Order of Service – Funeral for James Myers
Prelude and Procession:
All Please rise.
Call to Worship:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
(2nd Corinthians 1:3-5)
Greeting:
We have come together this morning to praise God for the life of James Myers; to mourn our loss with one another, to console each other in our moment of grief; to celebrate Jim's life and all that he meant to all that loved him; to celebrate God's love for Jim, and His love for each of us; And to commend Jim to God's everlasting love and care.
Please be seated.
Special Music: Terry Watters & Kathy Holm – “God Leads Us Along”
Opening Prayer:
Dear Lord, You are the Father of all mercies Who cares for all Your people with an everlasting love. You are the God of all comfort Who consoles all those that are suffering the death of a loved one. You are the God of all peace Who has promised to pour Your perfect peace into the hearts of Your children who are going through the pain and suffering that the loss of a precious loved one brings.
Oh Lord... here today, for the family and friends of Jim Myers, I pray that You would become their strength in this time of loss; their hope in this time of bereavement; their joy in this time of sorrow and their perfect peace in the turmoil that their hearts are facing.
Dear Lord, we thank You that the sting of death has been broken forever and the curse of the grave has been destroyed through the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ who has broken forever the power of death, for all who trust in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Oh Lord, speak today into the hearts of all Your children who mourn... and let them not mourn as those that have no hope, for in You and You alone we hold onto Your love and grace... Lord for those that do not yet know You as the Savior Who died for them, so that by believing they might have everlasting life – we pray that they may come to know and accept You as their Savior and find their perfect rest in You – just as we today stand reassured that our departed brother Jim has surely and truly found his rest in You.
Praise be to you O Lord... in Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.
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:
Romans 3:10-26 New Century Version (NCV)
10 As the Scriptures say:
“There is no one who always does what is right,
not even one.
11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks to God for help.
12 All have turned away.
Together, everyone has become useless.
There is no one who does anything good;
there is not even one.” Psalm 14:1–3
13 “Their throats are like open graves;
they use their tongues for telling lies.” Psalm 5:9
“Their words are like snake poison.” Psalm 140:3
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.” Psalm 10:7
15 “They are always ready to kill people.
16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery.
17 They don’t know how to live in peace.” Isaiah 59:7–8
18 “They have no fear of God.” Psalm 36:1
19 We know that the law’s commands are for those who have the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20 because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.
21 But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. 22 God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: 23 Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, 24 and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25 God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 26 And God gave Jesus to show today that he does what is right. God did this so he could judge rightly and so he could make right any person who has faith in Jesus.
Special Music: Kathy Holm & Terry Watters - “Amazing Grace”
Message: Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church
At approximately 8:45 am on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, James Edward Myers, age 83, left behind this world in which we remain... and he was gloriously born into the Kingdom of Heaven. Not one of us gathered here today can scarcely imagine the beauty and splendor that Jim's new eyes saw on that early morning. There is nothing more magical than for one of God's children to return to Him and feel the love of the Father all around them... Praise be to God.
On March 12, 1936, Joseph and Eunice Myers of Sac City, Iowa, were blessed with the birth of their son James Edward Myers. Jim attended and graduated from High School in Minburn, Iowa in 1955. On August 20, 1961, Jim was united in marriage to Kathryn Thompson at the Methodist Church in Lohrville, Iowa. In their 58 years of marriage, their union was blessed with two children, Michael and Melissa, and three grandchildren, Gabe, Caleb, and Rebekah.
I asked Kathryn how she and Jim met and she told me that they met in Lohrville. She worked at the bank there and Jim came in to make a deposit. She saw him through the window behind the teller and took notice of him right away. He was new in town and she apparently spent too long looking and she got caught when Jim looked up. She quickly made it look like she wasn't watching but as soon as Jim left she rushed out to ask the teller who that was that had just come in. The teller told her that Jim and his Dad had just purchased the gas station in town and that Jim had come in to set up their account. She also told Kathryn that Jim had asked about her too... it seems Kathryn wasted no time in going to the gas station. And as they say... the rest is history. You really should have Kathryn tell you the story though and I'd encourage you all to do so.
Prior to moving to Lohrville, Jim had served in the US Army and just two months after Jim and Kathryn were married Jim's status in the Army Reserve was reactivated and he was on active duty once again. The Berlin Wall Crisis had occurred and once again the world was on pins and needles. Jim remained on active duty for a year stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington State.
