A family member is throwing a surprise retirement party for my FIL. Any ideas on a gift for him? He reads, plays golf and likes to research his ancestry.
a DVD slideshow of HIM. If you have a laptop capable to do this it can be done very inexpensively. You will need to get hold of a scanner to scan old photos into the slideshow.
When my father retired last summer I made him a memory book using "My Publisher". It is an online scrapbook of sorts where you can select the format, layout, and type of book you wish to make. I gathered information from my mom and other family members/co-workers to develop a timeline. I wrote a history starting with high school and ending with his last position. With My Publisher books, you supply the photos and the text, so the possibilities are endless. My father worked for a railroad company so I was able to get a few photos from the internet and a few from co-workers. (I scanned them).Pictures of high schools, universities, and places of business are relatively easy to find. I actually found a few unique pictures on sites such as Picasa. Good luck and have fun!
When my dad retired a couple of years ago. We didn't want people to bring gifts, but knew they would, so we said golf balls only. He really enjoyed the different ones. There is a place where you can get your picture on a golf ball, name of the golf ball, someone got him golf balls from all over where they happen to visit. It was something different.
I read some of the response and I really like the scrapebooking idea. If you can find pictures of when he stared working. Good Luck.
My son is really into genealogy and he LOVES the Family Historian software. If your FIL is computer savvy I'm sure it would come in really handy!
The golf and reading hobbies are very easy to shop for, but the ancestry gives the best idea for personalizing his gift. Make the effort to get as many family photos (new and old) from extended family members. your FIL may already have some photos, but it is a real treat to see what others have cherish over the years. For my father, his sister was able to give some photos he didn't even knew existed. They included deceased family from both his mother and father. Good luck, he would be pleasantly surprised and requires effort on your part. The effort is worth his surprise, since no one could walk into a store to buy this gift.
Scrapbook made with layouts that he can just fill in - either from the retirement party or with pics of ancestors.
What about a book or journal (nice hardbound/leather) that he can write his memories in for his future ancestors to read about him and his life?
does he have a membership to a website like ancestry.com or the ellis island foundation--now he may have time to research his passion. Also, there are some golf courses that go into together and offer a package deal at multiple courses with special deals-reduced green fees and carts, free range balls, and other things. Sometimes you play off hours or off days, but it is a great way to try out a lot of different courses. Maybe a personal note saying how he has inspired you by his successful career or his devotion to his family while building his career, if those are true heartfelt statements.
What about a kindle?(The electronic book thingy). In my county you can buy a senior citizen's pass to the county golf course for an whole season--do you have something like that near you?
We got my FIL a limo ride to and from work on his last day.
