FIVE FUNERALS
—by Marietta Moskin

Over the past 50 years, I have attended innumerable memorial services at All Souls, although admittedly more of them in the last 20 years or so as my membership cohorts have been aging. But the last few I attended in a very short span of time made me aware of how different these memorial services can be. Our ministers have a special talent for weaving each “celebration of a life” into very individualized events with the help of surviving relatives and friends.

Perhaps the most unusual service I ever attended was on August 17, for Dennison Do, who was born in Vietnam, was married to a Dutch wife, Cornelia, and raised three wonderful children in our Church School, all of whom blended their UU education with the different traditions of their spouses. Denny had been raised a Buddhist and his memorial service reflected that tradition along with UU and Jewish components in both the readings and the music. It was a powerful and spiritual reminder of our openness to religious traditions.

The service on September 17 for Melva Peterson, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly after having just rejoiced in recovering from a hip operation, was entirely different. Forrest explained to us that she had very carefully planned her own service a long time before, including readings and music. A music librarian for City College, she was seriously interested in music and was quite definite about her choices. I remember her mostly from Deacons and Annual meetings, where she was equally specific about her objections to proceedings or in questioning proposals. Her service was precisely right for her.

Warren Bryan died after a long illness in a nursing home and his memorial service was held on October 15. He had started his acting career in radio before WWII as the voice of a young man in the long-running soap opera “Stella Dallas” to which he returned on television after serving in the war. He came to All Souls after ending his acting career and was greatly beloved and respected in this church after initiating the successful Stories With Soul group that honored him with a special award after he became housebound. His service was filled with anecdotes about his acting career by fellow actors and members of All Souls, many of whom described him as a talented cook and host as they recalled memorable dinner parties. Like many of us, he had come to All Souls from a different religious tradition but had fully embraced UU concepts during the later years of his life.

Finally, I attended a service for George Ling on November 5. He lived to the age of 99 and is survived by his wife Hazel. He had been a Deacon when I knew him, long retired from his professional life in insurance. Several nieces spoke about their loving memories of Uncle George, childhood recollections of lakeside vacations and fishing trips. Galen created a dignified memorial for this long-time church member through tributes from relatives and church friends. The intimate chapel setting and family centered remembrances conducted by Dr. Guingerich made a fitting memorial for a quiet, thoughtful man.

There was a fifth memorable funeral service at All Souls on Oct. 17, which I neither attended nor knew about. I learned about it from a service opener from one of our Monday Night Hospitality volunteers, George Collins. The service, conducted by Rev. Cheryl Walker on a Monday night in the sanctuary, was for Walter Godfreid who had attended our Monday night feeding program regularly for many years. His life was celebrated by fellow Monday night regulars who obviously form their own in-church community. Hearing about this event made it clear to me that our Monday Night and Friday Noon guests are truly a different part of our church community along with some regular Sunday Adult Education members who do not attend our services but come here on a regular basis. This reflects our motto: Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.

Dennison Do	Melva Peterson	Warren Bryan	George Ling