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Closing Prayer by David Peale at Terry's Funeral

CLOSING PRAYER AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICES OF TERRY R. TENOVE

Would you bow your heads and join with me in prayer:

Our Heavenly Father, we come to you today in sorrow. We feel sorry for ourselves, for the loved one we have lost, and sorrow for the vibrant life which has been taken from us.

Yet we are also thankful. Thankful for the influence of Terry on his classmates and friends, on his team mates, on the youngsters he coached, and for his family whom he loved very much. But, Heavenly Father, I want to thank you most of all for Terry's influence on me.

We pray that you will now comfort and abide with those of us who mourn today.

We would also ask that you would provide Terry with that measure of Peace equivalent to the measure of joy that he gave to all of those who knew him.

This we pray in your precious Name.

Amen.

Given by David Peale on Tuesday, August 22, 1978

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DAVID PEALE LETTER TO TERRY’S PARENTS
RE: PRAYER AT TERRY'S FUNERAL

August 29, 1978

Dear Gordon and Rose:

I really appreciated the opportunity of participating in some small way in Terry's funeral. You cannot realize how much I thought of Terry, because, I saw so much of myself in high school in him and Scott. I always enjoyed Terry's wit, and at the same time his creativity. I felt he was one of the more mentally creative students I had ever had at Duarte High School.

I realize that there is going to be a very large void in your life for the next months and years, and if there is anything I can do to help fill that void, please don't hesitate to call.

Please find here enclosed a copy of the prayer said at the funeral; also find enclosed a check in the amount of twenty dollars to be used in the Terry Tenove Memorial.

Sometimes it is difficult to know why a loving God allows such tragedy to happen to His people. Maybe we will all understand it better later. I love you and your family--please try to keep in touch.

With all my love and prayers,

David E. Peale

Comments

Scott said…
David Peale was a favorite teacher of ours (at Duarte High). Terry and I wrote for the school newspaper. Mr. Peale did his best to instill in us (all) a sense of excellence and professionalism. Terry and I really enjoyed him and his class.

In Mr. Peale's prayer he spoke of Terry's "vibrant life" and of his being "one of the more mentally creative students" he ever had in high school. I can attest to both. Most/many weeks Terry and I often studied together. It was a chore to try to keep up with him, in sports (especially when we drove over to cal Poly to play handball late in the evenings), and in academics. He especially enjoyed writing. I always thought he would continue to develop this skill and somehow impress us all one day. But all of this was cut short. For now.

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