Funeral Service for Doris Hanks - December 27th, 2017

Today we laid to rest one of Woodlawn's longtime Saints, Doris Hanks.  It was a sad day but also a glorious day as we now know that Doris is reunited with her Lord and that Doris no longer suffers from the infirmities that plagued her final days.

Praise God for her life and her witness!

Below please find the manuscript of the service.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Love,
Roy

Order of Service – Funeral for Doris Hanks

Prelude:  

Music:  On Eagle's Wings  – Erin Blair

Procession: 
All please rise.

Call to Worship:
O God, who brought us to birth,
and in whose arms we die,
in our grief and shock
contain and comfort us;
embrace us with your love,
give us hope in our confusion
and grace to let go into new life;
through Jesus Christ.  Amen 

Please be seated.

Greeting:
Holy God, gathered together we praise your blessed name.
We praise you today for your servant Doris Jean Hanks
and for all that you did through her.
Meet us here in our sadness and mourning,
and fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving,
for the sake of the One who loves us all... Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Opening Prayer:
God who creates and re-creates us, God who laughs with us and weeps with us,
God who walks with us each step of the way, carrying us when our strength fails,
we gather today with hearts breaking with grief, with voices crying out words of lament. And so we ask that you would move in and around us today. As we gather to remember and say goodbye to Doris, be the shoulder we can cry on, the arm we can lean on, help us to see through the veil of tears that there is hope for life continuing. Gracious God, as mysterious and wondrous as you are, you are also a compassionate God, as attentive as a hen with her chicks, as tender as a mother with a newborn child, as watchful as a shepherd with the sheep, as protective as a father’s warm embrace. and so we come into your presence to grieve Doris' death,
asking that your Holy Spirit would be here to ease our pain. As we give thanks for all that she added to the lives of those around her, as we release our tears and sorrow, as we say our goodbyes, remind us that we are not alone, for You are with us...  In Jesus’ all-gracious and all-loving name we pray, Amen. 

Music:  How Great Thou Art – Erin Blair

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 for ever.

Reading from the New Testament:
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
4:16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Music:  The Old Rugged Cross – Erin Blair

Message:  Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church
Doris Jean Hanks passed quietly from this world and into the Kingdom of our Lord on the afternoon of December 20, 2017.  She was born on August 26, 1926, in Manson, Iowa to Arthur and Blanche Sommerfeld. She first attended 'Country School' but later attended and in 1944 graduated from Lake City High School, here in Lake City, IA.  Doris was Baptized at the “First Baptist Church” in Rockwell City but later while still, a teenager transferred her church membership here to Woodlawn.  On February 2, 1947, Doris married Herbert Keith Hanks before this very altar...  Doris is survived by her sons Bill (wife Sheri) and Duane (wife Linda), by six grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

When I asked the family the other day to give me words that described Doris, they told me, determined, religious, hardworking, family oriented, and they told me how much she enjoyed her close friendships.

Doris' religion was always very important to her and she shared with others the importance of having a genuine relationship with God.  Janelle Nesbitt told me how whenever the children from the youth group stopped in to visit Doris at Shady Oaks, that Doris would always emphasize to them how important learning about God was and how they needed to continue to have a close relationship with God.  Often when I would visit her she would tell me how very much she wished she could come up to be at church... today Doris got her wish, she gets to be back in this Sanctuary... this church building... that she loved so much, one last time.  She truly loved her Lord, and she loved this old church building, and she loved her church family.  Doris was long a devoted and dedicated member here at Woodlawn, one of those that Jim Bruce would number among the Saints of Woodlawn.

Doris was a hard-worker, she was a farm wife and mother.  She had a huge garden and shared her produce with many other members of her family and her friends. After the boys were older, Doris started to work in town.  She enjoyed working at the Lake City Library, Farley’s Clothing Store and Ben Franklin.  Doris liked to be around people and she kept working until she was 75 years of age.

Doris was very family-oriented, not just to her close family but to her extended family as well.  Bill and Duane told how for many years they would travel every Christmas morning to go to Rockwell City for the Sommerfeld Family Reunion. Doris loved to have a lot of family around especially on the holidays.

The family talked about how important her and Keith's close friendships were to them.  They talked about how their closest friends were almost like second families and how they all worked together out on their farms.  Doris and Keith were especially close to Dale & Bonnie Stoffregan, Jack & Barb Carich, and Gordon and Jean Dooley.  The family talked about all the wonderful times that the families had together, please ask them to tell you more about these stories later at the luncheon.

