Funeral Eulogy Evelyn Reese

Evelyn Reese June 10,1922 -July 6, 2019

How long ago was 1922? It was the year President Harding had the first radio installed at the White House. It was the year the first human being was treated with insulin for diabetes.

It was the year the Supreme Court upheld the 19th amendment giving women the Right to Vote. It was the year the American Pro Football Association became the National Football League. It was the year the Soviet Union was born.

On June 10, 1922, Judy Garland, better known as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz was born, but the event that has brought us here together tonight, was something with a more heavenly consequence attached to it.

For us the big event of June 10th, 1922 was a small event that happened in a small rural county in Kentucky. That event had a greater impact on our lives than any of those earlier events. That was the day that Almighty God presented to the world, the gift of a little black girl whose name was Evelyn

For it was God who decided that Sylvester Lousie and John Thomas Wimbush would have a child, and that child would be named Evelyn.

You see in the midst of world, national and local events, God is never to busy to send a blessing into the world, who will enrich the lives of others. I submit to you tonight, that Evelyn has been such a blessing.

God had a plan and a purpose for her, before she ever slid out of her Mother’s womb and took her first breath. For the word of God tells us, Psalm 139:13-16 (TNIV) 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. God knew about all of Evelyn’s 35,455 days ahead of time. God had a plan to make Evelyn into something beautiful and God started it right there in her mother’s womb.

That’s where the journey began. It’s possible to get lost on a journey. Have you ever been lost and you saw something that seemed familiar and you that it would take you where you wanted to go, but it didn’t? Sometimes things are not always what they seem. There is a verse in the bible that says there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death.

One thing about a homecoming service or funeral is that it reminds us that we did not come in this world to live forever. All of us are on a journey in life, but every journey has an end. It’s good to be prepared when you get there.

If all you know about life is living in the Bahamas, but you plan to come to Cleveland in January, there are some things you will need here that you don’t need in the Bahamas. A good heavy coat and a pair of solid boots would be a good place to start. We think it silly of a person to think that just because they wore something during the winter in the Bahamas, it will get them through the winter in Cleveland.

You know, since we are all traveling on this planet toward death at the speed of 360 seconds per hour, we should be preparing ourselves for our arrival. Have you prepared for the circumstances of your arrival? You certainly won’t be able to say, I never expected to arrive. God set you in motion for a reason. Do you know what it is?

God sent Evelyn into this world to reach people, to love people, and to bring as many people as she could into a relationship with Jesus Christ. He placed within her certain traits and abilities that made her the unique person that she was.

If you had the privilege of getting to know Evelyn, you discovered that she was something else. She could be lively, fun loving, funny, passionate and driven. She could be persistent, strong willed, and at times stubborn. She could be kind and gentle.

She was a loyal person who would stand by you when others had given up on you. She had a good heart in many ways. She would try to spoil you in her own way. But if she got upset with you, she was going to be honest with you.

Evelyn was a woman of strength and resilience. Though she and Judy Garland were born on the same day, they were born into two very different kinds of the United States of America. Judy did not grow up with the constant racism, prejudice, and discrimination that Evelyn had to deal with. And though both of them had very beautiful singing voices, Evelyn’s color kept her from being heard by many.