Kathy, words are inadequate to express my heart right now, but a big 
thank you for sharing your Dad with us.

Love,
Helen

Earlier you wrote:

>Hi Guys,
>         I wanted to write more yesterday and share with you all the 
> happenings surrounding my Dad's funeral, but I came home with some 
> kind of a bug and so I had to keep my message short and to the 
> point.  It is no fun flying when you don't feel well.  Liz and I 
> both just stayed in bed, for the most part and recovered.  I just 
> wanted to let you know yesterday that I was home and safe.
>         Anyway, the events surrounding Dad's funeral were just 
> amazing!  I just have to share them with you.  God was so with all 
> of us.  First of all, when the pastor came over on Sunday, to plan 
> out the funeral service we all had a great time swapping memories 
> of Dad and what a character he truley was.
>         Then, and I have no idea how the next part of this story 
> will fly with some of you, but I'll tell it anyway, because it was 
> healing for me, I began praying about having the courage to touch 
> my Dad in order to say goodbye.  I felt as though the Lord was 
> telling me that this would be an important part of the healing 
> process for me because I wasn't able to say goodbye to him while he 
> was still alive.  Finally I prayed that, if the Lord felt that this 
> was important for me, that he would arrange it so that I could do 
> it alone, since I had no idea how I would react.  I didn't even 
> tell Greg about this because I thought that I was being so bizarre.
>         Anyway, our family was scheduled to have a private viewing 
> at 11:00 am. on Monday morning, which  ended up being a very nice 
> thing, but anyway, Greg and I got going earlier than expected and 
> showed up arount 10:00 am. instead.  We knew the funeral dirrector 
> pretty well because we used to attend church together when Greg and 
> I lived in the area.  The funeral director came out to the parking 
> lot to express his condolences to me personally and then he said, 
> "Kathy, would you like to spend some time alone with your father 
> ahead of time?"  I couldn't believe it, but there was God preparing 
> a private place for me in the midst of everything, so I went in 
> with the director and spent some time alone with my Dad.  I just 
> kept stroking his arm and holding his hand.  I couldn't believe how 
> easy it was once I got past my own fears.  What I hadn't expected 
> was how I opened the door for others in my family, especially my 
> Mom, to reach out and touch Dad to say goodbye after me.
>         The rest of the family gathered and we hugged and cried, 
> but rejoiced that Dad is at peace now.  At around 4:00 pm. we had a 
> public wake and, O My Goodness, I couldn't believe how many people 
> showed up to say goodbye.  The wake lasted three hours.  Our family 
> formed a reception line and I honestly didn't believe that there 
> would be enough time for everybody to make it through.  It was 
> incredible how many lives this simple man touched.  Our family had 
> a kind of joke about it though.  You see, my Dad hated crowds.  He 
> always just wanted to get in and get out and get whatever he was 
> supposed to do over with.  We were joking that this was probably 
> the only way that Dad could have handled this situation, especially 
> as the center of attention. GRIN!  I'll bet that there were between 
> 2 & 300 people, easy.
>         Anyway, then, there was a military funeral.  Wow, was that 
> powerful.    All the V.F.W. posts in the Stephenson area 
> participated.  It is a very moving service.  First, they all filed 
> past my Dad and gave him a sollute.  then, they read about his 
> military history and his obituary.    When they prayed, they would 
> remove their caps and put them back on when the prayer was 
> done.  Then, they began folding the flag and as they did so, the 
> chaplain explained what each fold of the flag meant.  It was really 
> powerful. I was amazed at how much of the service, including each 
> fold of the flag, points to honoring God first, above all 
> else.  Then, of course, they presented the flag to my Mom, then 
> Taps was played on a trumpet and then, the men retreated.
>         After that, they held, what is called a prayer 
> service.  The pastor preached a sermon at this and there was a time 
> of prayer and then Greg and I sang the old Swedish hymn, "Day by Day."
>         After most of the people had left, Mom wanted to go up to 
> the casket one more time and I offered to go with her.  She and I 
> walked up and this time, she felt comfortable taking his arm and 
> saying, "good night dear."  It was very hard to keep from crying as 
> she did this because I knew that this was what she had said to him 
> every night, but this time, it was so final.  We prayed together 
> prayers of thanks for Dad and for the life he provided for us, with God's help.
>         The next Day, was the church funeral.  I and two of my 
> brothers participated in that.  I sang a simple song that Dad had 
> asked me to sing when he died.  The thing is, he had asked me to do 
> this over 32 years ago.  I also sang "Because He Lives," and we got 
> the whole church rockin' on the chorus.  then, the cemetary is 
> right behind the church so we moved out to there, but the cool 
> thing was that the pianist began playing, "How Great Thou Art," and 
> I started singing it and everybody joined in, so we walked out to 
> the cemetary, in 12 degree weather singing.  Awesome, eh?  Seven of 
> Dad's Grandsons were the paul barers.   Matt would have made eight, 
> but he didn't want to do it.
>         At the committal service, I sang, "Thy Holy Wings Dear 
> Savior."  The chill added extra vibrato to my voice, but I was 
> determined to at least give this gift, since I had not been able to 
> sing to him one more time before he left this earth.
>         It was just a powerful few days for me.  Thank you for 
> letting me share.  My mom is being amazing so far.  I think that 
> all of us kids are so worried about her.  We're constantly calling 
> her to make sure that she's okay and those who are close keep 
> dropping in.  She has just been so strong through all of this.
>         I'll just share two more things, and then, I'll close.  Our 
> church out here in Glenburn, on their own, sent flowers to my 
> family.  That is incredible to me, that they would reach out beyond 
> their circle to show such honor to my Dad.  I can't tell you how 
> good that made Greg and I feel.
>         Secondly, there is   a Steve Green song called, "Find Us 
> Faithful."  Some of the words in that song are, "After all our 
> hopes and dreams have come and gone and our children sift through 
> all we've left behind, may the clues that they discover and the 
> memories they uncover become the light that leads them to the road 
> we each must find."  Well, when my Mom was going through my Dad's 
> wallet on Saturday, she found a little cross in it that says, 
> "Jesus Saves."  She has no idea how long he had carried it or where 
> he picked it up, but this little cross was placed in Dad's hands 
> for the viewing and the burial.  He had always had it with him and 
> he still does, but for a short time, everyone was able to see the 
> testimony that my Dad lived in deeds.
>God bless,
>Kathy
>

"My Life is not in what He gives me, but in Who He is."