Saturday, January 14, 2006




As previously mentioned, my Uncle Jim passed away on Thursday January 6, 2006. Uncle Jim was 73 years old. He met my Aunt Lois as a freshman in high school in Ottawa, IL. They were "high school sweethearts" and were married in 1951, when they were 18 and 19, respectively. They were married over 54 years when Uncle Jim passed away. Jim and Lois had three children. One son died as a boy. Their other son, Tom, and his wife both died at relatively young ages, leaving Jim and Lois to raise their two daughters. Their third child, Lori, has five children.On Monday I drove my dad (Jim’s older brother), mom and son David to Illinois. My sister Cara met us in Ottawa on Tuesday. The wake was held on Tuesday January 11, at Gladfelter’s Funeral Home in Ottawa, IL from 4-7 p.m. Of course it was a very sad occasion. It was good, however, to get to see "long lost" family members as well as to see my parents and son David have the opportunity to visit loved ones.

Some special memories for me included seeing David meeting my Uncle Vern. Vern is a huge sports fan, especially of the Chicago White Sox. I think David talked with Vern for at least 45 minutes, soaking up Vern’s love and knowledge of sports. David was amazed at how many very old baseball cards that Vern has collected.

Talking with my cousin Jeff was fun, as we share a love of baseball. Jeff is a huge White Sox fan who has had weekend season tickets for the Sox for a long time. Jeff said that he caught the game-winning home run ball hit by Hank Blalock in the 2003 MLB All-Star Game. He has a huge collection of Sox memorabilia, including game-used jerseys, balls, and lineup cards. He told a story about how he was on Waveland Avenue when Sammy Sosa was going for his 60 or 61st home run in 1998. He was one of the "ball hawks" trying to catch the home run out on the street over the left field bleachers. Somehow he was included in a movie about the home run chase produced by Major League Baseball.

I met George Fleming, classmate of my dad’s from Ottawa High School, class of 1948. George’s wife said that he and my dad planned on being in each other’s wedding, but couldn’t because they ended up getting married on the same day, May 16, 1959. George asked where I was from and surprisingly he knew about Cullman, AL, because he has passed through there so many times on his way to Gulf Shores. He said that he often spends the night in Athens or Cullman.

I met a friend of Uncle Jim’s, with whom I discussed one of my favorite memories of Uncle Jim. Jim was a huge University of Illinois fan and he and some of his family and friends met my dad, my friend, and I for Bear Bryant’s last game against Illinois in the Liberty bowl in Memphis in 1982. That was a very cold night and my Uncle Vern said the weather was so bad because of the clash of the Wilhelm’s coming down from Illinois and up from Alabama. My Uncle Jim’s friend said that he thought the Alabama fans were some of the nicest that he’s ever seen. He contrasted the Alabama fans with those from the Illinois fans, whom he characterized as drunk and obnoxious.

There were many photos of Uncle Jim. One of my favorites was from the early to mid 1970’s. It was a photo my dad took of Jim, Lori, Cara, and I on a dock fishing at Lake Guntersville. Cara said that it was the first (and last) time she was allowed to go fishing. Cara was probably about 5 years old. She got in my parent’s 1968 Chevy Impala and put it into reverse. My dad quickly got in and stopped the thing before it rolled into the lake. Cara and I got a chuckle out of that.

My dad and Uncle Jim also had two sisters who were twins, Mary Ellen and Rosemary. Mary Ellen mentioned that when the family got together and talked, Jim was always the calm, level-headed, and quiet one. He was a man of few words. Everyone else might be yelling or getting excited, but Uncle Jim was always level-headed.

The funeral was held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Ottawa, IL on Wednesday January 11, 2006. There were a couple of comments by Father Halfacre that particularly resonated with me. One was when he mentioned that a beautiful thing happened during a wedding, when a man and a woman make vows between God and man, proclaiming that they will love, honor, and cherish one another, "until death do you part." He went on to say that as beautiful as that may be, a promise made pales in comparison with the beauty of a promise kept. He said that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Jim and Lois fulfilled their vows for 54 plus years.

The other thing mentioned by Father Halfacre was the subject of dealing with grief. He mentioned that losing a loved one is tough, there is no getting around that fact. This is especially true when two become one, giving and receiving together. However he offered two powerful and relevant hopes that we can have. If a loved one dies with faith in Christ as savior, he hasn’t really died and the separation will be temporary until we meet again in heaven. That is our eternal hope that we have in Christ. In this life, he expressed the importance of looking at "the big picture" through faith. If we get caught up in the emotions of the moment, we might never get out. We must adjust, adapt, and see everything in it’s context. That message was very encouraging to me personally right now.

It was a trip to Illinois that I would rather have not made under the circumstances. Nevertheless, I hope my parents, sister, son, and I always remember the close fellowship we shared with one another and our friends and family in Ottawa, Illinois

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is this your mom, dad and sister?