For the first few years, the young couple lived in Lohrville and Jim worked at the service station with his father. Then in December of 1966, Jim accepted a position with the New Idea Corporation working in their Finance Department. He was paid a salary of $125 per week, given a corporate car, and health insurance. The young couple thought they had the world by the tail!
The New Idea Corporation made Jim a Territorial Manager in January of 1969 and they moved to Atlantic, Iowa. Jim's job started in January but they moved to Atlantic in December, on the day after Christmas if you can believe that. Thus it seems began the 'nomadic' period of Jim and Kathryn's life together. Kathryn told me that in the span of their 58 years together the couple moved over 30 times. Honestly, I quickly became confused as Kathryn rattled off all the moves and I suggest you ask her to outline all of these moves for you. Jim must have had the patience of Job in order to have endured all that packing, moving, and unpacking.
Just a very short outline of their travels included their next major move to Great Bend, KS in 1972 when Hesston purchased New Idea, there Jim had a new sales territory. Then Hesston moved Jim to Newton, KS where they made him a branch manager. Then the company moved him to Lee Summit, MO. Next came a transfer to Fort Worth, TX. When Ag Co purchased Hesston the new company moved Jim to Carlisle, IA, then to Adelle, IA, then to Perry, IA. And as Jim grew with the company they moved him back to Lee Summit, MO where he was in charge of dealer development.
Jim finally retired from AgCo in 1998 and Jim and Kathryn moved back to Lohrville briefly before deciding to go back to Lee Summit in order to be closer to their grandchildren. While they were in Lee Summit, Kathryn worked for a time for a local Christian newspaper.
In 2004, Jim and Kathryn moved back to Lohrville once again in order to take care of Kathryn's mother Abbie Thompson-Gutschall. Jim wanted to come back and take care of Kathryn's mother and Abbie lived with Jim and Kathryn. Kathryn said he was just wonderful to her mother and she always was proud of how well he treated Abbie. The house they lived in proved to be their longest stay in any one home with them living there six entire years... can you imagine.
In 2013 they moved into an apartment in Lohrville and then in 2015 they moved into an apartment here in Lake City... but they weren't done yet... they lived in three different apartments here in Lake City.
Over thirty moves in fifty-eight years of marriage... I think Jim was a saint... he had to be...
In 2017, reluctantly Kathryn moved Jim into Shady Oaks where Jim lived out the remainder of his days. Jim quickly became a favorite of the staff and was very much loved and adored by all, in spite of his sometimes cranky nature due to the progression of his dementia. When Jim was first at Shady Oaks he was a frequent escapee... walking out the front door upwards to fifty times. Often the staff would lure him back with the invitation to go have a cup of coffee with him and perhaps a cookie. Jim liked his coffee, cookies, or doughnuts and the staff could use them as bribes and incentives to get him to go along with them. After Jim's death one of the staff, Kyle told Kathryn and I a story about convincing Jim to go and get his bath with the promise of a cookie. Kyle said Jim took the cookie with him right into the tub... why not.
When I asked Kathryn for words to describe Jim she told me the following:
That he was driven when he set out a accomplish something, he always wanted to 'get er done'. That he was a helper, he was always happy to pitch in where there was a need. He was kind, caring, wonderful, and he liked to joke around, he was always fond of children and older folks. He was good to his parents and his in-laws. And that he was always good to Kathryn, he kept her in shoes... and apparently in houses as well.
When Jim and Kathryn first got married Kathryn's Father told Jim he could take either Kathryn or her dog Ginger but not both. Jim chose Kathryn... and I think he got the better end of the bargain... though it sounded like Jim really did like that dog.
Jim liked to roller-skate, to play baseball, basketball, and bowling. In fact Jim and Kathryn at one time owned the bowling alley in Rockwell City. But what Jim especially loved was playing golf. He would sneak out to go and play a round and kept playing after his retirement. Jim finally gave up golf in 2001, his dementia had started to creep in and he was having trouble keeping score. He desperately did not want anyone to think he was trying to cheat on his score and out of frustration he gave up the game rather than be thought to be cheating.
Kathryn told me about many vacations taken to Branson during the years, starting their trips there over fifty years ago. When they first went to Branson there wasn't much there, they'd go with their camper. But, Branson became and remained their favorite vacation retreat. There were other vacations to South Dakota, Wyoming, and Portland Oregon in 2000 to visit family.
