 |
| Thanksgiving 2013 with our Suz |
Susie’s
Eulogy
Good evening. My name is
Wayne Vonder Heide and I have the privilege of being one of Sue Hall’s nephews
and her godson. On behalf of our family, thank you so much for being here
tonight to celebrate the life of Sue. There is nothing she would love more than
to have all of her family and good friends together in the church she has
called home for so many years. And, while it’s difficult for all of us to wrap
our heads around the fact that she is no longer physically with us on this
earth, I believe that Sue is celebrating with us here today in spirit and
loving every minute of it. Sue also would have loved the fact that news of her
death got over 150 comments/posts on Facebook! Sue, you went viral! Hottest
thing on Facebook this month! In all seriousness, Facebook has been a helpful
way of grieving, and we appreciate the condolences as well as the great
memories so many of you shared both on Facebook and tonight. One thing was very
clear (which we already knew)…Sue touched a lot of lives and was loved by MANY,
MANY people.
I’ve been thinking a lot
the past few days about Sue’s Legacy and, if blessed with kids, how I’ll tell
my kids about my awesome Aunt Sue. It’s not easy to truly capture such
an amazing person, but there are a few things that instantly came to mind…
1) Sue loved the Chicago Bears. She
loved the Bears so much that she was a season ticket holder for 32 years.
I’m assuming nobody here is a Green Bay Packers fan, because Sue refused to
keep friends with anybody who cheered for the Packers or anybody who wore Green
and Yellow on the same day. Sue attended the games with her father Wayne (Paw
Paw) for many years. When Pawp passed away in 1997, Sue began bringing along
her nephews…myself, Arne, Dane, and Kjell. Those were some amazing memories
that I know we will always cherish. Susie taught us how to tailgate the right
way. Bears game days started with leaving Susie’s house at 5AM to get a good
tailgate spot next to Rita and Nancy. We would grill and hang out for hours and
just have a blast. The last text exchange Sue and I had was this past Sunday
night and we were expressing our excitement as the Bears made their big
comeback to beat the 49ers. This was a fitting way to end our time together on
earth…celebrating a Bears win. Sue’s favorite player in recent years has been
Charles “Peanut” Tillman. Sue died on Monday afternoon, and I think what really
did her in was the news that came out that day that Peanut was injured for the
season and his career was likely over. One things’ for sure….Soldier Field will
never be the same without Susan Elizabeth Hall.
2) Sue loved her Newfoundlands/Newfie’s….Brutus,
Livvy, Annie, Reba, Hannah, Brooke, Bella…Sue would do anything for them, and
they brought her so much joy over the years. Taking her girls to the doggy
beauty salon, spending time at Country Hill Animal Hospital, getting the annual
picture with Santa, and bringing them to the Tinley Park Farmers Market were
just some of her favorite activities. We take comfort in knowing that Sue is
now home with all of her Newfies.
3) Sue was a super generous person. She
especially enjoyed spoiling her niece and nephews, and more recently her grand
nieces Abbie and Nina. Growing up, every trip to Aunt Susie’s involved a trip
to Toy’s ‘R Us to pick out any toy we wanted. Susie also took her niece Sally
for a getaway to NYC to see some of Broadway’s best shows, eat in Manhattan’s
finest restaurants, and of course, get room service for breakfast every morning.
In more recent years, it’s been fun to watch Susie spoil her grand nieces,
Abbie and Nina. Every birthday and
Christmas, the pile of presents they receive from Sue seem to get bigger and
bigger.
4) Sue cared deeply for people and
always put others before herself. This played out both in her nursing career
and also in her personal life. As a nurse, Sue put in the extra effort to get
to know her patients on a personal level so that she could provide as warm and
comforting of care as possible. This translated to meaningful relationships with
patients and families of patients and she carried these relationships with her
throughout her life. In her personal life, Sue always knew how to make her
friends and family feel loved and supported. Whether it was a birthday phone
message with her lovely alto singing voice, a Facebook message or e-mail to let
you know she was thinking of you, or donating flowers to the church to
commemorate an anniversary or a loved one’s passing, Sue knew how to make every
person in her life feel great about themselves.
On
that note, our family was particularly touched this week by a story Sue’s
awesome co-workers from Regency Home Healthcare shared with us. They told us
that Sue was always the first person in the office, even on cold, snowy Chicago
snowpocalypse mornings where her long drive didn’t make it easy to get in early.
When she got to the office she would climb the two flights of (outside) stairs that led
to the office then take the time to salt down all of the stairs and walkways so
nobody slipped. This is impressive and selfless for an able-bodied person. It’s
especially impressive and touching considering Sue had a difficult time walking
in the last years of her life after having both knees replaced in addition to
chronic back problems. Sue never once mentioned this salting of the stairs to
her family. She never patted herself on the back for it, she never complained
about it. She just did it…because she had a strong work ethic and she cared for
others above herself.
5) Sue was hilarious. She had the best
sense of humor. Many of the jokes she is known for among people in this church
aren’t necessarily church appropriate, so I’ll just leave you with one great
Susie line from the past few weeks. She had been in a lot of pain, and the pain
was worsening each week. As the weeks progressed, the pain was more
concentrated around her upper back/lower neck. When asked what she thought the
diagnosis might be, Sue said “I think I’m pregnant and just carrying high.”
6) Sue had an awesome friend and
companion named Karen who lived across the street. Sue and Karen had a special
friendship…they did everything together…they ate dinner together, grocery
shopped together, walked their dogs together, celebrated holidays together, and
went through the ups and downs of life together. Karen, you have been such an
amazing friend to Sue, and you’ve become family to us. I will eventually
forgive you for always stealing my good gifts in the Christmas grab bag gift
exchange.
7) Sue loved her family…A LOT. She lived
her life by honoring the principles that her dad taught her and exemplified
those principles to all those she knew. We take great comfort knowing that she
is reunited with her parents, her brother Tom, her sister Marcia, and her
nephew Dane. I would imagine quite a welcome party was thrown for her upon her
arrival in Heaven. But while they party in Heaven, we grieve here on earth. The
grief is significant for all of us, but it’s most significant for Sue’s sisters
Jenny and Patty. They were as close as sisters can be and went through a lot together
over 59+ years…births, weddings, divorces, retirements, and deaths (too many
deaths). In the last several years, they loved their bi-weekly sisters’ lunch
where they got to catch up on the latest happenings in each others’ lives. And in
the last several months, the three of them spent a lot of time together as
Sue’s pain increased. And Jenny and Patty gave Sue great care, just as she
had done for so many people for so many years.
8) Lastly, Sue had an unwavering, strong
faith. Sue loved God and did her best to walk in his ways. She loved her faith
community here at church. She loved Rev. Dr. Nancy, and she even named her cat
after former Pastor Joseph Ledwell. Even in times of darkness, times of family
deaths, times of pain and suffering, Sue maintained her strong, steadfast
faith. Each time Sue mentioned she was going to a funeral, she would say she
was going to a “Homegoing” because that person was going home to Heaven, where
there is no pain and no suffering. Sue, while we already miss you tremendously
here and life won’t be the same without you, we are so happy for you that you
are now home with our beloved relatives and home with God.
Thank You.
No comments:
Post a Comment