February 5, 2012
This was our last fishing trip with Daddy. We went to McMullen Pond and did very nicely that day! Needless to say, we had a fish fry that night.
Motorcycle Trip to Steinhatchee, Florida
February 5, 2012
This was taken at Steinhatchee, Florida, one Saturday we took a motorcycle trip. Daddy loved following us in the car we took a motorcycle ride. He always said if he was able he'd be riding a Harley with us!
True Love
January 12, 2012
Our Daddy always taught us to never quit no matter what and to love each other beyond all else. That might be what true love's all about! We love you, Daddy!
Uncle Bull
January 12, 2012
He was my Daddy's older brother. Uncle "Bull" was one of my favorite uncles. He was a playful man like my daddy. He could pinch a bruise on your arm in a heartbeat just from being the playful, loving uncle he was. Loved him dearly and miss him to this day!
Father's Day 2007
December 12, 2011
This was our last Father's Day with Daddy. It was Men's Day at New Life Church. Daddy stood up and sang in Church that day.
December 12, 2011
This was Mama's surprise 80th Birthday Party at New Life Church September 2007. .
Our Last Father's Day
December 12, 2011
Daddy came over to my house for a church boy's outing. My sisters, Linda and Brenda and I took Daddy out to Texas Roadhouse for lunch and spent the day together. This was our last Father's Day with our Daddy. June 2007.
A Summer Day
December 12, 2011
Thisi was a summer day in Lake Park at my house on Lake Balboa. Daddy was working on the blower trying and helping me in my yard.
December 12, 2011
Mama says this is how Daddy looked when they married. This is the suit he was wearing when they married.
Daddy with younger sister, Mable
December 12, 2011
This is the youngest picture of Daddy with his sister, Mable.
Bud & Pearl Pickles' Family
December 12, 2011
Pickles Family: Amy, Claude, James Avery (Uncle Bud, Little Pa), Daddy (James "Pick"), Merton (Uncle Bull), Mable, Pearl (Aunt Pearl, Fatma), Idell, Gladys "Biddie", Lonnie, Barnie. This picture was taken Christmas 1949.
He Could Brighten the Darkest of Days
December 2, 2011
By Judy Allsbrook, Daughter
January 2008
My Daddy could brighten the darkest of days just by walking into the room. His love for his family and friends was immeasurable just as the number of friends he had in his lifetime was immeasurable. He had the most amazing capacity for love and acceptance of people that I have ever known. He always seemed to know how to bring out the best in people and to encourage them in a special way. The phrase "never meets a stranger" must have come from someone who knew my Daddy because he truly never met a stranger. If he didn't know you when you came into the room, he knew you before you left the room (whether you wanted him to or not). He was just that kind of person who loved people and loved to talk to people. He definitely had a way with words and didn't mind lavishing them on anyone who would listen! He always had a word of encouragement and was concerned about the well being of children. It might have been a simple "Hey Sugar" or "How 'bout it man?" but he always took time to make a child feel loved and important. He always encouraged children to get a good education and stay in school. That was especially important to him since he had to drop out of school at an early age to work and help take care of his family; however, he was one of the most intelligent, wisest men I've ever known and had a memory like no other. He was like a walking history book. He probably never knew it, but he practically wrote my family history book on my computer just from his memory of names, dates and places alone!
He loved helping his friends and neighbors and was always the first to offer a helping hand whether it was needed or not. He just loved helping people. He had every tool for every job that needed to be done and if he didn't have it he would find a way to get it. He was a wonderful teacher just simply by his care and concern for others. He was always willing ito show you or teach you how to do something. He could fix about anything and always taught my sisters and me that "anything that was broken could be fixed" which even applied to our broken hearts through the years of growing up. During our preteen and teen years he came back to church after many years of staying away just because he wanted to be sure that we were in the right place. He drove the church bus to Youth Rally's and all of our friends loved him. Even during those days he was always in the middle of any activities that involved us and our friends. Our well being was first and foremost with him and he was always there for us with his love and desire to see us grow and mature in the right way.