In January of 1971, Jim and Kathryn met Don Welborn while they were living in Atlantic. Don was there visiting as a traveling preacher from Wakefield, TX. Don's teaching and preaching led Jim and Kathryn to join the Atlantic Bible Chapel and thus began their long and devoted Christian journey.
I will leave the rest of the many stories of Jim's life to his family and friends to share with you. I will close now with a couple of scripture selections from the Gospel of John. I am certain that Jim would want for this service to serve as a witness and a testimony to Christ and the relationship that Christ wishes to have with us all... if we will just return to Him and embrace the grace and love waiting for us.
John 1:1-18 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 15 (John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’”) 16 And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
John 3:11-21 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.
At 8:45 am this past Wednesday, Jim truly came to the 'Light of God', and he looked into the very face of God Himself. Truly Jim had arrived at that place where he had longed to be since January of 1971... he arrived into the very arms of God Himself. Praise be to God... and thank you God for the life and love of James Edward Myers.
Eulogies:
The family would like to now provide some time for those who wish to share a memory or a reading, poem, or prayer dedicated to the memory of Jim. If you would please either come forward to the pulpit or speak from where you are located. But please do stand if you are able and speak loudly enough that all might hear. Please come and share...
Thank you all for sharing your love and memories of Jim. God bless and comfort you through the love and embrace of His people.
Special Music: Terry Watters - Medley
Closing Prayer:
The family invites you all to join them in further celebration of Jim's life and a time of shared remembrances and closure, by gathering with them for lunch in the Church's fellowship hall immediately following the service. After the luncheon, we will then journey to Evergreen Cemetery in Lohrville for the Committal Service. Let us please allow this closing prayer to serve also as the grace for our meal.
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 Jim 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:
Recessional:
Committal Service –
Selfishly, we as mortals wish to hold on to Jim. It brings great pain to let him go. Living in the resurrection and hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the trust of a loving God and in the promise of eternal life, we now commit his body to its place of rest. We will continue to mourn Jim, but now his smile will warm the kingdom of God. We will continue to love Jim, but God will now take care of him. We will continue to carry Jim in our thoughts, but he will be kept safe in God's hands. Receive him in the arms of your mercy, O God, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of all your saints.
Let us hear these words from the Old Testament:
Ecclesiastes 3 New International Version (NIV)
A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
Let us hear now these words from the New Testament:
Romans 8:18-28 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Believing in the Resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now entrust Jim to the care of Almighty God and we ask Our Father to open the doors to his mansion and lead Jim to the room made ready just for him. As we now commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we commend his spirit to its new home. Rest eternal grant him, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
God has blessed and enriched our lives in giving us Jim to know and love here on this earth. Though our time together was not nearly enough, in committing his body to the earth, we give over to God the care of his spirit, and we acknowledge that we will one day reunite with him in God's Kingdom. The Lord bless him and keep him; the Lord make his face shine upon him and be gracious to him; the Lord look upon him with favor and give him peace.
Let us now pray together the prayer that our Lord and Savior taught us to pray....
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
Military Honors Presentation
This concludes our graveside service. Thank you all for coming.
On Friday, January 24th, 2020, I performed the memorial service for Rheta Jean Brumm. Rheta had attended Woodlawn as a child and moved away when she graduated from Highschool. She returned home to be married and then finally at the end of her 98 years she came back to Woodlawn to be buried alongside her family here in Lake City.
We were very honored to be able to assist the family in remembering and celebrating the life of their mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, cousin, and friend. Rheta lived a wonderfully long and productive life, she will be long remembered by those who she touched in her life and through them, she truly does live on. She left behind a great legacy in her family and loved ones... Praise be to God indeed...
May God bless and comfort you all and please...
Be a blessing to someone today!
In Christ,
Roy
Order of Service – Rheta Jean Brumm
Prelude:
Call to Worship:
Heavenly Father, You have assured us that through Your Son all shall have eternal life. Trusting in Your faithfulness and mercy, we await that glory filled day when You raise us all to life in triumph and we shall stand before Your throne. Standing there with all Your creation made new in Christ Jesus, basking in the glory of Your eternal Heavenly Kingdom.
Opening Prayer:
Let us please pray...
