I've updated the blog with the Manuscript from the Funeral Service for Vernerd Visner. Vernerd was Donna Jenkins' brother, and the two passed away less than a month apart. God bless them both.
Order of Service –
Funeral for Vernerd Visner, April 2017
Processional – Joey & Rory – Take My Hand, Precious Lord
Call to Worship
You, O God, have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
Greeting:
We have come together this morning to praise God for the life of Vernerd Victor Visner; to mourn our loss with one another, to console each other in our moment of grief; to celebrate Vernerd's life and all that he meant to all that loved him; to celebrate God's love for Vernerd, and His love for each of us; And to commend Vernerd to God's everlasting love and care.
Opening Prayer:
Let us pray, Eternal Spirit, before whom the generations rise and pass away, even in the presence of death our first words to you are in praise for your unnumbered mercies. For the memory of loved ones now departed, we praise you. For their victories of character over trial, of courage over difficulty, of faith over sorrow, we give thanks, and for all those who have done justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with their God, we sing joyfully to you. Grant us now this same joyful thanksgiving as we remember your child Vernerd, and give to us that sure knowledge that you have won the victory over death in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Music: Johnny Cash & Family - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
A reading from the Old Testament:
Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Music: Where the Soul Never Dies – Oak Ridge Boys
A reading from the New Testament:
Matthew 20:1-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Music: Kitty Wells - Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet
Message: Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church
Vernerd Victor Visner, 83, died suddenly on Monday, April 17, 2017, at Stewart Memorial Hospital in Lake City. Vernerd was born on July 6, 1933, at home on the family farm near Coon Rapids, Iowa. His parents were Edward and Opal Visner. On January 14, 1961, he married Maxine Hines at the courthouse in Jackson, MN. The young couple had traveled to Minnesota to get married because Maxine wasn't old enough to get married in Iowa. There they were married by the Justice of the Peace and though Maxine was very young it must have been a perfect match for they were married 56 years this past January.
Vernerd is survived by his young bride Maxine, by their son John and his wife Rebecca, by their daughter Cindy Heim and her partner Darin Leighter, by three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by both of his parents, his brother Merle, and sisters Donna Jenkins, and Marge Cunningham.
At the time that Vernerd and Maxine were married, Vernerd worked in a gravel quarry running the rock crusher near Lake City, there he worked alongside Maxine's father. Later he worked as a roofer for Floyd Wellington for several years, before going to work for the town of Lake City where he worked for over 28 years, later he also mowed lawns and moved snow with Jake Hiners. Unlike many in his generation, Vernerd was never in the military due to his having asthma and not being able to pass the military physical.
During the time that Vernerd worked for the City, he would often transport the Doctors and Nurses to the Hospital when a blizzard or snowstorm had struck the town. He also hand dug the graves back in the days before the town had a backhoe. He also built the first swimming pool here in Lake City, which is ironic since Vernerd never learned to swim. Vernerd would run the street sweeper in Lake City, and Cindy told about being out when she wasn't supposed to be and seeing her Dad coming and having to run off before he saw her.
I heard a great many wonderful stories about Vernerd from the family and also from his long time friend Jesse Gorden. I will share a few of these stories with you here today, but I encourage you to visit with the family later to hear and share more memories.
The family told me how much he enjoyed listening to the old time 'classic' country-western music. Today, we have and will yet hear some of these old time favorite country songs. I will confess that I enjoyed searching for songs for today, I too have always enjoyed the old country music and it was great to hear some of these wonderful voices that I haven't listened to for many years. The song we just heard was Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet, sung by Kitty Wells who was called 'The Queen of Country Music' and was one of the original female country music stars.
