As 2025 Ends, The Great Ones We Still Miss!

Should old acquaintance be forgot . . . Well, we really can't say we were acquainted with them, though we did meet some of them.

Some of them have been gone for years, some even decades. Some passed away more recently.

Some were more famous than others; some more impactful than others; some more successful than others. But all of these people certainly made their mark and their lives are lessons in fidelity. They were inimitable and we still miss each and every one of them and wish they were still here. 

Yes, this is a highly personal list but almost any list would be. And yes, some of you of a certain age may have to look some of these people up -- so be it. In no particular order, here they are:

Bust of Rush Limbaugh in the
Hall of famous Missourians.

Rush Limbaugh: Every weekday at noon we still long to hear his voice -- his distinctive, perfect redio voice. He was perceptive, funny, optimistic and irrepressible human!  

Stephen Sondheim: He made musical theater meaningful, kept it relevant and brought it into the 21st century while remaining faithful (with a wink and a smile) to its roots. He was The Master!

Charles Krautheimer: The consummate political observer, his own personal story was a resolutely-lived profile in courage. He was erudite -- a word you don't hear much anymore.

Margaret Thatcher: Wow, could the UK (and the rest of the world) use the will and determination of the Iron Lady right now! And damned if she didn't always look the part as well. A Prime Minister for the ages!

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: He was a TV pioneer -- really the first televangelist though he never, ever asked for money. And, get this: his writings and videos are fresher and more relatable than ever. Way ahead of his time! Go, watch and read.

Ronald Reagan: Ronaldus Maxus! They called him an "amiable dunce" and laughed him off. They've long since stopped laughing and each year he ranks higher and higher in the annals of US presidents. Oh, how lucky we were to be around in his era!

Queen Elizabeth: Steely, steady, steadfast and forever faithful, her whole life spoke as one continuous journey, demonstrating what it means to be Head of State amidst the tumult and the upheaval of the modern world. 

Saint Pope John Paul II: John Paul The Great. With Reagan and Thatcher he helped bring about the fall of communism and the triumph of democracy. He was also willing to trade a mammoth church for a smaller following that was more faithful to traditional Church teaching, if it came to that.

Walter Cronkite: His "that's the way it is"  became a cliché and then a fading memory but his unquestioned credibility wasn't blow-dried, it was earned and the result of decades in the trenches as working journalist when that word really meant something.

Mother Angelica: An Old School nun who built a media powerhouse (EWN, Eternal Word Network) and succeeded where others failed. She made Catholic doctrine come alive in everyday terms. providing lowly sinners with the guardrails they needed to navigate an increasingly godless world.

William F. Buckley: The father of the modern conservative movement in  America, he charted the path forward and foresaw the era of Reagan long before others could even imagine such a triumph. He did it through the power of his ideas and showed us that words really do matter.

Milton Friedman: This Nobel Prize winning economist championed free-market capitalism, limited government, minimal regulation and shareholder supremacy -- and he did it in an engaging manner that ordinary people could understand and embrace. Powerful!

Mother Teresa - Saint Teresa of Calcutta was appropriately fast-tracked to sainthood, but she would be the first to tell you that her faith was not invincible and she was, at times, troubled by doubt. Like Christ himself, she struggled with the path that the Almighty laid before her.