Yesterday the Lime Springs community joined the Hughes family in celebrating the life of Gertie Hughes at the United Methodist Church in Lime Springs.
The church was filled, with the family itself nearly filling the sanctuary. Eddie and Gertie had a large family (six sons) and lots of friends!
Pastor Melanie Greengo
Pastor Melanie Greengo stated early on that many of the words she would use were not written by her, but by Gertie. Eddie later confirmed that. He said she had a box full of things she had written and that the family had gone through them and selected specific ones for the service. Gertie had also made certain selections and clearly had made preparations for the occassion—no doubt in more ways than one.
Each song which organist Sue Richter played was a “good old hymn” which I remembered from my days at the now-gone Presbyterian Church in Lime Springs. You probably remember that Gertie was a great singer and loved music so it was no surprise that music played a significant role in the memorial service. The voices of the large crowd provided a perfect setting for Doc Lyon to add his voice! (Doc would make a great Welshman, as they love nothing more than to gather a few men together—say about a thousand!—and sing, sing, sing!)
And Marcia Borgan Murray shared her singing talent. I bet it was hard for Doc not to join in on the chorus of those well-known hymns!
The Memorial Service was billed as “Celebrating a Life.” I have never been to a service which truly seemed like a celebration.
I think Gertie would have loved it! Perhaps she had that same big smile as she has on the folder, which is shown above.
Attendees
I’ll briefly mention some of the attendees whom Lime Springers around the country might find interesting.
I spoke briefly with Don Collins, Gertie’s brother. I hadn’t seen him since the 2004 LSHS reunion! Or was it the 1994 reunion?
The elder Kenneys (Kenny Mensink and Kenny Jones) were there; each is over 90. They’re the oldest men in town.
We had a great visit with Russ and Karen Stevenson, neighbors on the farm. And now they own the south 80 of my dad’s farm!
Marian Sanborn Peter was there, greatly enjoying visiting with old friends.
Paul Larson made the trip from Decorah. Paul is a loyal supporter of Lime Springs!
The Lime Springs version of the “church basement ladies” provided another delicious lunch, but at the Community Center, not at a church basement. But that doesn’t change who does the work, you understand!
You are most welcome to add your comments, below.