In visiting with the family I learned about how much Vernerd loved to garden. He had a wonderful garden and he even sold horseradish and garlic to others. Vernerd had the knack for growing upside down tomato plants and he planted “Ghost Peppers” which he enjoyed watching the boys try to eat. He liked to play jokes on his friends and family by planting seeds in their gardens and have them be surprised at what had grown up. He liked to call his rhubarb plants “pie plants” and he'd prepare the horseradish on the back steps. Vernerd had to prepare the horseradish outside due of course to the distinctive smell involved. The family talked about how much he enjoyed going to 'Thistle Down' nursery to get plants for the garden. Vernerd talked to John just the other day asking him about his winter onions and garlic, he was already looking and planning ahead.
John talked about his father making egg sandwiches and potato pancakes. I heard stories about picking wild berries, making homemade wine, shelling popcorn, making home-made ice cream, of finding fresh wild honey, and along with many of these memories, there were stories about him pulling gags on his brother Merle. You really need to ask the family about these stories, ask them about the electric fence stories.
There were great stories about going to the Spencer County Fair, the Iowa State Fair, where he would always go on the “Old Mill” boat ride with his daughter Cindy. They talked about memories of going to Demolition Derbies, and the Drive-Inn Theater near Lytton. There was a particular story about an old girl's bike that Vernerd had and liked to ride around town, the story was that John talked Larry into helping him paint the bike Allis Chalmers orange, Vernerd still rode it... apparently it's still there at the house today and it sounded like it was still orange.
Vernerd loved to go hunting for mushrooms. There were a number of great stories about mushroom hunts, and again there seemed to be some gags at the expense of Vern's brother Merle. Ask the family about those stories as well. His friend Jesse told me that Vernerd 'really had a nose for mushrooms' and that he could find them if they were out there. Jesse said that just this past Sunday he was talking about calling Vernerd soon and seeing if he wanted to go out mushroom hunting.
When he was younger, Vernerd enjoyed hunting squirrels, pheasants, and jack-rabbits. Jesse Gorden told me about them going out at night hunting jackrabbits and sitting on the front fender of the cars with their shotguns. They went hunting with their friend Louie Weedrin and his brother Wilber. The family had mentioned a story about an old Packard car that Jesse had and how Vernerd took Maxine for a ride in it, she didn't seem too impressed though, as the car only had buckets to sit on in place of seats (not bucket seats mind you... but actual buckets) and instead of driving on the road Vernerd went tearing through the ditch. Jess told a great story about the group of them driving this car; which sounded like it wasn't much more than a frame, motor and transmission, to Lanesboro, the Sheriff stopped them and asked them what they were doing. They told him they were taking it to a nearby junkyard and he told them they better do so because it wasn't legal to drive on the highway. So they went into Lanesboro and hid the car until dark, then they drove home using flashlights to see where they were going.
Jesse also told a story about Vernerd and his brother Merle running in the ditch with their Dad's car. So they went home and got the tractor to pull it out, the car wouldn't start after pulling it out so they then decided to just pull it home. They were thinking they could drag it home and that their Dad would never be the wiser that they had gotten stuck in the ditch and all. Jesse said it might have worked but they forgot and left the car in gear... so they actually did 'drag' it home... and there were skid marks and of course a trail all the way from the ditch to home. One would have to wonder just what their Dad had to say about that one.
Back in those days, Jesse said their friend, Mcchesney had a band and they would all travel around listening to the band play at various bars and taverns in the area. They had a lot of fun he said... but, they never got into too much trouble... you'll have to visit with Jesse about that one too. It seems Jesse and Jeannie were involved in Maxine and Vernerd meeting, and that above all is a story I best leave to the family or Jesse to tell.
Jesse and the family and everyone else I talked to mentioned that Vernerd loved, loved, loved to fish. Jesse told me about them going up to 'The Lost Island' and fishing all night long. It seems that normally, Vernerd would fish from shore, since as I mentioned earlier he never learned to swim. But he would go out on a boat sometimes, one of those times was in 1995 when he got to go deep-sea fishing with his son John. John said that the only fish that Vernerd was able to catch was a species called a “mud-toad”, which apparently is a pretty ugly fish. When Vernerd caught the first one, and he caught nearly three dozen of them, they asked him what he'd caught and he said something to the effect that he didn't know but it was too darn ugly to come into the boat with him. Vernerd switched poles and places with everyone on the boat and still he just kept catching “mud-toads”. Eventually, he even used the rig that is designed to catch the really big fish... and all he got was a really big “mud-toad”. Though it certainly had to have been frustrating and disappointing to Vernerd, it is, of course, a wonderful story and a great memory now for John and the rest of the family.
