Lake
Shore
member John James died Saturday
afternoon
at
Hillcrest
Hospital
.
Funeral services were held at
Rosser Funeral Home in
Cleburne
,
Texas
, on Tuesday, January 13.
He was a retired appellate
judge from the 10th District Court
of Appeals.
John
(or "the Judge," as many
at
Lake
Shore
called him) had been a member here
since 1987 after he married Mary. As
Lake
Shore
members have remembered him together
the past few days, the word
"beloved" has been
repeated countless times. Those who
sat at the supper table with him on
Wednesday nights were fortunate
indeed, for he was a great
storyteller and interested in
stories anyone else had to tell. He
never seemed to forget anyone's name
and always took time to stop in the
hall or in the sanctuary, even at
communion, to ask in his booming
voice "How are you doing
today?" to the person in his
path. Visiting the John and Mary was
a highlight of our Christmas bus
caroling traditional, and just a few
weeks ago he came to the door on his
walker and sang carols with us.
One
of the fond memories that many of us
will keep close in our hearts when
we remember Judge James is the
Wednesday night several
Lake
Shore
members recited poetry. With grand
style and in the voice of a great
orator, he recited "Thanatopsis,"
William Cullen Bryant's classic poem
about death. We
bless John's parting now with the
same words he blessed us with that
night:
"So
live, that when thy summons comes to
join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each
shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of
death,
Though go not, like the quarry-slave
at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but
sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach
thy grave
Like one, who wraps the drapery of
his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant
dreams."
Go
gently, John, into God's eternal
hands. We will miss you. Our lives are rich beyond measure for being
in your presence.
