I want to thank Rhonda and Chris for the opportunity to remember and celebrate the life of Nan. It was a year and a half ago that we gathered for Eugene’s funeral and home going and now to be able to do the same for Nan is an honor. Like for so many, Nan had her difficulties late in life. She suffered from dementia, losing her short term memory. She dealt with the frustration of a loss of independence and she missed Eugene greatly. But now to celebrate her life and her long awaited reunion with Eugene is a joy and an honor, even in the midst of grief and loss. I think we can say with her: “It’s a beautiful day the Lord has made!”
One of the blessings of Eugene’s life was Nann. Eugene met Nan’s sister Bobbie Bailey at church, and formally introduced himself. Bobbie was not interested but Eugene asked if she had a sister and she said that Nan worked at a store called, “My Shoppe.” He went there with a letter of introduction. Eugene had already made his list of what he wanted in a life partner and he spent his courtship time wooing Nan. She fell in love after she realized he was genuine. Eventually, Nan brought home her foreign boyfriend who grew to love the farm and Nan's large family of siblings. Eugene and Nann were married in Mississippi in 1953 and later moved to Chalmette. They eventually moved to Gretna where they lived for over 40 years. Their favorite Scripture for their marriage was Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man leaves his father and mother, and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” They celebrated 60 years of marriage before Eugene’s death, a feat by anyone’s account. They had an enviable and dynamic partnership of communication and collaboration. They were best friends and partners. They never said a single bad word to each other. They kept disagreements between themselves. Nann was Eugene’s world and Eugene’s was Nan’s world. She was his princess. You never saw them share affection publicly but they had precious love which lasted a lifetime and was evident just by looking at them in the presence of one another. Nan was devoted to caring for Eugene and their children.
Nan was a life long learner always reading the paper and keeping up on politics and world events. She loved gardening, baking cookies and pies, and family celebrations. She was quite an athlete in her day and later in life loved listening and watching LSU football, pro football, and college basketball. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention her love of Pete Maravich. She loved great fashion and colorful styles and encouraged her daughters in this as well. Her life though simple was filled with wonderful small things that helped change people's lives or make it easier for them- praying for others, donating to missions, giving groceries to the needy, and making sacrifices great and small to send her daughters to college and even paying for Eugene’s younger brother. She never took people in the service industry for granted and thanked them for what they did. She was a proud and dedicated American and viewed voting at elections a privilege and a duty since she realized how many lives had been sacrificed on freedom and democracy.
Nan’s life was filled with surprises and adventure. Born into rural farm life in the hills of Mississippi, she was blessed with ordinary and unusual living. She survived a sickly childhood having a country doctor tell Nan’s mom not to bring her back because she’d never see her 7th birthday. She grew to be strong and able for the U.S. Army, where she served from January 1949 to September 1952, ending her career as a corporal. Her duties included food supervision and marching in special parade details. While stationed in Yokohama, Japan, she worked in intelligence statistical collection of military gains/losses during the Korean War. She received the Korean Medal of Honor and United Nations Service Medal. She never thought she’d live long, be in the Army, end up on a ship headed for Japan, marry an Indonesian man, live in the New Orleans area because she’d heard it was sin city, or even travel to Europe to spend time with Eugene’s family. Taken together, all of these things would make for an amazing life but these weren’t the most important things in Nan’s life not did they define her. But she ended up having an extraordinary life because of two things.
First, Nan was a dedicated, caring and loving mother and wife. She lived her life by example. She taught Chris and Rhonda that they were precious children of God. She lived by the Golden Rule, despised gossip and negativity, and believed it was important to always say, " I love you." She provided examples of self confidence and free thinking, and instilled a strong sense of right and wrong. She was a free spirit and continually pushed Rhonda and Chris to go outside their comfort zones through their clothing and by visiting museums and exhibits. Sports were always an important part of Nan’s life and they became important to her daughters as well. She taught them to play basketball and took them to their basketball, softball and volleyball games. She them drove them to the pool almost every day in the summer. She made time to get them to church activities like youth group and choir. She sewed for them, even though she didn’t like to sew. She never missed a school conference or event. She cooked dinner every night, and was involved in every aspect of their lives, bonding with her girls, teaching them by example and sharing experiences and making memories which would last a lifetime, like working in garden with flowers, making cookies, or watching old movies with all three of them laying on a small “loveseat” sofa (changing positions when one of them lost circulation or had a leg cramp, going through a box of Kleenex, crying together for every sad moment or broken heart, or laughing until they cried at every funny moment.
