Rainbow Reflections Basket was purchased for the family of Esther A. Vermeesch.

Dear Joyce (and family),
I was saddened to hear of your dear Mother’s death. I am sure she is resting in peace in the loving arms of Jesus, her Lord and Savior, as she was His faithful servant all of her life. What a wonderful example she was to you, your seven siblings, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all that she met throughout her 95 years of life. I will be thinking of you and praying for all of you as you lay her remains to rest.
With sympathy,
Mary Scislowicz
Longmont, CO

Chris and Vonda Barclay purchased the Heavenly Heights Bouquet for the family of Esther A. Vermeesch.

Dear Noreen and family,
I saw the obituary of your mother on my computer this
morning and had such fond memories of her growning up
in Essexville, Mich. She was such a gracious, loving and
kind parent. You must have been so proud of her. My
memories were of such a loving christian, always taking
everything in stride and setting an example of kindness
and giving toward those she interacted with daily. She
will be in my daily prayers. God has taken home a
loving servant and her work on earth has truly been
completed with honor and selfless sacrifice. With
loving sympathy.
Julie Kollar
Longmont, Colorado

Memorial Service for Esther Vermeesch, December 12, 2013 (Part 1):

Good Evening, I am Marilyn Vermeesch, the old……….1st daughter-in-law in the family. On behalf of all our family, I want to thank you all for coming and giving our family your love and support, during this time of loss, of our beloved mother. God has truly blessed all of us with her dedicated life to us and the goodness that she has shared with all of us in one way or another. She always had such a special smile for each of us to show us how special we were to her. God created a Miracle, when He created this mother’s touch!!!!!!!!!

Play CD. “A Mother’s Touch”

A link to the song is given below, hold control while clicking on the link, and then hit the play arrow on the webpage when it opens:

http://www.steveandanniechapman.com/2013/05/07/a-mothers-touch/

As we continue this Celebration this evening of our mother’s life, I have a short reading, that kind of sums up the Legacy of Love that she leaves all of us……

A Legacy of Love

A wife, A mother, a grandmother, great-grandmother too,
This is the legacy we have from you.
You taught us to love and how to fight,
You gave us strength, and you gave us might.

A stronger person would be very hard to find,
And in your heart you were always kind.
You fought for us all, in one way or another,
Not just as a wife, and not just as a mother.

For all of us, you gave us your best,
Now the time has come, for you to rest.
So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,
Your love in our hearts, we will always keep.

So let us begin our Prayer Service this evening and CELEBRATE mom’s life. May the God of hope give you the fullness of peace, and may the Lord of life be always with you!!!!!

My Brothers and sisters, we believe that all the ties of friendship and affection which knit us as one throughout our lives does NOT unravel with death.

Confident that God always remembers the good we have done and forgives our sins, let us pray.

Lord our God, the passing of our beloved mother, Esther, recalls our human condition and the brevity of our lives on earth. But for those who believe in your love, death is not the end, nor does it destroy the bonds that you forge in our lives.

We share the faith of Your Son’s disciples and the hope of the children of God. Bring the light of Christ’s resurrection to this time of testing and pain as we pray for our mom, Esther, and for all those who love her. Amen!!!!!

Our First Reading from Proverbs……

A Reading …. From the book of Proverbs

When one meets a faithful woman,
the moment is an awakening.
She has committed her heart to goodness
and the world has an unfailing friend.

She will dance in response to song,
she will grieve in response to pain.
She is decisive with wisdom and insight,
with compassion she makes her choice.

She obtains wool and flax,
and makes cloth with skillful hands.
She reaches out to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
She fears not the snow for her household…
all her children are doubly clothed.
SHE… is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs at the days to come.

Life for her has purpose and patterns,
yet she bows before its Mystery.
And so she opens her mouth in wisdom,
and on her tongue is kindly counsel.
She watches the conduct of her household,
and she eats not her food in idleness.
Her children stand up and praise her,
her husband extols her too.

Many are the women … of proven worth,
but you have excelled them all.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting,
but the woman who is wise is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

Pause: THE WORD OF THE LORD!

Memorial Service for Esther Vermeesch, December 12, 2013 (Part 3):

What a promise Jesus gives us in that Gospel.. He says, ” I am going to go and prepare a place for you, and I will come back and take you to myself, so that where I am you also can be”. What a promise… For a woman that has served the Lord and all of us for 95 years, she is now enjoying that special dwelling place that was prepared for her. We need to take comfort in that.

Family and friends, in our mother’s house, there were also many dwelling places. And mom knew each and every nook and cupboard and where any and all tools were. From the upstairs closets to the down stairs coal bin area, she knew where she kept things. Like, light bulbs, extension cords, pictures and what box in that closet a certain picture was as well. She had a place for everything and everything was in its place.

I am sure that I have never heard her call, 201 E. Nebobish, a dwelling place, SHE AS WE, call it home. As a young bride of 19, she moved onto that family farm and made it her home for 76 years. In 2000 the farm celebrated its 100 year centennial; it is now 113 years in the family. On that farm she had 8 children, some of them born in that home. All survive her. What a blessing she had to love and cherish each one of them and their families over the years.