Dear Lord, we acknowledge Your presence here and come before Your throne this afternoon as friends and family of Rheta Jean Brumm. We are here because we loved her, and now miss her, and we want to cherish our memories of her, we want to honor her life, to honor her God, and to support one another as we grieve her passing – a passing from life here with us to everlasting life there with you O Lord.
Dear God, we thank you for Rheta, You formed her, you knew her, you walked with her through 98 years, and even now we have confidence that she is in your presence.
We thank you that you are a God of mercy, who promises to comfort us, particularly when we lose our loved ones, and so in these moments now, and in the weeks and months ahead, please bring comfort and mercy to us as we remember, and share fondly all that Rheta was to us.
In the mighty and holy name of Jesus who is the Christ... we pray. Amen.
Special Music: Just As I Am
Scripture Readings:
Let us hear now a Reading from the Old Testament:
Psalm 121 New King James Version (NKJV)
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him - A Song of Ascents.
121 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Let us hear now a Reading from the New Testament:
1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Prayer:
Let us please pray...
Dear Father of all mercies and God of all consolation, you pursue us with untiring love and dispel the shadow of death with the bright dawn of life. Give courage to this family in their loss and sorrow. Be their refuge and strength, O Lord, reassure them of your continuing love and lift them from the depths of grief into the peace and light of your presence.
Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying has destroyed our death, and by rising, restored our life. Your Holy Spirit, our comforter, speaks for us in groans too deep for words. Come alongside your people, remind them of your eternal presence and give them your comfort and strength. Amen
Message: Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church
On January 5th, 2020, Rheta Jean Blanchfield Brumm, passed from this world that we all know and was born anew into the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Rheta lived to the wonderful age of 98, passing away in the State of California where she had resided since the age of 18. Rheta was born here in Lake City, Iowa on October 23, 1921, to Marion and Laura Blanchfield. Rheta was one of five children that blessed the Blanchfield family, her siblings were Verle, Arvil, Rhea, and Genova. Only Rhea now remains to share with her family all the happy memories that the five of them created growing up on the farm here in Iowa. Rheta always cherished having been a farm-girl from Iowa and it was her desire to return to the State of Iowa in order to be laid to rest alongside her beloved family.
Growing up Rheta had long dreamed of living in California and after her High School Graduation, she moved west to Southern California. There she lived in Glendale, California and she very quickly met William Brumm while taking dancing lessons at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. They fell in love and they were married in February of 1941, less than two years after Rheta had moved to California and her at the tender young age of 19.
Rheta had insisted on returning to Lake City to be married and she and William were married right here in this Sanctuary. Last night I took Shiara and Virdette on a tour of this old church building and you could see the raw emotion in their eyes as they stood here in this sanctuary where their mother grew up learning to love God... something that she did her whole lifelong... here where she was baptized, where she married their father, and now today where we recognize and honor her life. A life lived primarily so far away from Lake City, Iowa but that was rooted so firmly here... in the rich soil of what was for her always home. Today we return her to the rich soil of Iowa where her earthly remains will rest beside her family awaiting the call that will signal the return of Christ and her resurrection. It's often been said that you can take the girl out of Iowa but you can't take Iowa out of the girl...
After their wedding, William and Rheta first lived in Glendale, California and then later they moved to Van Nuys, where their family grew from two to four after the births of Melanie and Shiara. Next, the young family moved to Sherman Oaks where they welcomed Virdette to their happy clan.
As simple as all of this moving and children being born sounds to us now, we cannot forget that just ten months after Rheta was married, the United States entered World War II. All that went on certainly wasn't simple and it most certainly was frightening and anxious for a young couple just starting out in life...
Much like the iconic poster and song about “Rosie the Riveter”, Rheta went to work during World War II working in the manufacture of aircraft for the War. She alongside many other brave and determine women worked tirelessly to aid the war effort and to assist those who were overseas fighting. Her husband William served in the Army during the War and Rheta did her part to contribute and there is no doubt that those efforts helped to ultimately shorten the war and curtail the horrors that raged in Europe at the time.
After the War Rheta set about raising her family and they attended Central Christian Church in Van Nuys. She remained a devoted member of the church for many years. Once her daughters were raised and had moved on with their lives, Rheta started what was to be a very successful career in real estate sales in Southern California. She enjoyed her work and spent twenty-five years selling properties and helping others obtain their dreams.
