CharlieFry

 A service to celebrate the life of Charlie Fry
held Dec 16 2020 at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Dunbar, WV

A service of Death and Resurrection for Charlie Fry. December 16, 2020.
from UMBOW. Pastor Kerry Bart, eulogy

GREETING

Friends, we have gathered here to celebrate the life of Charlie Fry, born Charles Emery Fry, July 14, 1930, entered into eternal rest Dec 7, 2020.  He was 90 years 4 months and 23 days old (33,019).  I had to calculate that, but God knew already.

We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. 

May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.

 

PRAYER

Blessed be the God 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. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Jesus, Friend and Lord and Savior, you wept at the grave of Lazarus. You know all our sorrows. Receive our tears, and bind up the wounds of our hearts. Through the mystery of pain, bring us into closer communion with you and with one another. Raise us from death into life. And grant in your mercy, that with Charlie who has died and returned to you, we may come to live, with you and with all whom we love, in the home you have prepared for us, eternal in the heavens. Amen.

 

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
   he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

 

A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes

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. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

EULOGY

Today is a blustery day. Heavy rains from here to NC coast, snowing over most of PA. Covid took another life dear to us when Charlie breathed his last breath 9 days ago, holding Carol’s hand. It has taken another 25,000 in the US since then. That’s more than the population of St Albans, CrossLanes, and Dunbar combined.

Today IS a blustery day. It is a call to grieve, and it is also a call to dream. Jefferson County schools are closed today to *celebrate* the first official snow day of this crazy school year. Students and teachers alike, families and support staff have been invited by the superintendent to go sledding and to sip hot cocoa while reading by the fire. Or napping.

We have to dream. God has “set eternity” in our hearts. We are able to have satisfaction in our labors and in our recreation (literally, thank God) but we also cling to the future with hopeful but impatient anticipation.

And while we are gathered here in the cold rain without Charlie’s family, grieving Charlie’s death, let us also be thankful for his life, for the moments – the many beautiful as well as occasional frustrating moments – of Charlie’s life. All of our lives were in some way enhanced because of Charlie’s place in it.

And I believe that’s because we’re made to be in relationship, in part, for times such as these. To comfort one another in times of grief and brokenness, to nurture health and life where it has been taken.

I believe that God’s grand design for creation is to make all things new, and that just like a baby in the womb knows not what comes after birth, we know not what comes after death. Jesus said that it is after a seed falls into the ground and dies that it is released to produce new fruit, and in a way that fulfills the seed.

 

I’d share this piece of Native American wisdom:

And Why?

You shall ask
What good are dead leaves
And I will tell you
They nourish the sore earth.
You shall ask
What reason is there for winter
And I will tell you
To bring about new leaves.
You shall ask
Why are the leaves so green
And I will tell you
Because they are rich with life.
You shall ask
Why must summer end
And I will tell you
So that leaves will die.

And among all the great and wonderful things God has made and God can see, God can see our pains and our griefs, God bids us come and rest in him and he will wipe the tears from our eyes and give us peace because you are loved beyond measure.

Your presence here today bears testimony to Charlie’s life, and to his memory. 

Church choir director Tracie shares this recording in Charlie's memory
https://youtu.be/rjX0WKIzYKw

Charlie, we honor your life.  We thank you for being son, brother, friend, husband, father, grandfather and great. Thank you for your service to our country. Charlie, may Almighty God have mercy on your soul, may he forgive your every sin, and celebrate every good and righteous act in your life, and may he welcome you into his eternal home.

 

PRAYER of COMMENDATION

God of us all, your love never ends.  When all else fails, you still are God.  We pray to you for one another in our need, and for all, anywhere, who mourn with us this day.  To those who doubt, give light; to those who are weak, strength; to all who have sinned, mercy; to all who sorrow, your peace.  Keep true in us the love with which we hold one another.  In all our ways we trust you. 

Almighty God, in your keeping there is shelter from the storm, and in your mercy there is comfort for the sorrows of life. As we go from this place and carry in our hearts the sorrow of Charlie’s death, hear our prayer for those who mourn and are heavy laden. Lighten their darkness with your love, and give to them strength to walk in your light. Enable them to see beyond the things of this mortal world the promise of the eternal. Help them to know that your care enfolds all your people, that you are our refuge and our strength, and that underneath are your everlasting arms. Amen.

O Lord, support us all the day long of our troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over and our work is done.  Then in your mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

And now, the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His Hand.

This ends the service celebrating the life of Charlie Fry.