Marian Gibson was born on October 11, 1944. She came into this world physically challenged, and was immediately put up for adoption by her birth mother. Marian spent the first seven years of her life bouncing from foster home to foster home, unwanted, unloved, until finally being adopted by her mother and father at age […]
John Jernstrom was born on December 21, 1966 — the winter solstice, the first day of winter. He arrived on the scene in the middle of a blizzard; with all the ice and snow, it was a miracle his Mom and Dad made it to the hospital in Newton on time. When mother and son […]
Alice Curry Alice was born on June 17, 1907 in Buffalo, New York into a family that consisted of her parents and her older sister Evelyn. Her father sold tools, and her mother, a woman ahead of her time, operated her own business as a corseteer, driving her own car to visit women in their […]
The Eulogy for Carl Cole November 6, 2004 Carl Cole was my friend. I met him about seven years ago shortly after an accident he suffered that nearly took his life. He survived by the grace of God — a miracle really. I am grateful for having known Carl. Carl’s life wasn’t about making a […]
Madeline Ormsbee was born on October 9, 1917 in Neptune, New Jersey. She was the second child born to her parents: her brother Ray had been born ten years earlier. Whenever asked what her family’s ancestry was, Madeline would always answer simply, “American.” Madeline’s father died when she was just thirteen years old. The nation […]
The Eulogy for Scott David Hess (December 29, 1974 – December 24, 2003) December 29, 2003 Scott was born 29 years ago today. From the very start of his life, Scott’s kidneys began to give out on him. One of them quit working pretty much at birth; the doctors said it would be a matter […]
Ray Polen was born in Michigan, the second of three children, preceded by his sister Barbara, and followed by his sister Margie. In elementary school his family moved to Wheaton, Illinois, and then, when Ray was in High School, to Ridgwood, New Jersey. From very early on Ray there an independence to Ray that led […]
Myra Hietschel was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey in a family that consisted of her parents and her beloved younger brother Ira. After high school, she got a job working at the American can manufacturing company. World War II was going on, and after work, in order to do her part to support […]
Hank Heitschel was a man in love with his wife Myra, who glowed when he talked about her, who cared for her in her disability with a tenderness and patience that touched us all, who, in his partnership with Myra, showed us what it is for a husband and wife to be truly one flesh […]
Leona Anna Roza (October 28, 1904 – December 2, 1999) There is sadness here this evening, of course. A life here on earth has come to an end. But this is also a time to celebrate the living and the loving that was Lee Roza’s life. Ninety-five years holds a lot of living. And so […]