A little late in reading this thread, but I still wanted to express my condolences. It's hard to lose a parent at any age, though it sounds to me like his life was long and respectable, and in the end, that's maybe all any of us can hope for. The day will come for me when I move on, and I hope that I have left a footprint in other's lives, such that they will write about me in words as kind and thoughtful as those with which you have written about your father.
My thoughts are with you,
Patrick