Later in life, Doris would regularly go for coffee at Sparky's and it was there that she became close friends with Donna Jenkins.  Doris was responsible for Donna becoming a Christian, for Donna joining Woodlawn Christian Church, and I suspect what made Doris the happiest of all... Doris was responsible for Donna being baptized here at Woodlawn and declaring Christ as her Lord and Savior.  I remember telling Doris that Donna had passed and how sad Doris was to hear of Donna's sudden passing.  Doris wondered then how long it would be before she too would go to see her dearly beloved God.  She was very surprised that Donna had passed before she had, but she was very pleased to know that her dear friend was in Heaven.

When visiting with Doris at Shady Oaks, I would often visit with her about the cats on the calendar that she had beside her chair.  Doris truly enjoyed cats and she liked to hear about my wife's cats.  I often wished our cats were a bit more outgoing and docile, as I would have loved to have brought one of them out to visit Doris.  I think she would have enjoyed that.

The family shared with me some of Doris' writings about her life.  They are a treasure of memories and wonderful stories.  She wrote about childhood memories of seeing Gypsies that camped near their home while passing through the area, about how the women would buy eggs, cream, and other provisions from Doris' mother.  She wondered how much was stolen at night while all the local families slept.  

She wrote about during the War seeing trucks carrying German prisoners of war through the area.  Later she learned that they were being transported to camps near Colorado, Storm Lake, and Algona, IA.  There were stories about the rationing during the war, stories about coming to town for groceries on the weekend.  About how they'd give their lists to the grocer who would make up boxes with their purchases and then line the boxes up for everyone to pick up when they were ready to leave town and head for home.  

Stories about going to Country School without electricity and the kerosene lamps that they used instead.  Stories of her father trying to get them to school with a horse and wagon even though there was a blizzard going on, about how ultimately, the horses wore out in the heavy snow and her Dad proclaiming “this is crazy” and them turning around and going back home. 

She told about being ill a lot as a youth and staying with her grandparents where she seemed to do better.  There was a store about deciding that her grandmother wouldn't mind if she walked the quarter mile down the road to visit a friend of hers, without of course first telling her grandmother... she told about how she realized just how wrong she was about that “grandma not caring” part once her grandmother found her.  

So many great old stories that you all should read for yourselves, they were wonderful to read and I confess that as I read them I could hear Doris' voice in my mind.

As I said earlier, church was very important to Doris, but I must confide in you all that only a few times did she attend my monthly worship services out at Shady Oaks.  You see, I go out to Shady Oaks on Monday mornings, and that just so happened to be the time when Doris would go and get her hair done.  Her hair was also very important to her... I suspect the few times when Doris did make it to my Monday services was when her appointment had been canceled or moved for one reason or another.

Yesterday, Sheri brought one of Doris' Bibles to me to look through.  Doris had noted several scripture verses and I'd like to consider a couple of them with you now.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Doris had no fear of death, for she knew with all her heart and soul that it isn't an end at all, rather a beginning.  The taking on of the imperishable, the changing that comes with the twinkle of an eye... the step into eternity and into the very presence of God Himself.  God bless Doris for her unshakable faith in her God.

Doris was always a tireless servant of her Lord, it is a small wonder that the following was a verse that she contemplated:

Ephesians 4:25-32  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

As self-proclaimed Christians, Doris knew that we all... each of us... has an obligation to God and to one another.  The Kingdom of God is not furthered if we allow conflict to divide us, we are called by Christ to forgive as he has forgiven us... we are called to love just as he has loved us.

Just this past Sunday, I used Doris... her devotion, and her great love of her God as an illustration for my sermon.  Love is undoubtedly the most important thing that we need to remember when serving our Lord, for he himself told us that “Loving God, and loving one another” are paramount in our relationship to God and each other.  Upon our love for our God and our love for one another hang everything else in our Lord's creation.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
13 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly,[b] but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Doris lived a life of love, love of her friends, love of her family, and love of her Lord Jesus Christ.

