An obituary appears in the March 7, 2010 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
We held a visitation at the funeral home, a beautiful historic mansion, the evening of March 7, 2010. I brought many pictures and items to recall April's life. These included figurines from our wedding cake, a nursing scrub shirt, her stethoscope and Children's ID badge, a snowman cookie jar, a gingerbread man wreath, scented candles, a sudoku book, a bowl of conversation hearts, the two teddy bears mentioned on the home page, and more. In keeping with a strong belief April and I shared, the casket remained closed, so everyone would remember her only as she looked when she was alive. Even I did not view her body privately. The only memories I want to keep are those of the soft, warm and living April. I digress. After two hours of visitation, Fr. Raphael Eagle, TOR ("Fr. Ray," a chaplain at Cook Children's) led a Rosary for those who wished to stay.
April's funeral took place March 8, 2010 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. My cousin, Fr. David Pike, who also participated in our wedding, officiated and created an absolutely beautiful ceremony. He kept the service on a positive and hopeful note, reminding us that it was a celebration of April's life. He gave an eloquent homily about April's life and a lovely Eucharist. The magnificent historic church bore many similarities to the church we were married in, Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston.
To each of you who were there, thank you for coming to celebrate this wonderful life and support me, her family and her friends. I am sorry I did not get to greet and acknowledge every one of you; but know that your presence brought comfort to my heart and I deeply appreciate it. I know there were many more who were there in spirit but could not attend in person because they were busy doing the kinds of things April valued so highly: Taking care of ill children, or the needs of their own families. I thank each of you as well, for being there in your hearts.
We gave out memorial bookmarks with April's picture, and prayer cards featuring April's favorite image showing a guardian angel looking over two children. If you would like one (or more) of these, just drop me a line with your address.
The service included readings from Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-5,9 and Revelation 21:2-7. The hymns were numbers 466, 207, and 551 from the Hymnal 1940 [694, 305 and 688 in the Hymnal 1982] and April's very favorite, Ave Maria.
Fr. David also offered a beautiful interment ceremony at the cemetery. As we arrived, a huge thunderstorm suddenly broke out, unleashing a deluge of rain, hail, thunder and lightning. Huge gusts of wind blew the downpour under our canopy in a nearly horizontal plane, and no one escaped a good dose of water. Was this the heavens crying for this tragic loss? Or April pushing us to go inside our house and eat? Who knows, but it certainly made the event memorable.
April had a beautiful pink casket with a pink lining. This went inside a white vault with pink trim, including her name and a pink rose cast in relief. The casket spray featured stargazer lilies, April's favorite, and red roses, both recalling her wedding bouquet; pine boughs to symbolize Christmas; and a few pink flowers to honor her favorite color. The funeral home placed a special crucifix on her casket for the funeral and graveside service. I cannot say enough good things about the people at Thompson's Harveson and Cole funeral home. They were helpful, honest, caring and respectful at all times. Never did they try to rip me off or exploit my grief. I would highly recommend this family-owned company to anyone.
After the service we gathered in the home that April loved so much for food and fellowship. My coworkers, who seem more like an extended family to me, provided a huge buffet of lasagna, salad, desserts and much more. At this point the rain ended and the sun came out! Thank you all for preparing this wonderful meal and reaching out to me so much in this time of sorrow.
(click on any picture to enlarge)
The entrance to the funeral home, Thompson's Harveson & Cole.
Guest book table with photos and mementos displayed.
Still more memories of April's life and loves.
April's pink casket.
The casket spray: Red roses, stargazer lilies, pine and hint of pink.
The downpour left the area soaking wet.
See the cemetery page for more information about the cemetery.
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