Another Funeral

Today, we attended another funeral. You may remember a post I did last summer about Gwen, a long-time employee of Ken's firm, retiring. She unexpectedly passed away this last Monday. Her funeral was today. The family asked Ken to speak. He was overwhelmed at first with that responsibility, but was inspired to email everyone in the firm, asking them to share with him their memories of Gwen. He was flooded with responses. Everyone loved Gwen and wanted to share their love and memories. He then wove those memories together into a wonderful talk. He said that the memories would be presented in random order, but that was not at all the case. He spent three hours the other evening typing them up and weaving them together to make a spell-binding speech that had you laughing one minute and crying the next. It was absolutely masterful. I am so proud of him. He "captured" Gwen and her goodness and her humor and had everyone wanting to be a better person as they left. He said that knowing someone for 34 years, working with them every day, you get to know their good, their bad, and their ugly. He said in 34 years, he never saw any ugly or bad in Gwen. Only good. . . lots and lots of good. Some of Gwen's stellar qualities that I want to always remember:

Integrity. She was honest almost to a fault. She was responsible for ordering for the firm. Occasionally she would miss a deadline and cost the firm a small amount in credit payment. She would say, "Please take it out of my check." Or she would try to pay cash. Of course the firm never accepted her offer, but what a great example of absolute honesty and integrity(and humility to admit her mistake.) Ken told how every year at review time she would insist that she not get a raise and would give a list of reasons she didn't deserve one. They always gave her a raise. How many people do you know like that? Gwen was one of a kind. Ken told how as CPA's they instruct their clients to always have internal controls over a bookkeeper- never completely trust anyone. That is essential in business. Then he threw up his hands and said, "We're hypocrites! We trusted Gwen explicitly. We didn't need to follow our own advice." Gwen had absolute integrity.

Selflessness. Gwen didn't know how to think of herself first. She always put others and their needs above her own. Ken told the story of how she went up to Pine Valley (where her family home was) to clean and accidently locked herself in an upstairs bedroom. She tied bedsheets together and tried to climb down (she'd watched too many movies). About halfway down, she fell breaking her ankle and injuring her back. She climbed back up the stairs, secured the house, then drove the hour down to St. George and went to the emergency room. Only then did she call her family and let them know she was fine, but would be in the hospital over night. She didn't want to interrupt what they were doing to take care of her needs. Last year, she got very sick and the Dr. told her she needed to be hospitalized. She said, no, she couldn't do that because she had clients who had payroll due and she had to go to work and do that for them. Her family and the Dr. prevailed, but during her hospital stay, she frequently called those covering for her to instruct and direct them, making sure the clients' needs were met. One of Ken's clients recently told him how much Gwen meant to him and what great care she took of him. Gwen selflessly raised her own children and some of her grandchildren as her daughter was not in a position to do so. She even had instructed her family that when she died to be sure to hold the funeral on a Saturday so people wouldn't have to miss work to attend. Even in death, she was thinking of others.

Gentle I think that word describes Gwen so well. She was quiet and gentle and loving. I want to be more gentle from knowing her.

Humble I've already described her humility, but wanted to list it as one of her stellar qualities.

Loyalty Never was there a more loyal employee, family member or friend that Gwen.

We will miss this elect lady.

That was the fifth funeral we've attended in a month. That's enough. I decree that there will be no more for awhile. Next week we attend a temple wedding. Five funerals and a wedding. That sums up our month.