CPT Rob Yllescas Funeral and Memorial Service

Funeral

Posted: 09 Dec 2008 09:57 PM CST

Yesterday was Rob's funeral. It was beautiful. Again, the Patriot Guard showed up holding flags outside the auditorium and a bell was being rung. During the service they had a 16x20 photograph of Rob in uniform in front of a flag. I looked at it most of the service. That picture made it feel like he was right there. They played a slide show before and after the service. My friend Nancy is going to put it on here when she gets the chance so everyone can see it. She did an amazing job. Thanks, Nancy.

After the service we went to the cemetery. The police were in front with the Patriot Guards on their bikes, then Rob, and then more Patriot Guards leading us to the site. It was so surreal that the 21 gun salute and presentation of the flag was for MY husband. I still can't believe he's gone. Even though I was there when he passed away, to me it feels like he's still deployed. So many people were there. It's just unbelievable the amount of support. I know that the girls and I are going to be ok because there are so many people that care. Afterwords we had a dinner and I was able to talk to some people who I hadn't seen in years who had traveled so far to say their final goodbyes to Rob.

When I left the dinner, I was by myself. I drove up to his grave site. He had been buried and a flag was placed on top. Everything is so final. As much as I wish I could go back and undo the past, I can't. It's the most helpless feeling. But I know he's looking down on us and that gives me comfort. My brother called me and said that before they left town, he and his wife drove past to see Rob with their almost 4 year old daughter. She said "daddy, I see Rob flying away." Aaron said "What did you say, Megan?" "I see Uncle Rob flying away in the sky.
He's with Jesus." Amazing.

Later that evening, some friends of mine from Ft Hood came over to my parents. Their husbands are in Rob's unit. I swear, only fellow military wives can lift each other up after the day we had. It ended up snowing. Well, before long one of the wives was making a snow angel and then we ended up in a full fledged snowball fight. When we were done, we sat in my parents hot tub and talked for a couple of hours. It was some much needed stress relief and I thank you for providing me that ladies. Tomorrow I leave for Ft Hood. They are doing a memorial service for Rob on Thursday and presenting the girls with a scholarship. I'm not taking the girls with me because they've been gone too much and Julia needs to get back to school. I'll be back on Saturday. It'll give me a chance to bring some more things from the house back to Nebraska.

There were several news stations that covered Rob's funeral. Here are a few links:

www.omaha.com
www.columbustelegram.com
www.journalstar.com

(I think those are right...I was doing them off the top of my head!)

Ft Hood Memorial Service

Posted: 10 Dec 2008 09:40 PM CST

Tomorrow's memorial service for Rob at Ft Hood will be at 11am at the 1st Infantry Chapel on the corner of 73rd & Battalion Ave. I know there are some of you from Hood that would like to attend and know the time. We made it safely here to TX. It was hard walking into the house. But, I feel Rob all around me. I just want to get our house sold-that will be one less stress. Hopefully I will be able to soon. I'll update again tomorrow or the next day.

Memorial for Yvonne "Von" Hayes

by Raymond Hayes

Yvonne M Adams Hayes

06/10/1949 - 11/25/2008 just before mid night.

I first met Yvonne “Von” shortly after arriving in Seattle WA, Aug 1975 I had just over seven years served in the US Coast Guard. I was transferred from Michigan to the newest CG Icebreaker Polar Star. Once I arrived my first agenda was to find a church, (I was a new Christian then, having given my heart to the Lord on Feb 8 1972) and I knew I had to be in a good Christ centered fellowship. After a couple of visits to some local churches I was directed by the Youth Pastor of a Christ Reformed Church without hesitation he said he knew the place God wanted me “Just up the road from here is Westminster Assembly of God”. How about that?

Something I didn’t expect, a Pastor, who could have welcomed me, guiding me to another church. I knew when I arrived for the Weds night service I was right where I should be. The senior members of the church with open arms welcomed me. Then I met Paul who directed me to the Young adult Class. He introduced me to the class; Von was one of those there. Of course I didn’t notice her at first because I was new and I didn’t have any interest in meeting any girls yet. I was 25 and working on a military career.

