Tim Skubick

By now you have learned that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is coping with the loss of her 85 year dad who was more than just her father. She recalls that when she decided to run for governor he was “so supportive” and helped to guide her through that decision and on top of being her trusted political advisor, and every governor needs someone who will tell them the truth with their best interest at heart, she adds, “he was my best friend.”

I had the honor of covering him dating back to the days of the Gov. Milliken administration where he served as state commerce director. In recent years we kept in touch and in an ironic twist of fate, after he got home from a visit to the local ICU, he was in grand spirits, sounded like he always did, as he recounted the ordeal. For months he had promised to send me a copy of his 1999 book and I gently reminded him I really wanted to read it.

“I’ll get it to you,” he promised. And sure enough, awaiting me when I got to the TV studio was the book with a note from the governor. “Enjoy my dad’s book,” she wrote with an exclamation point at the end. I did read it and enjoyed it but it was not the usual political tome where the objective is to recount all your wins and loses. Rather it was a guide to doing life with commentary on everything from admitting your mistakes, the need for confidence, avoid gratuitous advice at all cost and “The ultimate, I believe, is when you can count your offspring as friends..it gets no better than that.”

It was my intention to give him a buzz for my book review comments but then sadly the word came that he was gone. The book sits here at my desk.

So in the days and weeks ahead you will read about the mountain of accomplishments of Dick Whitmer. To be sure they are impressive and portray the man as a dedicated public servant coupled with his business acumen. His contribution to this state will be ever lasting and all the praise is richly deserved. But a strange thought emerged while reading Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s touching words announcing his passing.

It was his laugh.

It was robust. It was contagious and was in almost every encounter over these many years. In a word he was fun to be around.

Like the first time candidate for governor Whitmer pulled up in the campaign bus at the MEA headquarters in East Lansing. It was a cold and wintery day much like this week. She was on one of those grinding days of criss crossing the state for support and who is one of the last persons off the bus?

Yep. Her dad.

We met at the door. It had been some time since we had a chance to catch up. So while she worked the crowd across the room with the TV camera catching her every move, the soon to be First Dad and this reporter headed off to the side to chat. After about five minutes or so, out of the corner of your eye , here comes the would-be governor moving quickly from her side of the room. She had that look in her eye that she was on a mission. Oh yeah. She was as she greeted both of us with, “All right you guys . Break it up.”

Say what?

Now acting as if her whole campaign was riding on it, she advised that she didn’t want her dad and I talking together. Never mind that over the years we had done many an interview.

He laughed as did I.

“He knows too much,” she looked me in the eye and added, “and he likes you.” You can figure out what she feared.

She delivered her message and when back to pressing the flesh. We had another good natured laugh since I was not pumping him for any inside skinny. Just two guys talking.

The conversations and laughing would continue on and off over the years as the topics almost never had anything to do with her being governor but rather focused on all the political people we jointly knew starting with his Milliken years and working forward.

In more recent years some of the talks unfolded with him in Florida with two of his main buds S. Martin Taylor and Gregory Eaton long time Lansing players. I called them the Three Amigos and you can imafgine the tons of laughs these consummate Lansing insiders enjoyed over the year including Mr. Whitmer driving their golf cart into a swamp.

As it turns out in his book there was one more subsection which fits nicely in this column: “Laughter/Sense of Humor.”

He writes, “If you don’t think things are funny, you’re in trouble. If you can’t laugh and particularly if you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re in reel deep trouble. If you laugh at your own mistakes, you show confidence in yourself to those around you, and that’s an important message. A fundamental sense of humor is very powerful and should never be underestimated.”

So along with all he accomplished, he leaves behind his love of laughter which lives on in the hearts and minds of those in this town who were touched by the gov’s dad.