Uncle Lynn’s funeral

On Tuesday evening we traveled to Richfield in preparation for Uncle Lynn’s funeral on Wednesday. We arrived late but had a pretty restful night at the Days Inn. The next morning I practiced the song that was requested of me by Uncle Lynn, Be Still My Soul, and the family prepared for the funeral.

The service was very nice, with a few friends and both of Lynn’s children, Steven and Lisa, providing remarks. The family prayer at the conclusion of the viewing was offered by my dad.

Lisa reminded us of some of our favorite “Lynn-isms.” One of my favorite: whenever you’d visit his home, he’s say, “Come here, I’ve got something to show you.” Inevitably he’d pull out a polished stone or some other little treasure he had been working on, or a newspaper article with some interesting little tidbit to read about.

Lynn always made people feel comfortable and at home. I think that’s part of the reason there were so many people at the funeral Wednesday.

The graveside service was also nice with military rites accorded by the V.F.W. Sevier Post No. 5050. It was neat to see a military send-off like that. I hadn’t witnessed that before.

I got the impression Lynn represents an era of the past. He represented our country as a soldier. He was a true officer and a gentleman. The serviceman photo of him displayed at the funeral was really amazing. He looked so young and vibrant. Since my mom is the youngest of the siblings, I haven’t known my aunts and uncles when they were young. In fact, one of my cousins is older than my mom.

At any rate . . . saying goodbye to Uncle Lynn was difficult. I got a bit choked up during my song. It was weird going to Sarah’s home that evening for dinner and not being welcomed by Lynn. Death certainly is a reality of life. It’s ironic that there are such strong opposites. I suppose that’s how we learn.

As promised earlier, here’s a link to Lynn’s obituary in The Richfield Reaper.

He was a fine example and will be missed by those he left behind.