I really can’t say how long it was before I noticed her, but I do remember it was during a Sunday service, there she was the tallest girl in the choir, and as a matter of fact at 6’1” she was the second tallest person. I was not interested in her at the time but I knew I did want to try singing in the choir. I was a fairly good Bass, having gotten interested with barbershop while in MI. I think it was during one of the rehearsals the director decided to place me to the right of her and wow! Could that girl sing she had a voice I fell in love with, not her but the voice, she made it so easy to sing my parts, she was an Alto. Within a couple of months I got to know each member, she once invited me to a dinner but it was on a day I could not go (CG Duties).

Finally one Sunday night after the evening service all the young adults were going to the pizza place across the street, as I entered everyone was seated on these long benched tables and I happened to sit across from Vonnie. During the meal we struck up a conversation. She knew I was in the service but that was about all. When I told her I was stationed on the Polar Star her eyes lit up, she asked me if that was the wagbee 10 or 11 all I could say was Huh? She then told me she worked for the company installing the Heating and Ventilation for the new Icebreakers. She only knew these ships by the hull numbers WAGB10 the Polar Star and 11 the Polar Sea.

As we talked I began to feel more comfortable around her because she was familiar with the ships. I began to tell her how I planned to make a career of the Coast Guard. She then said something I didn’t expect on this first real meeting, “ I will never marry a service man”. Well I wasn’t looking at getting married at anytime. It didn’t take long before we started to see more of each other, not romantically but out of a common interest in music, we both enjoyed the harmony of Quartets and the choir groups such as the Maranatha singers. Pretty soon we started to go to the different concerts as they came into Seattle.

As time went by it was time for the Commissioning Ceremony and as a crew member we could invite up to 4 people so I asked Von and her roommate if they would like to be my guest. After the ceremony we enjoyed our time together. I had the “joy” of being one of the first watch duties for the night so she and her roommate left and I went aboard the ship. That was the first time I began thinking of her as more than a friend, all the other guys wanted to know who the tall glass of water was? Where did we meet? And could I introduce her to them?

We still got together as often as I could during the first few months after commissioning but we had lots to do, to get ready for our first shakedown cruise. As an Electricians Mate Second Class I had a lot of work to do, our work hours didn’t give us much time off and now we worked weekends to boot. We set sail under the Coast Guard flag the fist time in Feb 1976 and after all the time away I found myself missing not only the young adults at church but also the choir and Vonnie. It was now the summer of 76 and for morale purposes we had what was known as a dependants cruise, we were allowed to invite our spouses or girlfriends for a dinner cruise in the Puget Sound. I couldn’t believe it when I asked Vonnie to go and she jumped for joy to be asked. I guess you can say that was our first date. Soon we began seeing more of each other as more than just friends, she was still leery of our differences in height I was only 5’11”. I don’t think she ever got over that but I told her I didn’t care.

During all this I managed to buy a mobile home that allowed me a little freedom away from the ship when I was off duty. My roommate was another crew member, who shared my faith and I introduced to the church family. The reason I bought this was because when I was stationed in MI it was what was known as an S&Q station I worked out of a US NAVY Reserve center, and I happened to have a lot of personal stuff. Things I couldn’t use aboard a ship, such as bedroom and kitchen furniture and well you know Things? Von and some of our friends would come out to visit. While we were underway and gone Von would come out and check on the place and keep it clean and take care of my cat.

Pretty soon it became evident to me that Von was the girl I’d like to spend my life with but then remembering her words to me that night over pizza I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t make my feelings for her known for quite sometime, yet the older folks at church wanted to know when I was going to ask.

Unknown to me the women of the church saw something there that neither of us saw. She once told me of the time she was engaged to a Marine and she cancelled the wedding just days prior to getting married. I figured it was the reason she said she’d never marry a serviceman. Later I was to learn the ladies of the church prayed for her to cancel that because he was not the man God wanted for her.

Since I was on an Icebreaker that finally got underway for ice trials I was gone for a while we departed in mid spring to the ice fields in the arctic and it was fantastic to see what this ship would do but man did I miss being with her I thanked God for Mail call at least once a week. When we returned to Seattle, because of my job as an EM my special sea detail was in the IC room taking care of the Gyro Compass. (Most engineers were always below decks when the ship enters or leaves a port).