I first met Vernerd when I was preparing to perform the funeral for his sister Marge, and after that, I saw him around town at various times. I always enjoyed visiting with him during these times. Of course less than a month ago we lost his older sister Donna, and once again I saw Vernerd during a difficult time. We're all surprised that we're here today so very quickly after Donna's passing to say goodbye to Vernerd. To the family, I can only say, that I sincerely pray that it will be a long while before we have to gather again to say farewell to one of your loved ones. But we do find some solace in knowing that today Vernerd and all of his siblings are together again. Just maybe Merle, Marge, and Vernerd are busy picking gooseberries for Donna to bake up in a pie.
As we've discussed, Vernerd loved gardening and country-western music. And as I said the last song we heard was Kitty Wells - Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet, now it may seem like an odd analogy to compare Vernerd to a flower... but he loved gardening and tending God's plants here in this world. Our wonderful Lord's bouquet is made up of so very, very many different kinds of people. Some of them are flashy, some of them are just plain simple good folks. Jesse told me yesterday that Vernerd was a good guy, and knowing Jesse that would seem to be a pretty good endorsement.
When I asked the family for words that described Vernerd I heard; loyal, helpful, someone you could always count on, someone who'd talk to anyone, someone who never met a stranger, someone who knew the family tree, a man that was everyone's friend. They told how he'd help anyone and not expect to be paid, in fact, John told how he'd once helped out a family friend and gotten paid for helping. When Vernerd found out, he made John take the money back, telling him that they were doing the person a favor and shouldn't have been paid to help.
It sure sounds like he was as Jesse said a “good guy” and again though it may seem an odd analogy, he indeed sounds like a pretty good pick for the Master's bouquet. I'm sure Vernerd is getting ready to help till and plant a simply incredible garden in our Lord's Kingdom. Springtime in Heaven what could be better than that?
Eulogy and Reflection:
If any of the family or friends would like to share a memory or thoughts about Vernerd, please come up to the microphone, or if you're unable to come forward, feel free to stand and speak from where you're seated.
Music: Kitty Wells – How Far is Heaven
Closing Prayer:
The family invites you all to gather with them in further celebration of Vernerd's life and a time of shared remembrances and closure, by joining with them at a luncheon down the hall in the fellowship hall, here at Woodlawn Christian.
Let us pray: O God, our Strength and our Redeemer, Giver of life, and Conqueror of death, we open our hearts to you just as we are. We celebrate your gift of life freely given but are grieved by a sense of loss in the face of death. The love which binds us to one another leaves us aching as ties are broken. Accept our tears as emblems of devotion, and transform them into waters of life to nourish us in the days ahead.
We trust you. We love you. We know in Christ that your love is everlasting. Nothing can separate any of us from your abiding care. With you is eternal life.
With confidence, we now entrust Vernerd to your unfailing love and overflowing goodness. Through the power that raised Christ from the dead to live eternally with you, lift up this, your servant, to life fulfilled beyond our imagining. We give you but your own, enfold him in your everlasting arms, hold him for he is your child.
Now strengthen us, through the gift of your Spirit, to face into the future with confidence that you stand with us. Grant that the changes of life may leave us stronger as we journey through life.
Reassured of your abiding presence, help us to knit more firmly the ties that bind us one to another. Renewed by your love, help us to love in ever larger circles so as to embrace your people everywhere till at last we are all united eternally through Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Benediction:
Music: Joey & Rory – Amazing Grace
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