Rheta spent many years enjoying her home and garden located in Highland and later on she met the second love of her life, Arno Heckrodt. After retiring from real estate, Rheta and Arno moved to Carmel in 2003. In Carmel, Rheta started attending the Presbyterian Church, she became a very devoted member and was a constant volunteer for church activities. Rheta even went on a mission trip to Brazil, which given her age at that time was a major concern to her daughters. But, the minister assured them that Rheta would be well looked after and away she went... we should all be so active in our 80's... God willing. What an inspiring story of an amazing lady.
I am told that Rheta had a genuine 'zest' for life which always made her shine through. Her glass was never half empty or half full... it was always full to the brim. She was hard-working, diligent to the task at hand, responsible, always happy... always enjoying life and having fun. She always looked at the bright side of every situation. Truly an example we should all strive to obtain. Rheta loved to volunteer, she adored birds and owned many throughout her life, she enjoyed watching basketball and football, and she enjoyed discussing politics. She always loved corn and popcorn from her home state and retained her hard-working Iowa farm girl ways for her entire life. Rheta had a wonderful life-giving and contagious laugh and an outgoing and friendly personality... she enjoyed life and she will be deeply missed by all those who knew and loved her.
In a few moments, we will have time for any who wish to share memories and thoughts concerning Rheta, so I will move on from eulogizing her long and loving life and focus upon her love for her God. A love that I am most certain she shared with each of you.
I am told that Rheta like many of us took great solace in the words in John 3:16. Let us hear now the verses found in John 3:12-21.
John 3:12-21 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.
I am told that Rheta firmly believed that all that she had received was a gift from God. Let me repeat that last verse... verse 21: But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.
It is often said that the only Bible many will ever read is our lives. How we live our lives is a witness to everyone that we encounter in our lives:
Hebrews 12:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Let us honor Rheta by remembering always that we are called to be among that cloud of witnesses. Witnessing to the love of Christ that we are taught in the Gospels. In closing please allow me to share with you all my personal favorite scripture. Found in the Johannine epistle known as 2nd John. Here the Elder of the Johannine Community is writing to the entire Church. Where he says ”dear lady” he is referencing the entire body of believers and not just one individual. The book of 2nd John is only one chapter long so there is no chapter reference only the verses:
2 John: verses 5-6 New Century Version (NCV)
5 And now, dear lady, this is not a new command but is the same command we have had from the beginning. I ask you that we all love each other. 6 And love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love.
Walking with Jesus is really no more complicated than these two short verses. I've often called this the Bible in two verses. Walking and witnessing for God is simply loving each other, loving God's Creation, and first and foremost loving God. From what I have learned about Rheta it sounds that she truly lived up to this commandment repeated to us by the Elder... “live a life of love.”
Praise be to God for the life of love that Rheta lived. Praise God indeed...
Eulogies:
The family has asked for time to share memories and contemplation's with you all. At this time I would like to call two of Rheta's daughters to come to the pulpit. First Virdette Laura Brumm, then Shiara Kirsch, and then we will welcome all who would like to speak to please either stand and speak or to come forward to the microphone. Please if you chose to speak from the pew remember to speak loudly enough for all to hear... please come now and share...
Thank you all for sharing your most heartfelt memories and emotions. Let us please now listen to the timeless and always reassuring words of “Amazing Grace”.
Special Music: Amazing Grace
Final Instructions and Closing Prayer:
Immediately following the service we will proceed to the Lake City Cemetery for the internment. Following the graveside service, there will be a time of gathering and reminiscing out on the family farm north of Lake City. The family invites you all to come and share this additional time of celebrating Rheta's life.
Let us please 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 Rheta 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:
Committal Service:
Selfishly, we as mortals wish to hold on to Rheta. It brings great pain to let her go. Living in the resurrection hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the trust of a loving God and in the promise of eternal life, we now commit her body to its place of rest. We will continue to mourn Rheta, but now her smile and laughter will warm the kingdom of God. We will continue to love Rheta, but God will now take care of her. We will continue to carry Rheta in our thoughts, but she will be kept safe in God's hands. Receive her in the arms of your mercy, O God, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of all your saints.
