Eulogy For Juliette Deadwyler
Psalms 139:13-139:16
There are some people in the Bible who we know instantly at the sound of their name. Names like Moses, Esther, Peter, Mary and Paul. Yet there are people whose names we don’t know yet their actions changed history, the little girl who told Namaan the great Syrian General how to be healed, the little boy who shared his lunch with the disciples so that Jesus could feed 5,000, or the woman who used her hair to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and her perfume so that Jesus could teach us the heart of forgiveness.
Though we do not know their names, their actions are emblazoned in the Christian hall of fame.
God creates some people who are to become well known in the world, and God creates some people who to be very special in the world. Now some would say it is better to be well known than to be special, but I think when we come to the end of our days, we’re not looking back to see how well known we were, but rather were we special in the lives of others.
When death is staring at us in the face, we do not usually take great pride in our degree from Harvard or Yale or in our position as executive vice president, nearly as much as we do from a child saying I love so much because of all that you did for me and I’m going to miss you, or from a person coming in and saying, when I was hungry, it was you that saw to it that I got a meal and for that I am grateful.
Juliette Deadwyler was not created by God to be somebody well known whose name would cover the country and the globe at large, but she carried out the mission of God for her life in the way that she has touched the lives of others.
We sometimes forget, that no matter who we are, what we have done, or who we have become, we all started out in the hands of God.
For the Scripture tells us in Psalm 139:13-16
[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. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, [16] your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
It was on a hot summer day, July 19, 1930 that God sent Juliette into the world through the bodies of Robert Fairley and Ollie Jones Fairley. Juliette arrived in Camden Alabama. It was the largest city in the county at the time with a huge population of 697 people. Now the fact that they had 10 children altogether in rural Camden, Alabama lets you know that they were either very rich or somewhat poor.
The fact that Juliette could pick cotton faster than most and couldn’t wait to get away from the cotton fields let you know they were not from the wealthy part of society. But that didn’t stop God from having an interest in their lives.
God blessed Juliette with an intelligent, sharp and witty mind. She was the salutatorian of her class, and the class speaker because the valedictorian could not do it. Juliette was proud to have graduated from the Presbyterian School that she attended. As the second oldest and the first girl among 10 siblings, Juliette learned about responsibility and how to help others coming behind you in the family.
Juliette was eager to leave Camden Alabama and come north to visit her aunt. Three things kept her from returning to Alabama. 1) She did not want to be anybody’s house maid. 2) She was not interested in a cotton picking career, and 3) She met a fine looking guy from Lithonia, Ga by the name of Ralph Deadwyler who captured her heart and she his.
They both had a sense of humor that interlocked the two of them together and they started an incredible journey of life together. God blessed them beyond their wildest dreams and imaginations. Both of the them came from poverty and yet those rose up to give birth to a family, sending their children to some of the finest colleges in the country. They purchased their own home.
They worked together as a team. Ralph was a hardworker, often doing the great yard shift and a part time job. Juliette was the homemaker supporting and encouraging her kids to do the best and become the best they could be in life. She taught her kids the value of having rules to help you in life.
She was there for them, sometimes even when they hoped she wasn’t. Gail said her mom was omnipresent. I asked what she meant. She said, “sometimes when I didn’t want to do the dishes, I would sneak out the back door, head down the side of the house, and just as I get ready to run down the street, her mom would yell out Gail. Gail could only wonder, how did she see me.”
Juliette was one of the first to have a wireless phone system in the neighborhood with her kids. She would go out on the porch and yell Gail, and sure enough one of Gail’s friends would let her know, you got a call from your Mom. I think you better answer it. It was an embarrassing way to get a call, but it worked.
Juliette and Ralph took great pride in their kids and in their home. Juliette was determined to keep her home looking clean and neat. She took great pride in her family, and loved the flowers she got on Mother’s Day.
They were a role model for others. They opened their hearts to the move of God in their lives and they both sought to follow Jesus Christ.
Juliette was the kind of person who was laid back and had that sense of humor that could sneak up on you. Her love for her crossword puzzles kept her mind sharp and witty. She could be funny especially when her and Ralph were playing off against each other. We attended the same barber shop, and one of my barber’s said he thought for sure they were just dating the way they joked with each other in the shop.
When we come to the Lord, God gives us each a spiritual gift which may enhance a talent we already have. Juliette had the gift of hospitality and service. She loved to cook for others. Her sweet potato pie, yeast rolls, apple pie, pound cake, and macaroni and cheese were legendary in her family. She served in the church in the coffee hour ministry preparing the coffee and donuts for others following the worship service.
Juliette own needs were somewhat simple when it came to food. You could make her happy with some fried chicken wings and a pepsi. If you were with her long enough, she was going to send you to the store for a pepsi.
She also enjoyed being a kind of detective. She was known to keep peeking out the window to see what was going on in the neighborhood. Now some might have said she was being nosy, but Juliette would call it be a crime stopper, by alerting others with the information she had received. With her hobby of taking her daily walks, Juliette was able to collect even more information on what was going on. She was CSI East 92nd Street.
Juliette use to say quite often, in this lifetime, you will have troubles. Perhaps one of her biggest troubles came in life when the man she had loved and been married to for over 61 years died and went home to be with the Lord. At the time he was sick, she too was sick but didn’t share all she was going through because she didn’t want others to worry about her. After spending so many years together its not unusual that a partner follows the other one in death. Juliette and Ralph both knew that in Jesus Christ they would be together again. The greatest gift they can offer to their children is a legacy of having followed Christ who helped them throughout their lives.
The wisest decisions Juliette Deadwyler ever made, was the choice to give her life to Christ and to invite him into her life. That decision, not all the good things she has done, has determined where she spends all of eternity.
So often, we even make the mistake of thinking that we ourselves have an indefinite number of days ahead of us that we can control and determine, but I can tell you with certainty, unless Jesus comes first, we shall all surely die and we will die in times and methods not of our own choosing. Will you be ready when it happens?
The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. If we are all living in order that we might some day die, then we should do a reality check to find out if we’re going to be prepared when we get to our final destination.
If we’re living simply for status, money, degrees or fame, keep in mind none of these things go out with us when we leave this world. They may make you feel important, but they won’t make you special. Our money will be left in the bank, our degrees will hang on a wall, our fame will be forgotten, and our status will not impress Jesus who is the ultimate Judge of everything.
In the bible it says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Do you realize God loves us all, but death will be the final separator between those who are living for Christ and those who are not. It’s not matter of who was good and who was bad. We all were bad, and God wants to give us all the same chance he gave to Juliette . If we do not know Christ, we are condemned to eternal death. There is nothing we can do to remove our sins .
Jesus has gone forth to prepare a place for each of us. But like Juliett , we must make a choice. None of us know the day nor the hour when we shall leave this world. To reject Jesus Christ is to continue on to the road to eternal pain and suffering to pay for our sins. Christ has died on our behalf that we might have life. It’s in believing that he died for us and that God raised him from the dead that makes heaven a possibility for us.
It’s as simple as confessing our sins, our yielding our lives to him. For in the end, the only decision that will matter is what did we do with Christ. For only what’s done for Christ will last. Her decision made her not only special, but also important. For her fame of eternity in heaven will be remembered for generations after the important people of this world have long since been wiped from the pages of history.
To those who do not know Jesus Christ, Juliette Fairley Deadwyler will only be a memory. It will be a great memory, but still just a memory. For those who do know Christ, Juliette Fairly Deadwyler is waiting to meet us. For the word of God clearly states, " Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
According to the Lord’s own words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Our God is faithful.