I felt very special because when I finally secured the Compass I came up to the main deck to start hooking up the electrical shore tie. There on the docks waiting for us were all the wives and girlfriends. I then heard a familiar voice come out of the crowd yep it was Vonnie, I didn’t expect that, I didn’t know when I would be able to get off the ship because as an engineer and EM we are always the last to get off, so I just wrote and told her when we were to get back and I’d call her as soon as we did. She was new to this kind of stuff as was I, because my last 2 ships I didn’t have someone special, so I usually took the first day duty so the married guys could get off. When I finally got off About 2 hours after everyone else she was waiting for me with, for the first time, a great big hug and kiss, I was in heaven.

We continued to date for the next couple of months then the ship had to prepare for its first job in the Antarctic. Again lots of work and yes weekends were pretty well covered the engineering dept is always the busiest. When we finally got underway Vonnie was there to see us off I couldn’t take it, she was crying big crocodile tears for a “service man”. And as an engineer that meant I had to go below decks as we departed so I couldn’t even wave at her. We finally returned to Seattle after 4 months of ice-breaking and breaking down (our propellers were seizing up in the ice) we had to return.

Again after getting all the engineering things done, there she was, this time acting the old pro with the wives and girlfriends of the other engineers. It seemed as if she knew what to expect because during that cruise I was promoted to first class (E6) and I had the first night duty now as the assistant engineering duty officer. We shared a little time together on the ship and even had dinner (mess) we said our good nights and she said she would pick me up in the morning when I got off. Did I mention that between trips that summer I taught her how to drive a stick shift and she got the hang of it pretty good. So she had my car when we were gone.

Anyway the ship spent the next year and a half in the shipyards getting the props fixed that gave us more time together. She was beginning to come around to accepting a military man in her life even though it was tough for her to admit. Our time in the choir even made us closer. I was really happy God directed me to this church.

In the fall of 1978 I was transferred to the newly formed Icebreaker Support Facility where now I got off every night (no duty) I finally got up the nerve to ask her father for his blessing because I was asking Vonnie for her hand in Marriage, his answer “Well its about time” after another month she finally said yes and we went shopping for the rings.

We were officially engaged on Valentines day 1979 I put the ring on her finger in style, we had lunch in a little café called the “Joker” in downtown Seattle just a few blocks from where she worked She had a new job then she was an engineering secretary for a large Firm.

We didn’t tell anyone yet but the next Sunday at Choir the director’s wife noticed the ring and she told her husband. With that He stopped the practice and announced to the entire choir and us “Ladies and gentlemen our prayers have now been answered it seems as they are now engaged” everyone knew who he was talking about except us we didn’t tell anyone we wanted to tell the Pastor first so he could make the announcement.

Well that’s when we found out God had his plan all along I mentioned earlier how the women of the church prayed Von's first engagement would end, well since the first time we met they also prayed that we would be together forever. Doesn’t God do amazing things? I mean I had more help than I realized.

We finally tied the knot on June 9^th 1979. She always joked that she can say she was in her 20s when she got married the very next day she turned 30. We spent our honeymoon in Hawaii. During the next 3 years she became more familiar with my job and I must confess, that with her knowledge of writing contracts she was a real help, throughout the book of Proverbs the wife is mentioned Proverbs 12:4 tells us “A wife of noble character is her husbands crown”

My job at the ISF was to write the electrical specs for shipyard work to be completed. I would take the work home and she would proofread it and correct as needed. There were many times she would take the papers to her work and ask the different engineers how best to state certain items. Because of this help I found myself getting better at it and getting the other people asking if she would assist with some of their writing.

With all the time she spent helping me it seemed as if when I submitted the work order to the officers in charge I’d get a slap on the back and I’d tell them most of this was my wife’s work. I soon found myself being promoted to Chief (E7) and sent off to advanced schools.