Let us hear now these words taken from the 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)
Let us hear now these words given to us by the Apostle Paul concerning the promise of the resurrection and the life everlasting:
1 Corinthians 15: 35-44
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Believing in the Resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now entrust Rheta to the care of Almighty God and we ask Our Father to open the doors to his mansion and lead Rheta 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 Rheta to know and love here on this earth. Though our time together was not nearly enough, 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 onto her; the Lord look upon her with favor and give her peace.
Let us now pray together the prayer that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us to pray... Our Father...
This concludes our graveside service.
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
Below please find the manuscript from the funeral that we held earlier today for Ronald Gregg. Ronnie passed away unexpectedly on October 31st, please pray for his family, especially his wife Carol.
May God comfort and strengthen you all.
Be a blessing to someone today!
In Christ,
Roy
Order of Service – Funeral for Ronald Gregg
Prelude:
Call to Worship:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
(2nd Corinthians 1:3-5)
Greeting:
We have come together this morning to praise God for the life of Ronald C. Gregg: to mourn our loss with one another, to console each other in our moment of grief; to celebrate Ronald's life and all that he meant to all that loved him; to celebrate God's love for Ronald, and His love for each of us; And to commend Ronald to God's everlasting love and care.
Opening Prayer:
Let us pray:
Father of all mercies and God of all consolation, You pursue us with untiring love and dispel the shadow of death with the bright dawn of life. Give courage to this family in this their time of loss and sorrow.
Secure in Your refuge and strength, O Lord, reassure them of Your continuing love and lift them from the depths of grief into the peace and light of Your presence.
Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying has destroyed our death, and by rising, restored our life. Your Holy Spirit, our comforter, You speak for us in groans too deep for words. Come alongside Your people, remind them of Your eternal presence and give them Your comfort and strength. Amen.
Music: On Eagles Wings
Reading from the Old Testament:
Let us hear now a reading from the Old Testament,
Psalm 65 NRSV - Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty
1 Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
2 O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6 By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
7 You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Reading from the New Testament:
Let us hear now a reading from the New Testament;
1 Corinthians 15: 35-44
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Music: How Great Thou Art
Message: Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church
On Thursday, October 31st, of 2019, Ronald “Ronnie” C. Gregg was born into the Kingdom of Heaven. Ronnie was born into this world in which we all reside on October 5, 1942. He was born here in Lake City, Iowa to Walter and Berniece Gregg. He grew up on the family farm and attended Country School until the 8th grade. Ronnie attended High School in Lake City and graduated from Lake City High School as a member of the class of 1960. On January 22nd of 1964, Ron married Carol Spencer in Waukon, Iowa at the Presbyterian Church. Carol remembered that Reverend Tajden presided over their joy-filled union. The happy couple later were blessed with welcoming into this world two sons, Todd and James.
When I asked Carol and her sister Kay for words to describe Ronnie, they said that he was fun-loving, that he loved to laugh, that he was always happy, that he loved to tease... and that's something that was confirmed to me by several others that visited with me about Ronnie. They said that he loved to play golf, that he loved to hunt deer and he went every year to Nebraska to deer-hunt... because you see... you can use a rifle there, and he liked to hunt pheasants as well and did so when he was younger. They also mentioned that he loved to play cards. In fact, his card buddies are here today as his honorary pall-bearers in honor of their many hours of playing together.
Carol told me that when they lived in Eldora, IA that Ronnie had served on the Fire Department, and he very much enjoyed it. Their grocery store was right beside the Fire Department and Ronnie could hustle over there and drive the fire-truck. The fellows on the Department nick-named him “Little Bit” and even had that emblazoned on his uniform. They liked to put two pillows on the front seat of the fire-truck to tease Ronnie about his small stature. In spite of or perhaps because of all the good nature ribbing, Ronnie loved his time serving on the department.
One of the last things that Carol and Kay mentioned was how much Ronnie enjoyed working on the farm as a youngster and finally at the end for Dave Iler. We'll talk more about that in a few minutes...
Carol also did tell a story about how when she and Ronnie were living here in Lake City the first time and their home was on Woodlawn, about Todd and James directing traffic out on Main Street. Actually, it sounded like they had blocked off traffic on Main and then were letting a few cars go through at a time. There was also a story about climbing on top of a stop sign... I was informed that apparently, the two were a bit rambunctious and a wee bit ornery. I had assumed from the stories that I've heard since coming to Lake City that Todd and James uncle Kim was the ornery one in the Gregg family, now I'm told that it's a family trait and that Ronnie passed it on to his boys as well. I think these stories... and it sounded like there are plenty of them... are best left to the family to relay after the service and while we're all gathered in Fellowship Hall enjoying a meal and reminiscing.
