Funeral Message / Service

NOTE TO READER: First is the message, then the funeral as given. The benediction ties into the body of the message and reasserts the power of the resurrection.

We are each entrusted with one life, formed by the hand of the Father in our mother’s womb – surely God has his hand on us from the first moments of life. One life, one opportunity - one heart, one soul, one spirit. What a precious gift we are given. And a life well lived – this is something we cherish, this is something we hold dear.

Such a life Jean lived – and so we cherish her.

Here we gather to honor our sister in the Lord, our friend, our mother – and yes the love a lifetime – a woman who was much more than a spouse, she was a soul mate, a dear friend. Here we gather to say our final goodbyes, our final – I love you Jean…here we gather to rejoice in the fact that we were so blessed to have known Jean.

But, this my friends, is not our final gathering, sad is the case if it were. No, we will gather again, all together in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ – All who have given their lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ will be there, all who are believers in the name of our Lord Jesus will be there, and we will gather with the saints of all time, past, present and future; All suffering and woe will be left behind, we will be full of joy covered in the grace and mercy of our the Lord our God.

There we will again be with Jean – she will be proper, I’m sure she will still be quite British. There we will laugh with her again, see her bright smile and Jean will tell us exactly what is on her mind.

A live well lived is reflected by the friends we keep. A well lived life is reflected by our deeds acted out, and our deeds held back. A well lived life is reflected in our love for those around us. A well lived life is reflected not by accomplishments, successes or accolades, but by relationship – a relationship not only with others, but a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Jean’s life reflected all these things.

First and foremost we need to know that Jean was a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, and that means noting less than the fact that she gave her life over to Jesus. Because of this relationship with Jesus Christ, Jean is right now in the presence of God. She is right now in the presence of God not because Jean was a good woman, though she certainly was; She is right now in the presence of God not because of her good works and her kindness, though she was generous, loving and had many good works; Jean is in the presence of the Almighty God because of her relationship with Jesus Christ – period. See, her relationship with Jesus produced the qualities in Jean we loved so much – Jean was who she was, not because of her tireless efforts to be good, Jean was who she was because of her intimate relationship with Jesus Christ who made her who she was.

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(START OF EULOGY)

Jean kind of attached herself to you. Not to say that she wasn’t choosey, but to say, it wasn’t long before you realized what a good friend she was, what a good woman she was.

Ken was introduced to Jean – as Jean was going out on a date with their mutual friend, Don Holester. Jean still went out with Don that night, but, but, Ken arraigned a date for the following week, and that was that. They dated for about two years, and then the wedding.

Now, you now it is love when your groom hops on a charter flight from San Diego to the wedding….and gets grounded in the Mojave desert because of a thunderstorm. Ken was five hours late. They had the reception first and when Ken arrived at midnight, they had the wedding service – how romantic is that! Then Ken was off for four years in the service. If Jean was willing to put up with all that, you know she was dedicated to her marriage and dedicated to her daughter Sheila.

Ken and Jean together owned and operated Northern Hydraulics Ltd. But Jean worked at many different jobs in her life including Arco Credit Union, Ventura Schools Credit Union and even a hardware store. Jean was a dedicated woman who stayed at home when she could, but also was not afraid to jump into the work force when needed.

Jean survived being bombed in London and arrived in America on the Queen Mary when she was only 17 years old. Perhaps living through such uncertain times gave her a heart to help others, or perhaps her gratefulness that she made it through, gave her such a generous heart. Jean was always giving, wasn’t she? She doing what she could to help others. She was a volunteer at the Senior Center every Wednesday. She was quite devoted to the Homemakers club – which supports AWAKE shelter and her heart went out to those at the Gospel Mission which she supported extensively.