My last year at ISF I spent nearly 5 months away from home yet we managed to keep in touch over the long distances. We really found out about absence making the heart grow fonder. Then in the summer of 1980 I was transferred to another ship in Seattle the CGC Melon as the senior Electrician. We spent a lot of time underway but this we could handle because the ship was gone 6 weeks at a time. And in port for 3 this type of ship was rotated on Alaskan Fisheries patrols out 6 in 3 out 4 in 8 etc.

As always Von was the Pro she new when and what time we were to be in and this time because I was “The Chief” I got off when we tied up I had a crew to do the heavy work. In the fall of 82 we were transferred to St Louis, MO where eventually I was in charge of two teams of engineers that maintained 18 River tenders covering 22 states. This is where the church family really became important. We found a local Assembly of God church, not as big as our home church a small congregation of about 80 members but the pastor and his family was great he was a tenor and former Quartet singer. We felt as if we never left.

It was here that our son Matthew came into the world but here again because of my job I was away a lot Our teams averaged 250 days on the road (scheduled) and throw in a few times one of the boats would break down you can see this put Von in a lot more stress thank God for the church family.

She took it very well and we did spend a lot of time together when I was home. We finally retired in July of 1988 but because I had so much leave time saved up I took what is commonly known as Terminal vacation and we headed back to Seattle in May, we stopped to visit a few of my friends and family along the way, my dad in Ohio, my twin brother in New Orleans my mom and sisters in CA and spent a week at Disneyland, Matthew had so much fun he was just 4 then.

We finally made it to Seattle we stayed with her Mom and Dad for most of the summer during which I spent looking for a job and Von looking for a home. She was blessed for her common sense. We finally moved into our permanent home in late Sept and Matthew started school.

It was at this time in late 1990 a Tumor was found on her brain and early in Jan 1991she had surgery to remove it. I guess you can say as hindsight this was the beginning of her slide. We had grown so much as a family and our love for each other continued to grow stronger. For the first ten years there was no change except her seizures went away it seemed for good. Now as I look back I can say the slow changes started to appear back in 2003 shortly before I lost my job.

She was still active in all things but getting slower. There were times she would forget things but when reminded she would remember in detail. Due to our financial situation we lost the home she so diligently sought and kept immaculate.

When we moved to this apt that’s when I saw things differently she was beginning to fail and I started to blame God for not living up to his promises, however she was always the one who pulled us closer when she watched the Gaither homecoming shows on TV I would see her deep in praise thanking God for all that we’ve been through. In the final weeks before she was first taken to the Hospital I started a deeper search for Gods purpose in all this.

I guess the words of the song “We’ll talk it over” by Ira Stanphill the reason for Von going into his presence will have to wait. Until then I will trust that God has a purpose for me and will reveal it in his time. Know this my love for Von will go on and I know I will miss her dearly her faith was strong and it kept me in line.

“We’ll Talk it Over”

Verse 1

Tho' shadows deepen, and my heart bleeds,
I will not question the way He leads;
This side of Heaven we know in part,
I will not question a broken heart.

Chorus
We'll talk it over in the bye and bye.
We'll talk it over, my Lord and I.
I'll ask the reasons - He'll tell me why,
When we talk it over in the bye and bye.

Verse 2

I'll trust His leading, He'll never fail,
Thru darkest tunnels or misty vales.
Obey his bidding and faithful be,
Tho' only one step ahead I see.

Chorus

Verse 3

I'll hide my heartache behind a smile
And wait for reasons 'til after while.
And tho' He try me, I know I'll find
That all my burdens are silver lined.

Chorus

This picture is Von one week before going to the hospital for the last time.

A Tribute

From Cyber Crew member Roger:

Just as you’ve experienced recently, Pastor Ed, we’ve lost two good friends close together … in fact, within hours of each other over the weekend. Neither death was a surprise. Both were battling bone cancer. And so, in a sense, we celebrated the fact they were no longer in pain. 

Our friend Millie was 87, a true free spirit who often looked at life through the eyes of a child, rejoicing in the beauty of each season … thrilling at the color of a leaf, the aerobatics of a hummingbird, the smell of fresh-cut hay, the appearance of a ripening crop, the taste of fresh sweet corn from the garden.