When Carol and Ronnie were first married, Ronnie was working in Waukon at the Super Value as their Produce Manager. Ronnie had gotten his start in the grocery business here in Lake City at the Super Value working for Pat Ryan. Ronnie started at the Super Value as a bag boy and worked his way up the ladder. When Pat Ryan purchased the Super Value in Waukon he sent Ronnie there as part of his management team.
After their wedding, Carol and Ronnie honeymooned in Minneapolis and unbeknownst to them, Pat Ryan had made arrangements to pay for their stay and expenses at the Hotel. Obviously, Pat thought the world of Ronnie and must have very much appreciated him as an employee and as a friend.
It wasn't long after the couple was married that Pat purchased another Super Value, this time in Caledonia, MN, and he asked Ronnie to go there and to be the Store Manager. While Ronnie was managing the store in Caledonia he was still involved in management in Waukon and he traveled between both stores off and on.
Ronnie then had a chance to work for his uncle in Esterville, IA at the Red Owl that his uncle owned there. He managed the Produce Department in Esterville for about a year before he and Carol moved back to Lake City to work for Jim Schleisman at the Super Value in Lake City where Ronnie had started out so many years before as a bag-boy. That was in 1967 and he remained there until 1971. In 1971 Jim purchased a Super Value in Jefferson and Ronnie went there to manage that store.
In 1979 Carol and Ronnie purchased their own Super Value in Eldora, IA and aptly named it Gregg's Super Value. They owned the store there until 1982 when they closed the store and Ronnie was approached by the corporate office of HyVee to come and work for HyVee. He first worked for HyVee in Eldora and then he was transferred to work in their new store in Lincoln, NE, where they moved in September of 1982. Ronnie worked in Lincoln until 1996 when he asked to be moved to the HyVee in Carroll in order to be closer to his mother who was in ill-health. For a while, Carol remained behind in Lincoln trying to sell their home but she finally joined Ronnie and she then went to work at the hospital here in the admissions department.
After Ronnie's mother passed the family sold the farmstead and Carol and Ronnie moved into Lake City to their home on Lincoln Street. They remained in that home up until this day.
Ronnie worked in the meat department at the HyVee in Carroll until October of 2007 when he retired and started working with his brother Gary detailing cars in the big garage that they have behind the house on Lincoln Street. When they weren't detailing automobiles it sounded like they were busy playing card games and it sounded like euchre was the game of choice for Ronnie, Gary, and all of their gang.
It wasn't too long after Ronnie retired that Carol retired herself as she thought it wasn't right that Ronnie got to have all the fun. It sounded like there were many great times visiting and playing cards enjoyed in that big garage. Ronnie and Gary kept detailing cars as a side-line for many years, and it was just in the last couple of years that they decided to curtail their enterprise. But, I understand that just left more time for card playing.
Ronnie also liked to cut his own firewood and he did so for many years. It was also just in the last couple of years that he stopped this exercise as well.
He did keep working part-time though for David Iler working out on the farm for David. In fact, some of the land that he was working on was the old Gregg family farmland. Working the same ground that he grew up on and had worked upon as a child. Ronnie loved to be out in the fields working and that is where he was when he passed... out in the middle of an Iowa field working to help bring in the fall harvest. He had just been to see the doctor that morning and told them that he had to get going to get back to work, we all know all too well that when the harvest is in full swing there is always work to be done... and Ronnie didn't want to miss out on any of it.
Ronnie had worked for the Ilers for eight years and even though he'd had a bout with esophageal cancer this spring he was cleared to go back to work on the farm this fall. David and Ronnie worked to determine what he would still be able to do and Ronnie went right back to work. Ronnie had bounced back amazingly fast from the surgery for his cancer and it seemed his determination wasn't going to stop there, he wanted to help with the harvest. After the surgery, he'd made it his goal to be ready for the fall work and he was there reporting for duty on the first day in the field.
Even though Ronnie had lived much of his life away from and working in the grocery industry, he never lost his love for the farm. You can take the Iowa Farm-boy off of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the Iowa Farm-boy. In the end, Ronnie died right where he probably was the most happy to be, out in the middle of a field helping to bring in the fall harvest... there's not much more a farm-kid could ask for.
