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| Mike Fillman |
NARRATOR. (Wayne Dysinger MD, nephew). It will not surprise you that I still want to be with you today. I heartily disagree with Karl Marx who said: "Last words are for people who haven't said anything in life." Although I have said a good many words already, I am still the One Who never wanted to miss Out on anything. Who always loved the chase, whether it be research, travel, or the next classroom discussion. Therefore, I shall track you through to the end of my memorial service.
NARRATOR. Two of my
favorite hymns stand within a family tradition. The first was used for my
father Gerald H. Minchin's funeral in Singapore. ("Abide With Me")
READING, Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
John Donne (1572-1631), Holy Sonnets, #10.
NARRATOR. I chose this second hymn for the funeral of my husband, Walter O. Comm in 1984. ("Children of the Heavenly Father")
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"Children of the Heavenly Father" - Kaleb Rolle
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NARRATOR. My lifetime friend, Gem Fitch, is a
pianist, organist, and hymn writer. Many years ago, I heard her play this Haydn
melody at church in College Place, Walla Walla, WA. "Please. You
must write words for that, " I told her. She did, and it has been my very
own piece of music ever since.
"Truth Divine"
Mighty God, who holds the universe
In His strong supporting hand,
Knows the weakest of His children,
And their lives does He command.
Trust in Him to guide
Thy footsteps into pleasant pastures green;
Though perplexed with heavy burdens
Yet His mercy shall be seen.
When clouds veil His loving face
And trials obscure our view,
His arm of comfort draws us near,
And courage springs anew.
As our days, so shall our strength be,
Every promise is assured;
Perfect peace and consolation,
Hope and rest are in His Word.
My peace I leave with you,
My peace give I unto you;
Peace~ ~ ~
Perfect rest and peace
To your troubled souls
I leave with you.
-Gem Fitch, 1984
NARRATOR. A passionate
love for animals was part of my entire life. My pets have ranged from dozens of
conventional dogs and cats to a lamb and a monkey, and more. I decidedly bypass
any theological debate about whether animals can get to heaven or not. Loving
creatures will be in the New Earth. Among them will be my own devoted and
deserving pets, I don't need newly created animals. This is both fantasy and
belief.
READER,
Carolyn Moe
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| Carolyn Moe |
The Rainbow Bridge
(Unknown)
Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies who has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable,
All of the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special, someone who was left behind.
While they all run and play together, the day comes one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent; her eager body begins to quiver, Suddenly, she breaks from the group, flying over the green grass, faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, your cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain on your life.your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your life but never absent from your life.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together!
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Vic Fitch
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Ruth Burke
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NARRATOR: People die,
but love does not. That's because God is love, and He's eternal. How wonderful
that you and I were all born in the time and place that allowed us to know one
another. When we meet again, we shall embrace in our perfect, pain free bodies.
We shall converse with our lively, immortal minds. Meanwhile, you, my friends,
carry on. I shall join you later.
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| Glen Ellsmann |
NARRATOR. Of the many creative projects I worked on, none
surpassed the artistic presentations that the sculptor Alan Collins and I
produced together. In AGES OF MAN, with his ambidextrous hands, he molded
the large clay head of a baby through seven stages of life. I wrote the script,
provided readers, and arranged for the background music. Thus, audiences saw
their entire lives pass before them in a single hour, ending with the face of a
wizened old man. Although we presented the program all over the country at
least 50 times, Alan and I were personally thrilled every time by the
magnificence of the final resurrection theme. This recording was made at the
General Conference session in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1985 and featured the New England Youth Ensemble.
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"Ages of Man" - Alan Collins (Video)
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"No More Night" - Homer Mendoza
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I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an after glow of smiles, when life is done.
Of happy times and laughing times and bright sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun
Of happy memories that leave when life is done.
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| Hyveth Williams and Judy Whitehouse |
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| Jean Zachary and Lorna Comm |
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| Larry Comm |
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| Kim and son James Comm |
Dorothy Minchin-Comm
Dorothy Belle Comm was born in Wichita, Kansas, October 17, 1929–the week of the stock market crash. Her Australian father, Gerald H. Minchin, and her South Dakota mother, Leona Belle Rhoads, provided her with a warm, but poverty-stricken home. Her first memories related to living in a tiny apartment attached to the church school in Kansas City. Together, her parents taught eight grades in the two large, drafty classrooms.
In 1936 a mission call to Singapore snatched the family out of the massive Depression and gave Gerald Minchin an opportunity for a real, permanent job. Next year, Baby Sister Eileen arrived. The girls grew up in Pre-World War II principal. The fact that she was the only Caucasian child among the hundreds of Singapore. Dorothy took Grades 1-5 at the Malayan Seminary where her Dad was children made no difference to anyone. Indeed, that school supplied her with Asian friends for the rest of her life.
