Last week I said goodbye to my grandfather. He was the first grandparent I have lost. This was very tough for me and my family, but our faith in Christ has truly sustained us. I spoke at the funeral and as a lasting tribute I wanted to publish my remarks here.
Thank you Lord for the time my grandfather was with us, and thank you for the certainty that he is in your arms now.
January 21st, 2011
On behalf of the family I would like to thank each of you here. Your love and support in the past months has been appreciated more than you can know. We are truly blessed to have such loving people in our lives.
One of the stories that I have loved hearing my Mom tell over the years is the story of how my grandfather came to trust Christ as his Savior.
Since marrying my grandmother he had not been religiously inclined except to support his children in their activities at Hillcrest Baptist Church. Well, early in 1973 the children were performing in a musical for the church. When it was over Larry gave the invitation. It affected grandpa and over the next few weeks he and grandma had several talks about it.
For the rest of the story I will read from a High School paper my aunt Lori wrote on the topic of change and rebirth.
She wrote, “On a Sunday night my father came into church about 30 minutes late. I will never forget him coming down the aisle to accept Jesus as his personal Savior. Our church was rejoicing, they had prayed with my mom for his salvation and our prayers had finally been answered.”
That night was February 4th, 1973. A week later he was baptized into the church, and a few years later he was ordained as a deacon.
You can see the effect of God’s work in my grandfather’s life from then on. He did not often write or mark in his Bible, so I think the verses that he did mark tell us something important about him. He underlined a portion of Psalm 28 that I think serves as a great description of his family.
“Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.”
We can see now that God did bless my grandfather in this way.
Dude led his family well. He indeed loved Mary as Christ loved the church. They loved and supported each other through life’s many trials. And, as the Bible promises, these trials and sufferings refined and strengthened their marriage.
What sticks in our minds though is not just that grandpa was a great husband, but that he deeply loved grandma. As my sister Sarah said, and I quote, “he always had googly-eyes for grandma”. It was always obvious how much he loved her.
I think it is very telling that all 3 of his children became teachers. It is obvious to see the influence of Mary and Dude in their children’s chosen profession. Grandpa taught Sunday School for years, in fact my sister Kristen has said that she will never forget that often she would find him in the living room sitting in his chair with his Bible on his lap and Sunday School handouts, commentaries, devotionals and the Baptist Messenger all spread out at his feet below. She told me that she felt as if you spent any length of time over at his house, eventually he would slip off to go study the Bible and prepare to teach.
His concern for others, drive to search for God’s truth and desire to make a difference in people’s lives has been passed on to his children and his grandchildren. Only our God in heaven truly knows the impact Dude’s life has had on countless people, but we can see that his family and faith is a tree that will bear fruit for many generations.
Dude was blessed with 7 grandchildren. I may be partial, but I think the title “grandpa” or “papa” may have been his favorite role in life.
In talking with all the other grandkids this week the stories have been great, but many common threads emerge. All the grandkids have mentioned the ghost stories he used to tell.
We think he got it from his father who used to sneak outside the house to make noises and scare his own grandchildren. In fact, when asked what they will remember most about grandpa nearly every grandkid has recounted some version of the “Ghost in the Cornfield” story. He would swear it was true, but I will always remember grandma sitting around and shaking her head with a knowing smile whenever he would tell the story.
Grant always loved grandpa’s stories. He told me that when he would visit grandma and grandpa’s house on the weekends, early in the morning he would go climb in bed with grandpa and he would tell Grant story after story, at least until grandma kicked them out of bed.
As mentioned before, down deep grandpa really was an old horseman. Grandma says that when they traveled he always described himself to folks they met as “a cowboy at heart”. All of the grandkids spent many hours watching old western movies with grandpa. To this day I can’t see a western without thinking of grandpa right away.
It wasn’t just western movies though; grandpa loved everything about the western life. My cousin Will remembers fondly grandpa always sitting him down at the piano and trying to teach him the old tune, “Empty Saddles”.
Grandpa and I always shared a bond over our love of horses. I remember being a kid and going with him to the newly constructed Fair Meadows race track. We walked around the barns and he showed me the race horses, we talked to the trainers and even went down to the track where I climbed into the starting gate.
I will never forget the smile on his face to see me climbing around and pretending to be on a prize Thoroughbred.
As respected as my grandfather was at church and in his career he could also be just downright silly with the kids. Everyone mentioned the funny noises and faces he’d make to us, and how he’d always want to get down on the floor and play. And we all loved playing in that old Ford pickup truck in the driveway. It’s the same truck that he used to give some of us driving lessons in at the fairgrounds. I still don’t know if my mom always knew what he was doing at the time.
He also always had little running jokes or conversations with each of us. Calvin told me that he remembers that when he was about 4 or 5 grandpa told him all about Paris. When Calvin asked if he would take him and grandpa said he would. For years after that Calvin would always ask about it and grandpa would tell him all about Paris and how he might take him one day.
Grandpa was always involved in our lives. Whatever the activity, interest or sport we were involved in he was there. In fact, Clay told me that not only did grandpa attend every one of his football games; he also went to all his practices. He loved us dearly and showed us that by his presence in our lives.
As we look back on this life that we are all so thankful for, the words of King Solomon remind us that it is good to mourn, to pause and consider our lives and the lives of our loved ones. In chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes he wrote:
“It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”
The reality of Dude Downey’s life is that it was marked with one truth – the truth of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. From that day he walked in the back doors at Hillcrest my grandfather’s faith, trust and hope were placed in the Son of the Living God. And when the Lord took him home, there was no more pain or anguish or struggles with his mortal body. In Revelation 19 we are told the words that all believers will be singing in the presence of God:
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory”
It has given me great comfort to think of my grandpa singing those words right now, as I hope it does for you.
To close, I’d like to return to the words of my aunt Lori’s high school essay.
“Our family has had the happiest years of our lives because of my father’s re-birth. He now beams with the love of our Lord, and that is the best example of change I know of.”
I know those words are still true today.
So sorry to hear about your granddad! Its hard to lose a grandparent. Praying for your family! Love you!
Thank you Beth, I really appreciate it.