Almeda Brown passed away Tuesday. Almeda was Roc Brown’s mother and she was a Christian and ready to go.
I first saw her when Roc and I were in school together. I lived in Butler and he lived with his parents on a farm on County Road 40 in Wilmington Township. We took driver’s training together and we always drove out to the house to pick Roc up in a brand new 1963 Chevrolet. His mother would wave him off.
Almeda and her late husband, Cecil, were active members of Calvary Temple in Fort Wayne. Cecil was a committed usher. He was always helping people find a seat and serving communion and offering bags. There was no better servant that Cecil Brown. When Roc and Carolyn began attending here, it didn’t take Roc long to step into his father’s shoes as an usher.
What will you remember about Almeda Brown?
David Dilley passed away yesterday morning. The viewing will be Sunday at Feller’s Funeral Home in Waterloo from 2-6PM. The funeral will be at New Hope at 11AM Monday.
I remember the first time I met David and Judy back in 1971 or 72. There were a group of Full Gospel believers from various area churches that wanted to see Waterloo reached for Christ. So they took it upon themselves to organize a Vacation Bible School at the Trailer Court. Because I was a new convert and still looked like a hippie, they recruited me to teach a class for teenagers (even though I had no clue what I was doing). Our first meeting was at the country home of Dale and Dana Smith to put together a plan. There I first met David and Judy. The next planning meeting occurred at the home of Doc and Eva Coleman in Waterloo, and it was there that I first set eyes on their daughter, Anita. So, I’ve known David and Judy longer than I have my wife.
Over the years we have prayed together at prayer meetings and done whatever we could to serve the Lord together. I will miss David, who loved the Lord dearly. What will you remember about David Dilley?
Marian Richardson passed away Monday afternoon. She is the mother of Darley Bennett and Debbie Hernandez, who both attend New Hope.
Marian has been an active part of New Hope for many years. When she heard about our church’s adopting the Unreached People’s Group in Indonesia, she approached me with the dream she had of one day digging a well for people in a needy nation. “Would it be possible for us to dig a well for the [redacted]?” she asked. I asked [redacted] that question and he said he would check. On his next trip to Indonesia he did some investigation and found that, because the [redacted] were located right on a river, it would be more advantageous to construct a water purification system rather than dig a well. So we brought the need for $7,000 for this water purification system before the church, and were blown away when you gave $12,000 to make this happen. And that project is what opened the hearts of the [redacted] to [redacted]. And the idea originated with Marian Richardson. She was a woman of vision!
What will you remember about Marian?
Chris Swanson passed away yesterday morning, after struggling with colon cancer. Her husband, Doc Swanson, passed on several months ago. When he was suffering, she was there by his side, day after day, caring for him until the end.
Chris was very involved with Shelter Ministries in Auburn and had served by the side of her husband when he pastored a church in Avilla years ago.
Chris leaves behind a son, Sean, who will be a Senior this next year. I will remember Chris being a caring person who reached out to down-and-outers and helped them get back on their feet. She will be missed.
What will you remember about Chris Swanson?
Allen (Lewis) Ault passed away Wednesday morning. He hasn’t been attending here for long, but has a rich history of serving as an elder and deacon at his previous church. I went to grade school with Allen. He was once active in a thriving bus ministry in the inner city of Ft. Wayne bringing in many boys and girls to hear the gospel. Surely there are treasures stored in heaven for Allen
What will you remember about Allen Ault?
Barb Schieber passed away Friday evening. She was a pillar in our church during the early days. She was one of our best teachers and was always working with the children’s ralleys we had back then. Barb was a tireless perfectionist who always did it “right”. She was a stately lady who mentored my wife in many ways.
I remember when she decided to retire from teaching children. I tried to talk her into staying, but she was a pioneer. She observed so many young women in the church deferring to her, and she knew no one would step up to becoming a teacher as long as the “older women” were doing it all. So she stepped aside and forced some younger, not so experienced, ladies to gain the experience they needed for the future of the church. This classy lady later struggled with Parkinson’s disease that stripped her of her functionality, but never her faith. I will miss Barb. What will you remember about Barb Schieber?
Pent Somkit passed away Friday night and she will be missed. She and her family immigrated to Indiana from Cambodia in the early 1970s. They have attended our church from the very beginning of their experience here. She spoke very little English but told Anita through a translator of hard days in Cambodia where she lost a child in a bombing at the school. These were the days of Pol Pot’s regime (The Killing Fields).
I remember we hired the Somkit boys to demolish a large chicken coup at our former residence. We couldn’t find Americans who would work as hard as they did.
I also remember officiating at Yort Somkit’s wedding. They were a part of a fellowship of oriental immigrants from the Ft. Wayne area. Some of these immigrants were chefs at restaurants and hosted a big oriental reception. I remember eating soup with octapus tentacles, among other mysterious stuff. But we also had the American influence: we drank out of Pepsi cans and had apple pie for dessert.
What will you remember about Pent Somkit?