Our Daddy always supported us, encouraged us and treated us with utmost respect. By being the wonderful example he was, he taught us love and respect for others for which I am eternally thankful. The love, admiration and respect that I have for my Daddy is one of the greatest gifts he has left me. I am truly thankful to my Daddy just for loving me, my mother and my sisters, for all the needs that he met for us so unselfishly, for showing me and teaching me so much, for being there for me each and every time I was down and out. His unfailing love changed my life so many times. My Daddy's gift of love was so amazing! I Corin. 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
A Father's Love
December 2, 2011
By Brenda Pickles, Daughter
January, 2008
I really have had a hard time being able to put into words what I would like to say about my Daddy. I prayed for someway to express it and God woke me up at 4:30 in the morning to show me. I lay there at first thinking about all of the "first times" that we will be doing things without him being there. How my heart is breaking and how very much I miss him. Then God led my thoughts to the positive "first times" I was so fortunate to experience with my precious Daddy. Things like learning to dance standing on his feet, catching my first fish, getting to sit on his lap behind the steering wheel for my first driving lesson, him pulling up to the house in the ragged old pulpwood truck and picking us up to ride with him to the swamps. Going to Keaton Beach as a kid and him wading in the water with us out to the end of the pier where a crab grabbed him on the finger. He let me hand him the tools and wrenches and hold the flashlight when he was working on the car, he probably would much rather have done it without my help to slow him down, but because of his patience I actually learned something about cars. In his very special way, he taught me so much about life and always stood by me through the ups and downs and the rights and wrongs. For this I am so thankful. When I was in the 4th grade we were all playing at my cousins after school because Mama had to go to the doctor in Tallahassee. Daddy was working around the corner at the shop as a mechanic. It had just turned dark and I came running up to the front porch where I tripped over a root, slid into the edge of the sidewalk and promptly broke my right arm in two places. Of course, Mama came running out to see what was happening. I wasn't crying but I sure was scared. Mama was trying very hard not to show how upset she was so that I wouldn't be, but I know she was very worried because her baby was hurt. Someone got Daddy and off we went to the emergency room. I remember sitting on the exam table and suddenly feeling a little weird. I had never passed out before but I think I was about to....I told Daddy I didn't feel very good, he saw that I had turned very pale and laid me down on the table. Well, finally the doctor came in with the xrays and told them that my arm would need to be put in traction to be "set". We went to another room and the nurse told Daddy he would have to wait outside for me, (that is when I almost started to cry). Needless to say, Daddy had a very different opinion about waiting outside and he let the nurse know "right quick like" that he wasn't going anywhere. He stayed right there standing beside me and let me know everything was going to be alright. I am so thankful that he was able to continue to do that throughout many precious years. Daddy showed me that "A Father's Love" never fades, just as our Heavenly Father shows us everyday that his love never fades and he is always there for us. Lord I thank you for my dear Mama, my sisters and their special husbands (my brothers) and for all of the prayers and support from our New Life family that Daddy loved so much. I LOVE YOU DADDY!! Thinking about you everyday and missing you more than I can say.
Our Father's Love...A Special Memory of Many With Daddy
December 2, 2011
By Linda Pickles Lester, Daughter
January 2008
When we were growing up, our parents could not afford to take us on long, expensive vacations. But there were many weekends after they had worked very, very hard all week just to make ends meet, that we would all pile up in the car and take off down to Keaton Beach, "Jabo", or Ezell's Beach, down near Perry, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. The drive was only about an hour and a half drive, but when you're little and excited about getting there, it seemed a lot farther you know. We would ask the big question every few miles, "Daddy, how much farther?" and he would always hold up his hands a few inches apart and say, "Oh, about that far", to which we replied, "Oh, Daddy! Really, how far?" Those little trips are some of my happiest memories growing up, because we were all together, and to us, without a care in the world. Daddy and Mama probably didn't quite feel that way, because they had to pay for it somehow, but they always managed. We would get out in the water and play for hours, or go play shuffleboard with them at the Pavilion. And, of course, one of our favorite things was to dance on Daddy's feet. I remember one particularly exciting day, when Daddy decided that while the tide was low, we were going to wade all the way out to the end of the pier at Keaton's Beach. He had me and Brenda each by the hand, I think Judy was "too old" to do that and decided to walk out on the pier and meet us there. Anyway, here goes Daddy with the twins on either side of him. About halfway there he stopped us and said he felt something touch his foot. When he reached down to see what it was, his big ole' hand came up out of the water with a big blue crab attached to the end of his finger! He grimaced a little, and got a big kick out of hearing us squeal and seeing us jump up and down. But after teasing with us for a minute, he "carefully" removed the crab and set him airborne on his way. We were so proud of ourselves for going "all that way" with our Daddy, and he was proud of us, too. Although he always taught us to be strong and independent, we always felt loved, safe and protected when Daddy was around. Even when he wasn't around, we knew he was thinking of us and our well-being. There are so many wonderful stories and memories of our Daddy, and I'm really thankful that we had him in our lives for all those precious years. Losing my Daddy has been the saddest thing in my life and I miss him everyday. But I know that he is with our Heavenly Father, who paid the ultimate price. What greater love than "Our Father's Love" - Our Heavenly Father and Our Earthly Father?