We “adopted” Millie after her husband died, hoping to fill some of her needs in terms of household maintenance and of loneliness.

But, it wasn’t so much helping her as it was her enriching our lives with her love and her pleasant company, not to mention her knowledge of the history of our area.

That enrichment reached down to our grandchildren, whom she adored. She never wanted to leave the home she’d shared with her husband, even though the aging process was making it difficult for her to keep up and to navigate its stairs. But she maintained her independence of living and driving until the last … when her illness was diagnosed about two weeks ago. 

Friend Bob had a much longer battle with the disease, but was a lesson in courage and stayed active in church, school board and community affairs as long as possible.

Bob did kind of a “sneak” into my life. I never knew him well enough to have much of an opinion about him … until he joined our Sunday school class. When he did, I was blown away by his humble, gentle spirit and the depth of his knowledge and thinking on all things, but especially those spiritual.

And even through the illness that worked to overwhelm him, Bob had a twinkle in his eye and a pleasant little grin that wrinkled the corners of his mouth. He was fun! And fun to talk with.

Much too quickly, his illness began to keep him at home on Sundays. Just as quickly, I realized what a good friendship I was losing. The lives of both Millie and Bob say to me how important it is to be open to the possibilities of new friendships around us … and how important it is to be a true friend to others, even those we don’t know. Millie and Bob remind me of one of my favorite pieces of writing over the past few years. The anonymous work (at least that’s how it was passed along to me) is something I shared with Millie the last time she was in our home, never knowing how soon she would be leaving us. But it thrilled me to watch her look at it, then decide to read it aloud. As she did, she wiped away a couple of tears and said, “That’s what it’s all about … that’s good.”

And that’s why I’d like to share it now, for Millie, for Bob and for all of us:

A life that matters (Choices) …

 Ready or not, some day it will come to an end.
 There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
 All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
 Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

 Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will disappear.
 So, too, all your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists.
 The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
 At the end, it won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.

 It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
 Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
 So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?   What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.

 What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
 What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
 What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

 What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
 What will matter is not how many people you know, but how many people will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

 What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that will live on in those who loved you.
 What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

 Living a life that matters does not happen by accident.
 It’s not a matter of circumstances, but of choices.
 Each of us can choose to live a life that matters … or not.
 And what truly matters most comes down to this: Have we accepted Christ and His assurance of eternal life? Or not?


(Anonymous – distributed by Marty Stauffer, of Wild America outdoor productions)

In Memory of my Friend, Pastor Jerry Travis

For the second time in less than two weeks, I am posting a memorial to a friend and fellow pastor, this time for Rev. Jerry Travis. This will be long and include things I've received from others. Jerry deserves every inch of space I take here on this blog, and much, much, more!

I will share all comments whether they come in email or in the comment section here on the blog with Jerry's family, so please if you comment and the family doesn't know who your are, list what state you live in.

Jerry and I met a few years ago at a get together of pastors in our district. Jerry had moved into our district from another Wesleyan District and he told me that he was used to getting together with other preachers and he hadn't made new friends with the Wesleyan pastors in our area, and he missed that fellowship and wanted to know if I was interested in getting together for lunch sometime soon.

Let's stop the story there and let me say two things. It was Jerry who longed for fellowship and it was Jerry who reached out to get that fellowship. I'm going to tell a story later in this post and he did the same type of thing while in the hospital this past week. I'm just fortunate that if was me he reached out to - thank you Lord for that blessing!

I have a close prayer partner Pastor David Gates, who I regularly meet with for food, fellowship, and prayer. It was soon time for us to get together and I called Dave and said let's include Jerry Travis. Of course, both David and Jerry were up to it, and so we all met in Shelbyville for the first of many times together.

There are so things I could write about, but I remember the times we met together around the alter at Shelbyville Grace Wesleyan Church where Jerry pastored the last few years. We prayed for each other, we prayed for our families, we prayed for our congregations, we prayed for our fellow pastors, and we prayed for new souls to be won for Christ. We literally all "cried out" to the Lord.

David, Jerry and I have all been through "crisis" times in the last couple of years, and each of us knew we could pick up the phone, send an email, ask for a visit and the other two would be there - no question about it.

