Death of Our Loved Ones-Joy #Because of Him
By Cyndy Weiss, Easter Week, 2018
I just purchased a new year by year fill-in-the-blank book called Remember That? and have been entering in birthdates, marriage dates, and death dates while building a chronology of my lifetime. It is the death and funeral dates that have been on my mind this Holy Easter Week.
We celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with all the Christian World each spring. The earthly lives of many of our loved ones have already ended. Did they finish their work while here on earth? What are they doing now? Easter is the time we think on these things.
I remember the many emotions I felt during the funerals of each of these close family members:
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| Ida Ellen Fish Owen |
Grandma Ida Ellen Fish Owen, died when I was 9 years old (12 September 1961). Grandma's funeral was the first I actually remember. I loved the way the light streamed through the stained-glass window in the funeral home. Dad said his mom was happy to go home to Grandpa after being a widow and single mom for 33 years. Her body was transported to the Lincoln Memorial Park to be buried near her husband, Ralph.
Grandma & Grandpa Moulton: Chase and Lilly
My grandpa died when we lived in Portland when I was about 6 years old (October 2, 1958). Mom went to her father's funeral (in Salt Lake City, UT), but the rest of us stayed in Portland. I only have one memory of him. We were behind the Moulton home in Salt Lake (1964 So. 9th East) and he was hoeing (was it potatoes) behind the house in a garden area. That's all I remember. Thankfully, Mom told me great stories about her dad and so I have her memories of my grandpa to hold on to.
My grandma Lillian Cummings lived as a widow for almost 20 years and died on July 13, 1978, when I was in married with two children of my own. I wasn’t able to attend her funeral as we lived in Redmond, WA. I have fond memories of visiting her while I was young and during my years at BYU. She would play her organ that was set up in the long living room. She always was doing needlework. I treasure her hand sewn baby quilts and pillow cases that still remind me of her love.
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| Dora Amanda Jensen Ballegooie |
Mark’s grandma, Dora Amanda Jensen Ballegooie, died on March 25th of 1979. We traveled from Redmond, WA down to Salt Lake City, UT for her funeral. I have pictures of me with David and Allison standing near Grandma’s casket. It was their first funeral experience.
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| James Austin Owen (about 1945) |
It was just seven months later that my Dad died on September 14, 1979. At age 58 Jim was finally released from a weakened body that had struggled with polio, diabetes, and kidney failure. All the family gathered for his funeral in Salt Lake. Mom’s faith was amazing as she dealt with her emotions and submissively accepted God’s will for her family. The grandchildren all sang, “I Am a Child of God”. He was buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery. Ralph was deeply grieved as he tossed in a handful of dirt atop the casket. It was so difficult to think of Teresa and Mom returning to that big unfinished home in Leeds, Utah.
90th Birthday Party of Claire Weiss surrounded by Mark & Cyndy Weiss family
There were a lot of marriages and births during the intervening years, but no funerals of close family members until 1991 when Mark’s grandma, Claire Dean Chase Weiss died on Feb 2, 1991. The year before we were able to visit her during her 90th Birthday celebration. Claire was buried in the Chase family plot in Centerville, UT on Mark’s birthday, Feb. 4th.
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| Velma Agnes Owen Rohman |
A tragic car accident took the life of my aunt, Velma Agnes Owen Rohman, on August 22, 1992. Her husband, Pete, had recently died and Velma decided to move from California back to Nebraska to live with her widowed sister, Delcie. Delcie was driving and Velma was in the passenger seat when they were hit at high speed. Velma died instantly. Diane Owen Portnoy was living in California and able to attend the graveside service in Huntington Beach, California where Velma is buried next to Pete.
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| Marilyn Ballegooie-Wedding Announcement Photo |
Mark’s mom passed away July 6, 1994 at the age of 61 after suffering with Lupus and liver failure for many months. It was good that all the family had been able to visit her at the hospital. She returned to her home on Cooper street, and was surrounded by her five children singing hymns at the time of her passing. The funeral was special because of all Marilyn's friends from the Sellwood area came to pay their respect and support us. Each of her descendants placed roses on her casket when she was buried in the Riverview Cemetery. From Marilyn's resting place we can look across the Willamette River and see the old SE Portland neighborhoods and the Sellwood-Moreland LDS Chapel.
Delcie Owen Gunn Neal O'Grady
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| Howard Gunn and Delcie O'Grady at 1993 Owen Family Reunion. |
Aunt Delcie Owen O’Grady died on April 3, 1999. She is “laid to rest” near her own mother in the Lincoln Nebraska Memorial Cemetery. Her son, Howard, later died on June 24, 2003. We were so glad they were able to attend our 1993 Owen Family Reunion at Payson Lakes where we got to know them better.
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| LaVarr and Maxine Owen Webb |
LaVarr Beams Webb’s death on March 9, 2001 provided us with a reason for yet another trip from Washington State to Utah. LaVarr's large posterity filled the entire chapel and cultural hall. I don’t know why I was asked to speak at that service, but it was a good memory for me. Afterwards, Mom arranged for a professional photographer to come and we had our pictures with our spouses by a nearby tree. It was indicative of the support we wanted to give her. She and LaVarr had been married for about twenty years and LaVarr was the only spouse to Grandma Owen that my children remember. Mom was grateful that all the funeral arrangements were taken care of long before LaVarr’s passing.
