Time Experience Thoughts

Funeral Service for Terrance Richard Tenove Prelude Music, "Amazing Grace" Welcome and Eulogy, by Scott Vanatter Music, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" Remarks and Eulogy, by Abe Ohanian Music, "Trees" Prayer, by David Peale Graveside Graveside Remarks, by Abe Ohanian Prayer, by Mr. Douglass [Welcome and Eulogy by Scott Vanatter] Welcome. We are gathered together to pay tribute to Terry; to extend our love and sympathy to his family, Mr. and Mrs. Tenove, his brothers Glen, Michael, Brian, and other relatives (including his grandmother, Dovie Belle Wales); and to comfort one another. We've each had our own quiet reflective times alone in the past couple of days. We may need more, but for now, we meet together to find strength in our unity and fellowship. Your presence and kindness is appreciated by Terry's family. ~ We all acknowledge that this is a difficult thing to understand. It takes time and patience to sort ...

He was Just here, But not now. Like Heavenly Father He was there when we needed him. Like Heavenly Father Many times we failed to check-in. Still, I hear him. Still, I see him. Ever, will I love him. Silently (there) he cares for us (here). Together, We said our goodbyes. Now he's in our eyes, Forever . . . Scott L. Vanatter, 13 February 2008 (Poem for my Dad, after his funeral)

Eugene Russell Vanatter Eulogy August 17, 1932 - January 16, 2008 Eulogy delivered by Scott Vanatter, his son, January 22, 2008, in Fort Scott, Kansas. REMEMBER My Mom, our dear mother Dorothy May (Lifer) Vanatter, my sisters Gina and Tracy, the entire family, including Dad’s sisters Loretta and Kathleen, and I . . . thank each one of you for joining with us this morning. Thank you for your loving expressions of care and concern. The good people here at Cheney Witt Funeral Home have offered the most kind and comforting service; our heartfelt thanks to you, Jared, and the whole staff. Tears of Sadness and Joy Today we are here to remember Eugene Russell Vanatter—“Gene” to most of you, including to our Mom . . . but Dad and “Grandpa Gene” to us. It is entirely appropriate that we shed tears of sadness—and also tears of joy—as we remember Dad. DEATH TO UNDERSTAND ETERNAL LIFE Faith whispers to us that life is eternal; that our personal existence does not end upon our death . . . we live o...

Jared Demke, 1957 ~ 2006 Hallelujah, All the Time Without the slightest exaggeration, I count it as one of my life’s great blessings that Jared Demke was my friend. To paraphrase Brigham Young regarding Joseph Smith, “I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew [Jared Demke].” So thankful am I for the love and perspective of thirty years of close friendship. The Things of God For more than fifteen of those recent years, my wife and I have been privileged to have Jared stay with us in our home in northern Virginia, during his usual twice-a-year business trip to the DC area. When not visiting in person Jared and I would talk on the phone -- often. Ginger related to me that one of his friends commented that talking with Jared on the phone was like going to Disneyland. I wholeheartedly agree – the printed theme on the sign outside Disneyland is “The Happiest Place on Earth.” That’s Jared. He brought prodigious amounts of happiness and shear joy -- and ligh...

Rol Allen, 1919 ~ 2005 Eternal Nature * About one hundred fifty years ago, the poet William Wordsworth began writing one of his most inspiring and insightful pieces on what he deemed a crucial idea: that of man’s eternal nature; not only that we all would continue to live on after death, but that we, each of us, came from somewhere before we were born. AND that knowing where we came from, and who we were then and who we really are now, at our very core, makes a big difference. He got the poem to a certain point, setting the stage for illustrating his main idea, but then laid it aside for a year and a half while he continued pondering the subject. He came back to it and penned these words: Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us (our life's Star) Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: Character John Roland Allen - “...