On Sunday morning, Feb 1, 2009, about 2 AM, Jesus gathered my mother to himself. She had battled cancer four times since 1985. The advances in medicine and treatment between 1985 and 2008 were amazing. But the disease is still a terrible scourge. It is a reminder that we live in a world that has been cursed because of human sin. Disease, disaster, and death are merely ways that God wants to use to drive us away from our connections to sin and this world, to the perfect forgiveness we have in Jesus Christ.
As far as I know, Mom did not have any of the things that make a person more likely to have breast cancer or to have a recurrence. She didn’t smoke, drink to excess, or eat to excess. She had healthy habits of hygeine and diet. She had three children and breast-fed us. She was married and monogamous.
Yet at the age of 70, the Lord called her home after this long struggle. It was merciful in that she did not have the kind of suffering at the end that I have seen with some cancer victims. Her brother Leroy visited from Iowa until Thursday last week. They had a good chance to talk. She knew when her cousin Lois and her husband Tom visited. She told Leroy as they said good-bye, “I’ll see you again in heaven.” On Thursday night, she slept peacefully (with the help of some morphine) and she woke only for a short time on Friday. Saturday she slept, and in the afternoon her breathing became labored, deep, and raspy. At 2:30, my dad called (I had made sure my phone was right by my head as I slept) to tell me she was gone to heaven.
As Christians, we are accepting of God’s will. In fact (and this is a little surprising) I have not yet shed a tear. I am sure the tears will flow when I travel to Arizona, see my dad and brothers, the rest of the extended family, and participate in the celebration of her life at Grace, Casa Grande AZ Sunday at 4 PM. But my thoughts about Mom are more those of relief that her suffering and struggle are over, and joy that she is enjoying heavenly glory now. It’s not because she was a good person (although if anyone who has been highly praised and glowingly eulogized at a funeral had a claim on personal piety, Mom is one). It is because Jesus was so good. Before the world was created, she was chosen by God to be saved through the work of Jesus 2000 years ago. Through her washing of baptism, Jesus’ righteousness covered her as a clean robe 70 years ago. Through the Word and the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, she was strengthened personally in her faith. I had the privilege of leading our family in worship and serving the Lord’s Supper at their home in Sun City shortly after Christmas. Mom had the joy of meeting my youngest brother’s fiancee that week (solving a “problem” that Mom perceived–she wanted all three of us, her sons, to be happily married, and by the way she would have loved to find a wife for Leroy).
Mom was born to Erwin and Gertrude Riemer in 1938. Grandpa Riemer was a dairy farmer, with a herd of Guernsey cows. Gertrude was a consummate farmer wife. I can remember going to visit her when she was selling their produce at the farmers’ market when I was really small. Grandma passed away 1996 at the age of 86. She had Alzeimer’s and for about her last 8 years did not appear to know any of us. Grandpa Riemer died in 1998, age 91. Grandpa Wagenknecht died ten days later, age 84. Noteably, he passed away in the same bedroom where Mom died. Grandma Wagenknecht is doing great at age 89 today in Glendale, AZ.
But listen to this legacy! The four Riemer boys studied for the ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. They have served world missions in India, Philippines, and Korea, taught at Concordia, Austin TX, and served congregations in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Iowa. Mom attended Concordia-River Forest, and taught at Lutheran Elementary schools in Cullman and Huntsville, Alabama, before meeting and marrying Dad, who started Lutheran missions in Huntsville, Alabama, and Fort Worth, TX. Later, she also taught at Immanuel, Fort Worth. She and Dad raised us three boys with Word and example to love Jesus, His Church, and His people. Among us three boys, we have served congregations and missions in Florida, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, California, Idaho, and Arizona. Actually, I could include other places too since Nathan has been travelling to several other Latin American countries to teach future pastors, and is moving to Brazil this Spring. Mom’s sister Sylvia and family farm in Cedarburg, WI, and are pillars of their church in West Bend. I am extremely proud of them, too.
I say this not to boast in my family, but just to express words of thanks and praise to God who has blessed us so much. I am thankful for the legacy of faith that my grandparents and parents have left for me and my family. I pray that when Jesus returns he will find my descendants faithful. Jesus died for all, and lives and reigns eternally for all his children. With this confidence we say, “Mom, see you later–in heaven!”