Through the Years
December 2, 2011
By Vi Pickles, Wife
The Lord blessed me and Pick with 61 years together! Like any marriage, we had our ups and downs, but through the years, through prayer, faithfulness and lots of love, we always worked things out. Pick was an auto mechanic when we first married and he had to attend various schools for training. I remember one trip to Jacksonville for one of the classes (he always made sure that I went with him on all of his trips). We were driving along a busy street and I noticed that everyone we met was waving and blowing their horns at us. I told Pick, "Look at that, a lot of these people know us." He then realized that we were traveling the wrong way on a one-way street and Pick said, "I don't think they know us Baby, we're going the wrong way!" We laughed about that so many times through the years. There are so many memories and so many things I could share, but it's hard to put into words. I am so thankful to the Lord for allowing us to be together for as long as we were and for seeing us through the good times and the bad. He was and is the love of my life.
"Hey, Man"
December 2, 2011
By Keith Allsbrook, Son-in-Law
“Hey man”, is the sound I hear most and the one I miss the most when I think about my father-in-law, Mr. Pick. That was his greeting to me most every time I saw him. He had a way about him that made you feel like every time you came around it was important to him and every visit from anybody was special. Pick considered himself a simple and uneducated man, but I found him to be one of the most profound and provocative men I have ever met. He was profound in his ability to remember people, places and things; he never ceased to amaze me with ability to remember the details of things that happened many years ago. He was provocative in the sense that he always made me want to do better and love people more. When I would see his way with and love for children or his concern about the welfare of others it would make me want or wish I was more like that. Pick’s love for his wife and daughters always issued a challenge in my spirit that this is the way you are supposed to act. In the natural he was a strong and a giant of a man, but on the inside he was even a bigger man. He was kind and tender-hearted which I believe is the true mark of a man; with that in mind I believe you could say Pick was a man’s man. This is maybe one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life because there are so many ways that Mr. Pick made an impact on my life. There are hundreds of funny stories, tales of all sorts and so many people that he knew, for I believe Pick knew everybody. I will tell just one more thing that I admired about Pick and that was his ability to make a decision and stick to it; the greatest of these was his decision to follow Christ with his whole heart and he did that as well as I have ever seen anyone do. In short, I would say I want to be just like Pick when I grow up.Memorial Service - December 5, 2007
December 2, 2011
By Judy Allsbrook, Daughter
Our family would like to welcome you and thank you all for honoring Daddy and us with your presence. Your presence is a picture of Daddy’s greatest love which is his family and friends. I know if he were physically here today he would be overwhelmed at the outpouring of love that has been shown to us. What a life my sisters and I have had to be blessed with an earthly father of such strength, wisdom, integrity and love. It’s the strength he imparted to us that is lighting our way today.Memorial Service - December 5, 2007
December 2, 2011
By Keith E. Allsbrook, Son-in-Law
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints. 1 Cor 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. I can say this and most all can also from Mr. Pick we learned love.
This will be hard to do in a timely fashion because first the impact that Pick made on all of our lives and second I personally have 27 years of Piccolos stories to tell of which I can tell with a certain amount of accuracy because most of them I heard many times. Fear not though he had a story to tell about a long lasting Pentecostal Church service. Pick was a big man with a big heart. He was all about his Wife and Family, Friends, and he loved children and they loved him. Pick had the ability to mark or impact the lives of all he came in contact with. Pick was truly the man they were talking about the one who never met a stranger. Every where you went with him you would hear him say haven’t I met you somewhere before and once that was settled you would probably never be forgotten. Pick had an incredible memory for people’s names.Prov 18:24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. If you ever needed anything he was there to help. Pick lived his life in this fashion.Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. In my book he was the kindest man I ever met.Matt 4:19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of Men." Pick was a fisher of fish. He was the epitome of at the mention of my name fish tremble. From fishing with his Father , his daughters, other family members and friends he loved to fish and to eat fish, I can’t go without saying if he caught them he and we was going to eat them.Children- I can’t leave this part out. Pick loved the little children. I believe a true mark of a man is the way they have care and concern for the next generation and in that light he was a man’s man. Some six years ago Pick bowed his knee to something he had known to be true for many years and that was his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He often said and I mean often, I had a chance that not many get and that is to make things right with the Lord and I made it right. He often would stand and give testimony of how good the Lord had been to him and momma and to have his whole family in Church together. Maybe he might sing an old hymn or tell just how blessed a man that he was. I promise you that if I didn’t know that Pick was with the Lord and could unequivocally say that He is better off I could not do this today. As the scriptures say, 1 Cor 15:54-57 DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 " O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:1-3 " Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Rev 21:1-6 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Rev 22:1-5 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.