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| Four generations of Weiss' (at Tamarah's wedding). |
David Simon Chase Weiss
In 2003, we had two funerals, Mark’s dad and my aunt. David Simon Weiss died on March 23, 2003 at Seal Rock, Oregon after a fight with lung cancer. All the children had gathered and were at the Oregon coast during his final days. His funeral was held in the Holman Funeral Home in Portland, Oregon five days later and then he was later buried in the Centerville, UT Cemetery on April 4th, a General Conference weekend. We had a microphone/camera set up where people shared their memories of Grandpa Weiss. Who has that precious video now?
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| Evelyn Moulton McDougal |
My aunt, Evelyn Moulton McDougal died March 29, 2003 and her funeral was held April 1, 2003 so we were able to attend Evelyn’s funeral the same weekend as going to David Weiss’ graveside service. Mom had been living with her sister Evelyn during the last two years of Evelyn's battle with cancer. It was a blessed time for both of them. They made baby items for the humanitarian service center and enjoyed each others company. Mom's end of life service to her loved ones ended with the passing of her sister. She was almost like a Hospice nurse for Jim Owen, Julie (LaVarr's daughter), LaVarr Webb, and finally Evelyn McDougal.
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| Brandon D. Portnoy |
It was a difficult time in 2007 when my nephew, Brandon Derek Portnoy, died of sudden heart failure on July 19, 2007. His two children and wife were now left without their dad and husband. The funeral service was a time for all the Owen cousins to gather and remember good times with Brandon. I remember the balloons gently floating away from the Vancouver Evergreen Memorial Gardens. The extended family gathered at our home in Vancouver and got to know each other better.
The five Weiss brothers and sisters at 2008 Reunion
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| Five Weiss brothers and sisters when Matt was a baby. |
Mark’s brother, Matthew Carl Weiss, had a long, valiant fight with brain cancer and finally lost his battle on September 19, 2013. We drove from Utah to the Northwest to a service and burial at the Finn Hill Cemetery in Brush Prairie, Washington. It is different when someone from your own generation is laid to rest. It was comforting to be gathered with the extended Weiss family and remember Matt’s life. Two of his children played a guitar and sang some of Matt's favorite songs.
Maxine Moulton Owen Webb about 2008
My Mom, Reva Maxine Moulton Owen Webb, was 93 when she passed away in 2015. We had been in Logan for about 4 years and so watched her progression as she weakened and eventually "crossed over". She lived next door to Louise and Dave Daniels. Louise and her family were so good to Mom in her final years. Sandy and I were able to meet up in Perry often and visit with Mom and Louise during those final years. As an extended family, we had a wonderful family gathering in October about six months prior to her passing on April 24, 2015. The brothers and sisters were all gathered with David hurrying as fast as he could to join us at Mom’s home in Perry, UT. She quietly breathed her last on Louise’s birthday. Mom’s funeral was a celebration of a life well lived. She was laid to rest next to Jim Owen in the Salt Lake City Cemetery in a family plot near her own mom, dad, and brother.
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| Ralph Eugene Owen about 2008 |
At Easter time it is not just the deaths of these individuals that I am wondering about. In this life, we "walk by faith" and so I ponder many unanswered questions about life after death:
- I wonder who will be the next immediate family member to complete their earthly mission.
- I think about Tamarah's four children that will greet her and Jeff when they cross through the veil.
- I wonder when Dad will be resurrected. What will it be like to see my dad’s restored body. Will he play basketball, football, or baseball with his grandkids?
- I can imagine my brother Ralph meeting with his paternal grandfather and namesake.
- I wonder about Grandma Moulton being reunited with all those friends and family from Heber City that are buried in the Heber City Cemetery. Will she play the organ in heaven?
- I think about what these departed spirits are doing as they continue on their individual paths of progression.
- I am grateful as I ponder the "life’s-work" of those who have gone before and prepared a way for me. I wonder if my family members are grateful that we have kept their memories alive on earth.
- I wonder "How do I want to be remembered?"
In 2014, Mark and I, along with some other family members, were able to be in Israel, "walking where Jesus once walked". We saw Golgotha from an overlook, entered the Garden Tomb, and remembered the account of the triumphal resurrection of our Lord. What peace we experienced there! Truly, our life doesn’t begin with birth or end in death.
I have a #HALLELUJAH banner hanging above my fireplace this week because I feel joy and want to praise Him. I purchased a white Easter lily to trumpet “He is Risen”. I worked in my garden and will soon plant new flowers because the long Logan winter is finally ending. I rejoice #Because of Him. I know I will see each of my deceased loved ones again.
As Alma clearly stated in the Book of Mormon (Alma 36:28):
“I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever, for he has brought our fathers (my relatives) out of Egypt (this world), …and he led them by his power into the promised land (to live with Him)”.
I anticipate with great joy our heavenly family reunion, #Because of Him*
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*See the LDS video #Because of Him on LDS.org or YouTube.