That's my two prayer partners, David and Jerry (Jerry is the young guy with a smile) in the picture to the right. I say that about age, because there is one story that so many people know about that has to do with age and a lunch we had at Bob Evans in Shelbyville.

Jerry and I both ordered chicken pot pie, and the waitress then began to ask David what he was having, and he said I'll have chicken pot pie also. Being the clown that I sometimes can be, I said to the waitress, notice that he is ordering off the Senior Menu, and he definitely qualifies for the discount. Next, you would have thought that Jerry and I had arranged this with the waitress (I promise we didn't) but she piped right in with, oh we'll make sure to blend his food for him!

Oh my, Jerry and I nearly rolled on the floor we laughed so hard, and as always David took our joking with a giant smile and a response of something like I would think you guys were mad at me if you wasn't joking with me.

This famous event has made the rounds throughout our district and even our District Superintendent once told a waitress that David needed his food blended.

That's how we spent our time. Praying, eating, joking, and loving each other like brothers!

Another friend of ours, Pastor Chet Todd became part of our prayer group, but living farther away, Chet couldn't join in on the fun very often. I know that we all felt that Chet was a big part of our small group. That's all four of us in the picture to the left. From left to right, it is me, David, Jerry and Chet. What a crew! There's Jerry with that smile again.

More recently, Pastor Doug Preston became very close friends with Jerry, and David & I have been really getting to be good friends with Doug as well. I know this time is really difficult for Doug as I heard him say he didn't have any brothers, and Jerry was the closest thing he had to a brother. I will treasure the last few days of Jerry's life as Doug, David, and I traveling the hour and a half each way to spend time with our brother who was leaving us too soon for our liking had some talks that we will all remember forever.

Here is the story I mentioned above. It happened Monday night after Jerry had found out that he was down to days left here on this earth. Doug had stepped out of the room for a minute, but it was David, Jerry's wife Joyce, myself, and three doctors. It was time to explain what could be done for Jerry while he was still with us.

After explaining things to Jerry and answering the questions that Jerry and Joyce had for the doctor in charge, Jerry did something that all of us who here this story should follow as an example. Now please remember these facts: Jerry had just found out just a few hours earlier that he wouldn't be here long without a miracle from God, he could hardly talk because his breathing was so fast due to complications that had began earlier that day, and he was the one we were all concerned about - those are the facts, but here's what Jerry did.

He asked the doctor in charge is he was a Christian. The doctor said he believed in God, but that he wasn't a Christian. As difficult as it was for Jerry to talk, he said this: God gave me a mission in life a long time ago. I've done my best to do what God had me do, and you need to give your heart to the Lord - it will be the greatest thing that has ever happened in your life.

Now understand, Jerry was dying and he knew it. Here he was longing to win someone else to the Lord, and Jerry did the reaching out. What a way to go out - planting seeds for Christ and trying to win a soul so that they could go where we would soon be going. Yes, there was some serious tears in that room, and with Jerry's family when we shared the story with them later that night.

Let me share a couple of emails I received today, this from our district superintendent to all pastors:

Hi Pastor,


Just a word to let you know that Pastor Jerry Travis that pastored Shelbyville Grace Wesleyan passed away about 6:00 A.M. this morning. Please keep Joyce and the family in your prayers. When we find out about the arrangements for the visitation and funeral we will get you word. Pastor Jerry was a true friend of mine and will be missed greatly.


Prayerfully,

Dr. Mark

This one is from his daughter:

Dear Friends and Family,
Job1: 20-21

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

God has prepared a place for us in heaven. He opens the gates and lets his children in. Then they get a new body, and renewed body. Then praises are sung and the angels sing.


The Lord has taken my father, Rev. Jerald Allen Travis to be with him in heaven at the age of 55, with no pain and no sorrow. The Lord called him home and even though we grieve for him here on earth, I know in my heart that he is in a much better place.