Losing a loved one just before Christmas... at this most joyful time of the Christian year, is always difficult, but let me share with you all now a poem that I first saw nearly seven years ago:

My First Christmas in Heaven: by Wanda Bencke
I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,
With tiny lights, like heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear.
For I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs, that people hold so dear,
But the sounds of music can’t compare, with the Christmas choir up here.
For I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring.
For it is beyond description, to hear an angel sing.
I can’t tell you of the splendor, or the peace here in this place.
Can you just imagine Christmas, with our Savior, face to face?
I’ll ask Him to light your spirit, as I tell Him of your love;
So then pray for one another, as you lift your eyes above.
Please let your heart be joyful, and let your spirit sing.
For I’m spending Christmas in Heaven, and I’m walking with the King!
I know how much you miss me; I see the pain inside your heart.
But I’m not so far away, we really aren’t apart.
So be happy for me, dear ones, you know I hold you dear,
And be glad I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory of my undying love.
After all “love” is the gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other as my Father said to do,
For I can’t count the blessings or the love He has for you.
So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year!

Today we gather to celebrate the life of and mourn the passing of Doris Hanks.  Though each of her family, friends and loved ones here today feel the heavy weight of sorrow in their hearts... each of us is at the same time filled with an overwhelming sense of joy and celebration for Doris' entry into Heaven.  On December 20th, Doris passed from this world but was born anew in the Kingdom of the Lord she loved and served so tirelessly.  Praise be to God!

Eulogies: 
Poem by Sheri Hanks - "To My Mother-In-Law & Friend"
When I married your son,
I didn't know we would have fun.

We married and away we did go,
Then settled back home on a farm we had to mow.

I felt like we lived out in the sticks,
I had to learn that farmers weren't hicks.

I learned to garden (by the acre it seemed at the time),
I still make your pickles - the ones that use lime.

I had cooked a little, but not for the farm,
I learned lots from you - how to come to no harm.

Don't plug in the mixer before putting on the beaters.
Cook eggs on low - add a little water - for the eaters.

I remember a time when Keith said "men coming at noon",
It was 9:00 - what to do?  I was ready to swoon.

You grabbed the pressure cooker, and I peeled potatoes.
We had a full meal, dessert, and even tomatoes.

We had lots of laughter with the work over the years.
We also had sorrow and even some tears.

Your life changed, but you kept moving.
There were lots of friends for grooving.

With each new friend you met other friends,
And you had dancing at the end.

Then you went to Shady Oaks.
You lived with other older folks.

You said when you came - never fear,
You planned to stay another seven years.

We'll miss you - you loved family best,
And now may you in peace get rest.

Music:  In The Garden – Erin Blair

Closing Prayer:
Following the interment at Lake City Cemetery, the family invites you all to join them in further celebration of Doris' life and a time of shared remembrances and closure, by gathering with them for lunch in the Church's fellowship hall. Due to the brutally cold weather, for all those who do not wish to travel to the cemetery or for whom health concerns demand they remain behind, please feel free to wait for us in the Church's Fellowship Hall until we return from the graveside service.  The family very much wishes to continue to visit and reminisce with you all.  Also, due to the extreme weather, we will take the unusual measure of conducting a portion of the graveside readings here in the Sanctuary before departing.  Please do not feel that you must go to the graveside service to hear the final prayer as the weather is really quite severe.  Thank you.

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 Doris 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 her in your everlasting arms, hold her for she 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:

Exit Hymn:  

Committal Service
(this first portion shall be read in the Sanctuary before departure)
And now we shall conduct a portion of our committal service prior to traveling to the cemetery.  

We have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Doris Hanks.  We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss.  May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.

O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray.  You know our needs before we ask, and our desires in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity.  Help us to live as those who are prepared to die.  And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you.  AMEN

14th Chapter of the Gospel of John
Hear these words from Jesus:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If it were not so,
Would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and will take you to myself,
So that where I am, there you may be also.
And you know the way to the place where I am going.
I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
But you will see me;
Because I live, you also will live.
I have said these things to you while I am still with you.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
Whom the Father will send in my name,
Will teach you everything,
And remind you of all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  
(John 14:1 – 4, 18 – 19, 25 – 27)

(the reading below shall be done at the graveside)

Believing in the Resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now entrust Doris to the care of Almighty God and we ask Our Father to open the doors to his mansion and lead Doris to the room made ready just for her. As we now commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we commend her spirit to its new home. Rest eternal grant her, and let light perpetual shine upon her.

God has blessed and enriched our lives in giving us Doris to know and love here on this earth. In committing her body to the earth, we give over to God the care of her spirit, and we acknowledge that we will one day reunite with her in God's Kingdom. The Lord bless her and keep her; the Lord make his face shine upon her and be gracious to her; the Lord look upon her with favor and give her peace.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His strong arms encircle you and uphold you in your hour of grief.  God's peace and strength to you all.
Amen

This concludes our graveside service.