Aunt Loloi was the widow (since remarried) of my mom's brother Jerome. Even for us as kids, Uncle Romey was the life of the party. Any reminder of his death over forty years ago still leaves a family gathering somber for a minute.
I last saw her a couple years ago at St. Luke's Hospital while my Dad was being treated for what turned out to be his final illness. She happened to be there visiting someone else. In her quiet down-to-earth way, she cheered me up a bit in the few minutes we had together.
January 11th
Her funeral was at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran, in its old white frame church in Oak Creek. There were quite a few of my many cousins that I now see only at funerals. I would hope Aunt Loloi's in Heaven, but judging by the sermon, there's no need to hope. As in the Catholic Church, so in the WELS, it now seems that anyone in the congregation goes to Heaven when they die. The Apostles Creed was, of course, said with "Christian church" rather than "catholic church." One of the final prayers was lead by the minister as he stood facing the altar; I haven't seen that in a long time. The concluding hymn was On Eagle's Wings.
P.S. On the church's web site, see Concerning Chasubles, Traditions, The Lutheran Confessions and PowerPoint.
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