My father loved to sing, and he sang for the glory of the Lord. He preached for the glory of the Lord! :) What a great job he did at it!!! He did his best to fulfill this mission on the earth. As I continue to walk side by side with Lord, I thank Him, the great healer, physician for the most wonderful, loving father a daughter could ask for. He loved me so, and wanted me to do my best. He always pushed me to be the best that I can be. One of my dreams as a child was to make sure my father married my future husband and walked me down the isle. My childhood dream came true and nearly a year and a half later, and now he has gone to be with the Lord.


I will remember many childhood memories and be thankful for the husband, father, and grandfather that he truly was.

Here are the final arrangements for my friend, fellow pastor, and brother:

Sunday: Showing form 3 - 7 PM at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, Shelbyville, IN 46176



Monday: Service at 2 PM at Grace Wesleyan Church, Shelbyville, IN 46176



Tuesday: Visitation from 12-2 PM at Trinity Wesleyan Church, Greenville, OH 45331


Service at 2 PM at Trinity Wesleyan Church, Greenville, OH 45331


Burial will follow service in Greenville, OH 45331




Thanks for all the memories Jerry! I know your family will miss you greatly, and your friends will as well.


Thank you to God for sharing Jerry with us, and I'm sure that Jerry will be ready to greet us all when we get to heaven!

If you would prefer to send a comment by email, the email for this blog is hopecyberpastor@gmail.com. I will get them posted for you. - Pastor Ed

Memorial Service for Ron Thomas

There will be a Memorial Service for Rev. Ron Thomas on Friday at 2:00 pm at the Hope United Methodist Church. Calling will be from noon to 2:00. There will be a full obituary here when it comes out in tomorrow's paper.

CP

In Memory of Rev. Ron Thomas - Rest in Peace

In my job, you never know what is going to happen or when it is going to happen. After enjoying the Giants victory over the Patriots in the Super Bowl, my doorbell rang at 1:15 am. It was a volunteer fireman notifying me that the local United Methodist Minister had coded, and as the police department chaplain, they asked me to go and be with the wife.

My wife and I immediately went down the street (his church and our church are only about 3 blocks apart). My friend the minister had already left by ambulance, and his wife was trying to get herself ready but was having a difficult time even getting her thoughts together, much less driving herself to the hospital.

Mrs. CP and I was with Sandy from that point on, and I'm sorry to say that my friend and fellow pastor, Rev. Ron Thomas didn't make it.

We didn't get home until about 4:15, and it's safe to say that blogging will probably be low on my list of things to do later today - right now though I'm wide awake and winding down, so I wanted to post this tribute.

Please pray for Sandy, their 3 daughters, and their grandchildren, as well as the congregation at the Hope United Methodist Church.

Ron, I'm sure you've received your first tour of heaven, welcome home my friend! He is the man on the left of the picture with the Garfield tie on - that was Ron.

Memorial at Flag Gazer's Blog

SGT James Craig ~ Farewell, My Friend ~ Walk with God

by Flag Gazer

Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
-Psalm 144:1


This is my friend, James. We 'adopted' James after he received a Christmas card from us in 2005 and wrote to thank us for it. We wrote and sent packages through out that year of his deployment. James sent long and fascinating emails. He was a character with a spirit as loud as it was kind. He was devoutly Christian and not afraid or hesitant to talk about it. At his mid-term leave in Fall 2006, James met the love of his life, Natalie. They married in July 2007. And, now, James is walking with God. Please feel free to join me in my wandering memories of James. I want you to know this wonderful young man who just gave his life for our country, for us.

When James recently returned for his third deployment to Iraq, he sent this email from Kuwait:

"Please write to me and pray for me. I would love to get letters and
updates from all of you. I look forward to 2010 when I will finally be out
of the Army and can carry on a regular life and can be a bigger part of your lives.

You are all loved by me very much, that's why you are getting an
email. I hope this letter finds you all in happiness and Christmas
cheer."

Note from Cyber Pastor: Please click on the link above to read the rest of this story and see other pictures, and go to the links below to see pictures and tributes to the others who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

God Bless all of their memories!

SSG Gary W Jeffries ~ Farewell and Walk with God

SPC Evan Marshall ~ Farewell and Walk with God

PFC Brandon A Meyer ~ Farewell and Walk with God

PVT Joshua A R Young ~ Farewell and Walk with God