They would go on trips to visit relatives singing in the car to the radio. They saw all 48 States by car. Alot of the trips were to the family farm and one of the favorite seasons was watermelon season. They would load up the car with as many melons as possible. One year, they had a flat tire and in order to get to the spare tire Eugene had to unload all the melons out of the trunk. It was the fastest tire change he ever did in the summer heat dressed in his Sunday clothes. Nan was so embarrassed because cars kept pulling off the road, not to help Eugene with the flat tire but wanting to know how much he was selling the watermelons for. Several were peeved that they had all these watermelons and did not want to sell just one!
Her life was about family. She adored her grandchildren Derek and Sara (and truthfully- all children) and showered them with love, time and hugs. She and Eugene would whisk them away from pre-school early every Friday (for private afternoons with them), cook them special foods, care for them when they were sick, travel with them whenever able, and enjoyed watching them grow into young adults.
As important as family was to Nan, there was one thing which took precedence: her faith. She not only professed her faith but lived it. Her faith carried her through the tough times of life, helped her to understand suffering and the evil that is in this world and guided her in her life and who she was. She prayed for Rhonda and Chris daily and with them as well. She gave freely of her time to neighbors and friends. She would bring bags of groceries to folks who fell on hard times. She visited the sick, and later in life gave away Gideon Bibles to people she would meet who were troubled or needed encouragement. Nan had the spiritual gift of hospitality. She had an open heart and an open home. She hosted all sorts of folks in her home, including some that could not speak English- but with food and kindness, she made them welcome. She believed prayer was a first response- not a last resort- and had the faith that all prayers are answered. She was truly thankful for answered prayers.
They raised their family at Gretna UMC, brought Chris and Rhonda up in the faith and served Christ faithfully. She taught 3rd grade Sunday school for years, hosted United Methodist Women circle meetings, cooked lunch for the WestBank Rotary Club which met at the church every week for more than 60 years, did Sunday snacks for Youth group and volunteered for Vacation Bible School. Part of her service to Christ was to support Eugene in his efforts for his church. Rhonda and Chris often saw Nann and Eugene on their knees praying by their bed at the end of the day. And of course, they saw their service at church. She was generous, and believed in giving to the Lord his 10-20%.
Through her faith, life and service, Nann saw her duty to build the kingdom of God by making the world a better place. This was no more apparent than her last few years in the home she and Eugene lived. In many ways, she was like the Apostle Paul. For the past 39 weeks, I have been leading a study at church through the Book of Acts. On Wednesday, we concluded with the last chapter. If you’re not familiar with the ending, Paul has been led by the Spirit to go to Rome to share the Gospel. After a treacherous and life threatening journey, he arrived in Rome and is put under house arrest as he awaits his audience with Caesar. He’s under house arrest for two years but through that entire time, we continues to meet with Jews and others who come to Paul to hear the Good News of Jesus Chrust. Though he is a prisoner and though his fate is unknown, he continues to share the Gospel and minister to others. And Nann, who in many respects felt like a prisoner to an aging, aching body, limited mobility and a feeble mind, would have the staff of the Abbey at Westminster Plaza who lined up at her door so they could have her pray for them, an ambassador, a minister and a witness to her dying days.
So today is not a day of mourning but a day of great celebration. Tony Campolo tells of attending his first black funeral when he was 16 years old. A friend of his, Clarence, had died. The pastor was incredible. From the pulpit he talked about the Resurrection in beautiful terms. He had them thrilled. He came down from the pulpit, went to the family, and comforted them from the 14th chapter of John. "Let not your heart be troubled," he said, "'You believe in God, believe also in me,' said Jesus. Clarence has gone to heavenly mansions." Then, for the last 20 minutes of the sermon, he actually preached to the open casket. Now, that's drama! He yelled at the corpse: "Clarence! Clarence!" He said it with such authority. I would not have been surprised had there been an answer. He said, "Clarence, there were a lot of things we should have said to you that we never said to you. You got away too fast, Clarence. You got away too fast." He went down this litany of beautiful things that Clarence had done for people. When he finished…he said, "That's it, Clarence. There's nothing more to say. When there's nothing more to say, there's only one thing to say. Good night. Good night, Clarence!" He grabbed the lid of the casket and slammed it shut. "Good night, Clarence!" Boom! Shock waves went over the congregation. As the preacher then lifted his head, you could see there was this smile on his face. He said, "Good night, Clarence because I know, I know that God is going to give you a good morning!" The choir stood and starting singing, "On that great morning, we shall rise, we shall rise." We were dancing in the aisles and hugging each other. I knew the joy of the Lord, a joy that in the face of death laughs and sings and dances, for there is no sting to death.” Truly “It’s a beautiful day the Lord has made!” Amen.
