Today we have the Christian memorial service for Rose Layton DePauw, Martha’s sister who passed away last week.

At the service, we will celebrate her life, encourage and grieve with her family, and look forward to the day when we shall see her again.

The most wonderful thing I can tell you about Rose is how much she loved Martha. Martha was born 13, 14, and 16 years after her siblings. She was born into very difficult circumstances.

When Martha was nine months old her father was institutionalized for life. These events threw the family into tremendous hardship, with her mother having to work in a garment factory to support three teenagers and an infant.

Rose was that 13-year-old who grew up way too fast by picking up the slack and caring for this child. Rose always had a special place in her heart for Martha because of those early experiences in life.

We had a very emotional day 10 days ago as Rose was slipping from this life to the next as Martha spoke to her by phone and thanked her for all that she had done for her.

Rose and Maurice (we call him Morris) were married 58 years. Theirs is a beautiful love story. They met as late teenagers and married early in life. Morris immigrated to this country from Belgium right after WW II, with literally nothing but the clothes he wore. As a child and teenager, he saw the horrors and tragedies of war.

Martha and I have often noted no one loves America more then Maurice DePauw. He was pleased to serve and retire from the United States Army.

I can also tell you that Rose and her husband Morris are committed believers in our Lord and faithful members of their church. Their church–the Concord Baptist Church of Granite Falls, North Carolina–has blessed and nurtured their lives. We have said to many people that Morris is going to be fine because he has a loving church. This was one of those churches who ministered to us in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They brought a bus load of hard workers from North Carolina to care for our church and the people of St. Tammany Parish.

Morris loves his church, and his church loves him.

We rejoice that Rose is right now in the hands of a loving heavenly Father to whom she gave her life many years ago. We thank God for the gift of his Son who gives to us the gift of everlasting life.

May He be praised this day.

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