In late 1941 the Minchins took furlough to Australia. In fact, they were on one of the last passenger ships leaving Singapore in a "normal way.” From the deck to the dock, We cried, "Come see us in Australia.”
"We will, the cheerful crowd of American friends shouted back from the pier. Ironically, in a matter of weeks. Singapore fell to the Japanese (February, 1942), and all of those fellow-missionaries turned up in Sydney, Australia. By then, Gerald Minchin had become Vice-Principal of Avondale College. Dorothy always remembered how bedraggled the Singapore friends were and how hungry the children were.
Great Sorrow visited the family before they moved East toward America. They lost Baby Brother Keith Rowland Minchin the day after he was born. He could not survive his mothers toxemia, and she almost died too.
After a year at Longburn College in New Zealand, American Grandmother Mary Rhoads became ill. Gerald Minchin had promised not to keep the family overseas indefinitely. Seven years' absence had been long enough. With difficulty, the Minchins found passage on a troop ship sailing from Wellington, New Zealand, Los Angeles. With 2,000 wounded troops aboard, they spent a month zigzagging across the Pacific, flanked on both sides by destroyers.
From this point forward the hybrid family became essentially
American although Gerald Minchin never gave up his British citizenship. One
plan now marked that path for the family. Gerald Minchin wanted to transfer his
academic life from English teaching to religion. The transfer involved some
trial-and-error. Over a period of seven consecutive years, Dorothy, as a young
teenager, attended seven different schools in seven different countries. For a
confirmed introvert, this sequence was a real burden.
Nonetheless, Dorothy loved school and never wanted to trade any part of her
life for that of anyone else. .
In 1950 she graduated from Atlantic Union College, Massachusetts. With a fresh B.A. in English in hand, Dorothy returned to Canadian Union College for her first teaching assignment. There she met Senior theology student, Walter O. Comm from Northern Alberta. They married the next summer and went to Newfoundland to begin Walt's ministerial internship.
After two gray, bleak winters in the far Northeast, Walt and Dorothy accepted a call to the Cayman Islands. There they supervised six churches and a two-room, ten grade school, rejoicing daily in the Caribbean Sunshine and best Sugar-white beaches in the World.
Two-and-a half years later came the call to West Indies College (Northern Caribbean University) Jamaica. Although she tried not to say often or loudly, Dorothy much preferred campus life to church pastoring. The latter, however, remained Walt's preference.
While on a study-leave furlough in Washington (1959), the Comms adopted two babies, within one month. Larry and Lorna. Life, of course, then took on a whole new dimension.
Over the next twenty years, the Comms divided their time between terms of mission service and year-long interludes of graduate study. During this time Walt earned his D.Min degree (Andrews University) and Dorothy her PhD (University of Alberta, Canada). Larry and Lorna grew up, finishing high School at Far Eastern Academy, Singapore,
After eight years at Philippine Union College, the family returned to the homeland on Permanent Return. Dorothy to a professorship in the English Department at La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and Walt to pastor-ship in the Arlington Church, Riverside.
Shortly thereafter, life spiraled downward, as Walt began his four-year battle with cancer. He died in August, 1984.
In her long years of widowhood Dorothy was sustained by a strong and loving family. Also by her many dear friends and by her Work that she loved. These friends and Dorothy could finish a sentence chose to carry youthful classroom connections into life-long friendships. For that they started a year ago. To say nothing of the hundreds of students who more than 30 years Dorothy cared for her widowed mother, Leona Minchin. A blessing to both of them.
Everywhere and always Dorothy loved good conversation. Museums and libraries drew her like a magnet. She was involved in on-tour teaching with several university groups and had several Sabbaticals for private research.
In retirement Dorothy pursued her interest in Writing. Occasionally, she would apologize for her love for chasing ideas and telling stories: "Sorry. I guess I just can't shut up!" Fortunately, she could Write in spite of being confined to a
wheelchair for more than fifteen years.
Dorothy wrote 23 books, 4 Volumes of travel journals (about 1200 pages), 4 book-length syllabi, plus two academic monographs, and a double-length dissertation. Uncounted are the news stories,biographical sketches, miscellaneous articles, multimedia and film scripts, and extensive editing that she did.
The Advent Review
and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 113 Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., August
20, 1936 No. 44
p 24
http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/FEDO/FEDO19361201-V25-12__B.pdf#view=fit
Far Eastern Division Outlook, Vol. 25 December, 1936 No. 12
