A Much Better Place

This morning I asked a friend of mine to write an editorial for one of our sisters here at church who passed away this morning.  She was 93 years old and has touched thousands of lives with her smile, her peaceful demeanor and her pen.  My friend (Mike Fairchild) wrote the following memorial:

“This morning my good friend and sister in Christ, Hattie Dumerauf, passed from this life.  Her passing, while sad for those of us left behind, has allowed her to reach her ultimate goal of spending eternity with God.  Hattie is in a much better place.

Little was I to know that over nine years ago a phone call from Dub Harrison, a former Waterview minister, would change my life forever.  He asked me if I would consider picking up a lady on my way to church Sunday morning.  She had recently moved to Richardson, Texas from Davenport, Iowa and wanted to attend services at Waterview Church of Christ.  That first Sunday I drove up, and there was Hattie waiting for me on the front porch with a big smile on her face.  That exact scene was duplicated hundreds of times over the years.  Her big smile and a wave greeted me every Sunday morning…rain or shine.

Our trips down Waterview Drive on Sunday mornings were always filled with conversations about the beautiful trees and flowers that we would see.  Hattie would say that they are gifts from God and how thankful we should be for them.  She loved to watch the squirrels play and listen to the birds singing.  All part of God’s creation.  She loved to talk about how she had been so blessed over the years and how much she looked forward to church on Sunday morning.  She couldn’t wait to see the ‘smile greeters’, as she named them, when we would drive up to the building.  As we would drive home after services, she always talked about Waterview and that we have the nicest, most caring church members she had ever know.

Every Sunday she would pass out her words of encouragement* that she had written the previous week.  She touched so many lives with her written word.  She told me that she wasn’t able to do much, but she felt that her writing was her ministry.  I have hundreds of her notes and will cherish them for the rest of my life.

To sum up my time with Hattie over the years, I would say she had a life well lived, full of the Spirit of God.  I have never known a more Godly woman who cared so much for others.  When I look to my left during church next Sunday, there will be an empty space next to me where Hattie always sat.  But I know she will be looking down and enjoying the service as she did throughout her life.

My Sunday mornings were blessed by my time with Hattie and I will miss her so much… until we meet again.”

Mike Fairchild
Waterview Church of Christ
Richardson, Texas

*Some of these ‘words of encouragement‘ will be posted here during the next few weeks.