All Saints’ Day Reflection & DioNE Necrology
When we think of All Saints’ Day we often remember those who spread the Word of God, and died for their beliefs; those martyred saints for whom many of our churches are named. Sometimes we think about those whose goodness showed in all their lives, such as Mother Theresa. But I think of another group of people. When I was in college, our chapel choir often sang an anthem by R. Vaughan Williams, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”. It speaks of who “all the saints” are. Below are the words and my understanding of who they are.
“Let us now praise famous men and our fathers that begat us” refers to our parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. Those people who brought us into the world, raised us, and taught us how to act and care.
“Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms men renowned for their power, leaders of the people by their counsel and by their knowledge” reminds us of our leaders, elected or not, who led us through our times of trial. These leaders include such as John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill. But it also includes Hiram Kano, Corrie Ten Boom, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and William Wilberforce who helped bring about changes to improve the lives of those people society ignored.
“Such as found out musical tunes and recited verses in writing” includes all the poets, composers, writers, scientists, and inventors who gave us a new way to look at the world and helped us understand those with whom we share the planet.
“All these were honoured in their generation and for the glory of our times,” points out those who were noticed and publically acclaimed during their times or in our history.
“But some there be which have no memorial who have perished as though they have never been” reminds me of the unknown soldiers, forgotten heroes of 9/11, war victims, runaways, the homeless, and others in desperate situations. It also reminds me of those, like my father, who did not want any graven record of himself. We may never have the names of these people, but they also are saints.
“Their bodies are buried in peace but their name liveth for evermore.” These are all the saints, in any category.
And to this list of the Saints, let us not forget to add those present saints referred to in Hymn 293, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God.” Here we include those “who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew”; here we have as well doctors, queens, shepherdesses (farmers and ranchers), soldiers, priests (and deacons), martyrs, educators, and everyday folk.
When we stop to remember those who have passed away in the past year, let us also stop and remember all those who made our lives what they are and gave us the freedoms we enjoy.
– Kathy Graham
Diocese of Nebraska 2014 Necrology
ALLIANCE, St. Matthew’s
Eugene Kort Lewis
Robert Albon Hall
Berniece Bates
Madeline Jane Bowhay
BEATRICE, Christ Church
Verna Smith
BELLEVUE, Holy Spirit
Ralph “Bud” Oltman
Louise Hamilton
Amelia Westman
David Nutting
Shirley Commings
BROKEN BOW, St. John’s
Wanda Weatherly
George Ashenfelter
Lane Brabham
COLUMBUS, Grace Church
Roberta Lakey
David Forsberg
ELKHORN, St. Augustine
Sally Farnham
FREMONT, St. James
DeLoris McGee
Sarah “Sally” Wengert
Boyd Hammond
HYANNIS, Calvary Church
Maxine Applegarth
Frances Janet Davis
KEARNEY, St. Luke’s
Jean Sall
Roger Hanson
Priscilla Ring
Elizabeth King
Harold McClure
LEXINGTON, St. Peter’s
Audra Jean Sands
LINCOLN, St. Mark’s on the Campus
Ferd Anderson
LINCOLN, St. Matthew’s
Dawson Cox
Brad Loyd Braddeley
Patty Jo Hohenstein
Helen Rokeby
George Russell
Russell C. Inbody
NORTH PLATTE, Our Savior
Marialyse Knobel
Hideo Kamino
Bud Johnson
Ruth Matsutani
George Layton
Susie Kudlacek
OMAHA, All Saints
Patricia Ann Bauerle
Shirley J. Randall
Carroll E. Fredrickson
Barbara J. Harmon
Muriel K. Young “Miv”
Marilynn Adair Hetzler
Robert Emmett Scherrer
E. Newton Kelley “Newt”
Thomas Rudyard Kipling
Elizabeth Ann Finn
Maybelle E. McMaken
Drexel John Sibbernsen, Jr.
Larry Dean Rankin
Linda Buthman Bedwell
OMAHA, St. Andrew’s
Fr. Bill Smythe
Clayton Witherspoon
George Lee
OMAHA, Trinity Cathedral
Charlotte Egger
George “Woody” Thelin, II
Evelyn Reimer
Gloria Dunbar
Thelma Nelsen
Danforth Loving
Beatrice McLaughlin
Kara Shainholtz
Helen Weber
SIDNEY, Christ Church
Betty Andrews
WYMORE, St. Luke’s
Edna L. Closs
Margaret A. Thomas
Priests Deceased Since Last Council
The Rev. Skip Miles
The Rev. Scott Rathman
The Rev. Howard Schoech
The Rev. William Smythe
Deacons Deceased Since Last Council
The Rev. Betty Andrews