Good-Bye To A Good Man (Funeral)

Charlie was a piece of work, amen?

A genuine … one-of-a-kind … masterpiece …

Hand-crafted by the very Master Craftsman Himself …

And this is how he saw all of you … as genuine … one-of-a-kind … lovingly hand-crafted masterpieces. That’s how he saw everybody. That’s how he treated everybody.

Charlies was a good man … and that’s saying a lot. We are all here today because our lives have been touched by this good man, Charlie Nanney. The longer you knew him, the more you realized how remarkable of a man he was … how remarkable a servant … how devoted he was to his family … how loyal he was to his friends … how faithful he was to God … and how available he was to literally anyone who needed help … including animals.

The highest and most powerful compliment you can give a person today is to call them a “good person” and sincerely mean it. Charlie Nanney was a good man … Charlie Nanney was a great man. In our hearts and memories, Charlie will always be a “good man” … a “great man.”

Charlie was a good man who lived a good life. For over 50 years of courtship and marriage, Charlie was nothing less than a devoted husband and a servant to Linda. I have no doubt that he would have taken as good a care of Linda as she did of him if the tables were reversed … a testament of her love for him … a good man and a good husband. Stephen, his son, by his side to the very end … the love of a son for a good father and good man. His brother and sister-in-law, Roy and Louise, always there at the hospital or the rehab … helping to take are of a good brother, a good brother-in-law … a good man. Friends doing everything they can to take care of Linda and Stephen while they took care of Charlie … a good friend and a good man. His church constantly lifting Charlie, a good Christian man, in our thoughts and prayers. When people came into his auto parts store, Charlie treated them more like friends than customers.

Charlie loved his family, he loved his friends, he loved his church, he loved his community, he loved children, he loved animals … but most of all, he loved his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He wasn’t perfect … he’d be the first to tell you that. But he loved Jesus and attempted to follow Jesus and live the Christian life as best as he knew how. His own shortcomings and imperfections troubled him deeply but he did his best to model what it means to keep on trying to change and grow in our faith and our walk with Jesus … even into old age when it is hardest.

What I’m about to say might shock you at first … but bear with me. Charlie was a good man who led a good life and was granted a good death. I’m sure that you are wondering how I could say that? I understand. You might not think there was anything good about watching Charlie die … but you would be wrong.

I have been there when many people have passed though the veil and crossed over to the other side. Few … far too few, in my opinion … have had as much love and care and concern as Charlie received. There was almost always someone at his side or in his room. So many who did what they could. So many who came and poured out their hearts and their love for him. So many who did as much for him as they could and wished they could do more.

Our pain, our sorrow as we watched him suffer came from the love that we have for him. The deeper our love, the greater our pain and suffering as we watched him grow sicker, weaker … fade away … and leave us. I can only hope and pray that I will be surrounded by so much love … covered with so much prayer …when it comes time for me to pass on to my reward. And here’s the best part … the most reassuring part … Charlie knew beyond a shadow of a doubt… right down to the very bottom of his soul … where he was going. And I know that not one single person here doubts for a second where Charlie is right now. Charlie was a good man who led a good life and was granted a good death.

But what of death itself? When someone you love dies, what do you do? You get upset … you get mad … you get angry … you get sad … you cry. That’s what God does too! He gets upset … He gets mad … He gets angry … He gets sad … and He cries.