But for all of us, that home is where we all go to be together as a family. We have gathered for so many years on all of the holidays, for all of dad and mom’s birthdays and for no reason at all except to be with mom and dad.

So….. home means something different for each of us. How often is it said, we’re going over home…. Or let’s go home to the farm…

Here is how some of us think of “this home”…….. the place where we all know where the key is hid to open the door into the house,

or home is where there are always cookies stored in a tin on the lift in the garage, or in the washing machine closet, or in the cupboard going up the stairway,

home is where the Lincoln logs, or Legos were always stored in that large container in “Joe’s” room, …

or home is where, when you try to quietly walk across the floor going from the living room to the kitchen, so as to not wake mom from her nap, and then it ” SQUEAKS LOADLY”,

home is where daughters and granddaughters learned to cook and bake and quilt and sew,

home is where sons and grandsons learned that hard work never hurt any one, and it was okay to lay down on the living floor for a quick nap after lunch,

….over home was a place that this daughter-in-law learned to can, the secrets to good gravy, and how to love a good man.

This home and family farm was a stepping stone for the generations to come to learn about working hard for what you loved, cherished and believed in. The eight siblings (boys and girls alike) worked along side their mom and dad to make that farm produce its treasures, and passed that value on to their children.

The saddest part of today and tomorrow and many tomorrows to come, is that, …. That dwelling place, known to all of us, will never be the same again, because mom is not there to greet us with her very special smile.

We cannot let her down, by not treasuring all that she and dad taught us, and continue to stay close as a family, sons, daughters, son-in-laws, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren and great-grand children.

So… most of all, I think what we have really learned from mom, and it took her 76 years to make sure we all got it, was that …. home is another word for love. Let us love one another!!!!!!!!

Memories from the Memory Tree (Part 1):

This poem was read my Noraine, for all of Mom’s Children:

Mother

What a life to have been given
A loving woman such as she.
The one who loved me the most of all
And unconditionally
Right from the start I know she wanted
All the best for me.
She showed me how to love and care,
To be all that I could be.
She gave me life and raised me right,
With help from God she prayed.
I know that if she felt herself,
She gladly would have stayed.
I have you Mom, inside of me,
Your blood is in my heart.
If not for you, I would not be,
I’m glad I had my part.
To be your child has been the gift
That God has given to me.
I’ll go on living right and strong,
Knowing you’re still strong in me.
So all these tears I cry right now
May someday go away.
I love you Mom; I’ll miss you Mom
See you again someday.
Your loving children.

Memories from the Memory Tree (Part 3):

Landon: I remember when I was about 5 or 6 years old grandma would always play with my toy cars and would build legos with me.

Mary & John: I commend my mother and each of my Aunts and Uncles for giving Grandma the best gift ever which is Love. This gift provided Grandma the ability to stay in her own home where she wanted to be. Thank you for sharing your gift of Love! That everything you do in life should involve Love. Grandma quilted every stitch with love and she passed this on to her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Grandma passed this gift on so well.

A grandchild: Her (Grandma’s) gentleness, love, and laughter. She taught me faith – through living example, many special memories at the farm, playing cards, cooking, baking, baseball games with grandma. She loved her family!

Lori: When I went to Grandma’s to gather pictures for Mom’s 75th birthday. I was going through this large box of black and white pictures and asking Grandma who the pictures were of. When I came to one she assured me it was of Mom. I thought to myself no way it was Mom so I put it back in the box. As I continued I came to the same picture and it had her name on it! Then Grandma told me she had a “toni” – wow, how perms have changed!

Amy Richard: My Loving Grandma ~ Growing up behind the farm was priceless for me. We were always over at their house. I remember how my parents would flip the back light on & off many times to signal us to come home. Cooking, sewing, baking, playing cards … all the things we all love to do. She was there when I told my parents I got engaged, when I got married, she was there when we told my parents each time we were expecting our children. The best times that ever happened to me, my grandma was there and was just as excited as I was. My family and I are truly Blessed!

Steve Klass: Grandma, I am very grateful to have been so close to you. Working with you in your fields gave me the understanding of hard work and how it makes someone a good provider. You were on one handle of the bushel baskets and I was on the other. We were a team. You also taught me how to play games (cat’s cradle, checkers, and cards). You were the one who taught me how to sew and crochet (Thank-you for the help with my home economics project.) I also thank you for the handmade lemon meringue pies for my birthday (cakes) they were the best. Sorry mom
Your smile has and will always warm my heart. You have always been supportive and reassuring in my difficult times. You were always grateful for the fish, venison I would bring the times I would stop by to say “HI”. You were always in the back of my mind.
I am so grateful I was able to recently sit down alone with you and tell you how much I loved you, how much you mean to me and helped make me who I am.
I’ll always remember us two sitting on the planter for hours upon end planting onions sets. The sound of the old motor is still vivid in my mind. I may not have realized the effect of the quality time we spent together then but I surely understand now.

I will love you and miss you always.

Jodi Kuch: Grandma is the thread of love, forever weaving the family together!