share. I'll try to cut him off before he gets to the part where he says it's not worth it, auto mechanics earn more money and don't have the liability.
My part will be to talk about Tracy and the scholarship. Here's what I'm planning to say:
Let me tell you something about Tracy's life before we get to the scholarship. As an adult, Trace turned out to be a natural mechanic, able to take something apart and instinctively know how it works. But before that, he was an "unnatural" mechanic. In his teen years, his goal for his vehicles was to lift, lower, and make louder. Mufflers were optional. Running well was optional. He could have 4 cars in our driveway and nothing capable of getting him 4 miles to work. Despite that, his friends would bring their cars to him for repair or to install a stereo. Often, after the stereo install, their car would not run. Tracy's explanation was usually--bad carburetor.
Later, he got much better at fixing mechanical problems, but developed a drinking problem. A lost relationship caused things to spiral out of control until he was finally willing to go to rehab at Rimrock in Billings. Something so remarkable happened on the drive to Rimrock, I want to share it briefly. By that low point in his life, Tracy doubted everything about his previous faith in Christ. Somewhere between Townsend and Toston, we pulled over on the shoulder of the road so our very anxious son could pace and smoke. He said, "I will never believe in God because I can't see Him and He can't see me." I prayed for the Lord to show Trace that He is real and He is good. At that very moment a car pulled up behind ours on the highway. The driver said he was on his way to a meeting in Helena when God told him to turn around and go talk to us. He encouraged Tracy and prayed for us. Tracy said, "I will never doubt God again because of what He did for me today." God is real. God is good. We wanted you to know that, too.
That does not mean his path to sobriety was easy. He had to leave rehab early because of some health problems and went back a year later. Let me give you this warning--Don't ever make your mother need to pray that God will make you physically unable to drink alcohol! After a few years of sobriety and helping his Dad at the airport, Tracy decided to get his A&P license at the same school in Helena that his Dad went to decades before. He did very well in school besides working more than full time as an auto mechanic. Tracy helped bond his classmates together by creating Hawaiian shirt Fridays and, when it was too cold for that, Fez Fridays. Yes, the kind the Shriners wear. One of his memorable moments at school was when he started a plane here that hadn't run for years. There were no instructors around, and one of his classmates was a pilot, so that guy got in and Tracy hand propped the plane. It started. Another warning--Students are not supposed to do this! Even if they have been trained by their mechanic Dad. He also called Reed between classes to fact check his instructors. They probably did not appreciate this, but they did like his help mentoring other students. Trace had already done things the other students were just learning about.
Trace traded classmates auto repair for math and composition repair so he could get his associate's degree. He wrote a sales presentation for his fictional product, "Hempbestos," a combination of hemp and asbestos. His paper to persuade was to gather believers and their assets for a new cult he was forming, where Inner Infinite Existence could be achieved by diving from 10,000 feet altitude into volcanoes. He even got an A on his paper documenting why writing class was a waste of time. But we don't consider it a waste of time. Having his sense of humor written down on paper brings joy when we are sad.
Tracy paid his own way through school. When he would go to the office to complain about the cost, they would tell him about a scholarship he could apply for. He got a lot of them. That is why, when friends wanted to do something in Tracy's memory, we set up this scholarship. After 6 years of being off drugs, Tracy died of fentanyl poisoning March 22, 2022, 6 weeks shy of graduation. His plans for the future were to get his pilot's license and start a mobile aircraft repair service. God's plans for him were different . . . and better. And He prepared both Trace and us for his early death by giving him years of sobriety to regain his self-respect and the respect of others. And his time here let him excel in a school that finally measured his true intelligence.
In Tracy's memory, I published a book on Amazon. It is a combination of my grief journal and the poems I wrote to cope with his death called, Lament of the Lamb. I have brought a few copies to give to anyone here who lost someone to fentanyl or another tragedy. There was another tragic death in last year's aircraft mechanic's class, a young man named Nevin Kelly died in a car accident 2 weeks before graduation. Reed and I would like to give this year's donation to Tracy's scholarship fund in memory of Nevin Kelly. (Point to picture. Intro family if there. Display poster.) We had these posters made so students could learn about Tracy's scholarship without having to go complain to the business office.
Tracy loved tools and is still deeply missed by several Snap On salesmen, so Reed brought some tools for you students if you are interested. And please come to me if you are interested in a Lament book. Thank you for letting us share today.
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