Ronald loved to help on the farm, he loved the land, and he loved his Lord. The Lord blessed him for his devotion and hear now these words found in the book of Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 11:13-15
13 If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; 15 and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.
The family asked that I share this poem with you all today;
Come With Me – Author unknown
When the days are sad and lonely,
and everything goes wrong
I seem to hear you whisper, "Cheer
up and carry on."
Every time I see your picture, you
smile and seem to say,
"Don't cry, I'm only sleeping,
we'll meet again someday."
God saw you were getting weary, so he
did what He though best,
He came and stood beside you, and
whispered, "Come and rest."
You bade no one a last farewell,
nor even said, "Good-bye."
You were gone before we knew it,
and only God knows why.
A million times I've needed you, a
million times I cried.
If love alone could save you, you
never would have died.
In life we loved you dearly, in death
we love you still
In our hearts you hold a place no
one can ever fill.
It broke my heart to lose you, but
you didn't go alone.
For a part of me went with you the
day God took you home.
Today we gather to celebrate the life of and mourn the passing of Ronald Gregg. Though each of you... family, friends and loved ones gathered here today feel the heavyweight of sorrow in your hearts... each of us should at the same time... be filled with an overwhelming sense of joy and celebration for Ronald's entry into Heaven. On October 31st, Ronald passed from this world and was born anew in the Kingdom of the Lord... there his eyes looked for the first time upon the incredible and unimaginable splendor of God Himself... Praise be to God!
Music: Lord's Prayer
Closing Prayer:
Following the interment at Lake City Cemetery, the family invites you all to join them in further celebration of Ronnie's life and a time of shared remembrances and closure, by gathering with them for lunch in the Church's fellowship hall. For those who do not wish to attend the graveside service, please feel free to remain behind and wait here at the Church. The family has asked that you please wait for the family to return before you start the luncheon. Once we have all returned, then I will say a blessing over the meal and those who have prepared it for us today.
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 the waters of life with which 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 Ronald 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 a 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:
Postlude:
Committal Service – Ronald Gregg
Selfishly, we as mortals wish to hold on to Ronald. It brings great pain to let him go. Living in the resurrection and hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the trust of a loving God and in the promise of eternal life, we now commit his body to its place of rest. We will continue to mourn Ronald, but now his smile will warm the kingdom of God. We will continue to love Ronald, but God will now take care of him. We will continue to carry Ronald in our thoughts, but he will forevermore be kept safe in God's hands. Receive him in the arms of your mercy, O God, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of all your saints.
PSALM 121
We lift our eyes up to the hills.
From where does our help come?
Our help comes from the Unseen One,
The Maker of the heavens and the earth,
Who will not cause our feet to stumble,
Our protector who never sleeps.
The Abundant One preserves us,
The Watchful One is our shelter and
support.
The Vigilant One guards us from evil,
And keeps our Life-breath safe.
The Shepherd guards our going out
and our coming in from now unto eternity.
Though we are now parted for a little while from Ronald, he has not left us entirely... for as long as his memory affects our lives, our interactions, our relationships, our decisions here in this world... a little bit of Ronald yet remains... cherished and hidden away in our hearts.
We Remember Him – Author Unknown
When we are weary and in need of strength,
When we are lost and sick at heart,
We remember him.
When we have a joy we crave to share
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
When we have achievements that are based on his
We remember him.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring,
We remember him.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
We remember him.
At the rising of the sun and at its setting,
We remember him.
As long as we live, he too will live
For he is now a part of us,
As we remember him.
Believing in the Resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now entrust Ronald to the care of Almighty God and we ask Our Father to open the doors to his mansion and to lead Ronald to the room made ready just for him. As we now commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we commend his spirit to its new home. Rest eternal grant him, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
God has blessed and enriched our lives in giving us Ronald to know and love here on this earth. Though our time together was not nearly enough, in committing his body to the earth, we give over to God the care of his spirit, and we acknowledge that we will one day reunite with him in God's Kingdom. The Lord bless him and keep him; the Lord make his face shine upon him and be gracious to him; the Lord look upon him with favor and give him peace.
Let us now pray together the prayer that our Lord and Savior taught us to pray...
Our Father...
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. Thank you all for coming.
