"Heaven on a Hilltop" lost it's patriarch on Sunday

Today is a sad day for me. I lost two wonderful friends in the last couple of days. One of those cherished and respected friends was Foster Compton. A couple of years ago, I wrote a short story about some friends that live up in the coalfields of SW Virginia, back up a hollow, where one must drive in a creekbed and wind along the side of a bank on a rocky two track road. Way back there is the Compton homestead, and it truly is "Heaven on a Hilltop" which is the title I gave the short story.

The Compton family is a large, Appalachian family, consisting of a retired coal miner, his wife and the extended family. They are simple country people that live life to it's fullest, loving God, family, and the land that God has made so beautiful.

Foster Compton passed away Sunday after a long battle of several years with Black Lung. He was a great story teller, and a WWII veteran. He and his wife were always ready to welcome company and to smother them with southern hospitality. Never did I go there that I was not offered some simple southern home cooking. Cornbread, brown beans, fresh produce from their huge garden, and all the sweet tea one could drink.

We attended his wake last night in Honaker Va. It was amazing how many people were there to pay their respects. The parking lot was full and there were cars parked for several hundred yards up and down the shoulders of the road. I would hazard a guess that there were over 300 people there and more coming when we were leaving.

We called him the Colonel. He was truly a fine southern gentleman. Rest in peace "Colonel" we will miss ya my friend.

Foster is being buried today, back up that hollow, on the side of a hill overlooking the house and farm. He picked the spot for the family plot years ago and today he is being laid to rest there on the mountain where he can watch over all those he loves and cares about. He has lived out his later years in that peaceful and serene place they call home, and now he is at peace there in eternal rest.