Goodbye Dick

When I came home from grocery shopping yesterday evening, my son Brent had some sad news for me. Our good friend, Mr. Dick Trego had died that morning.

I hadn't actually seen Dick for over a year. We got to know him well at our old church but since we began attending another church about 3 years ago I hadn't seen him as often. During those last 3 years I only saw him a handful of times at district (ie. church district) functions and at his beloved "Breakfast Club".

At Messiah Lutheran Church in Waterloo, I had the opportunity to work with Dick on the Board of Outreach. In his mid-70's by then, Dick had been involved in the work of the church for decades. Over the years he'd served in a variety of capacities - as an Elder, as Congregational Chairman, as a Department head or a Committee member of any number of groups - but in the years that I worked with him he stopped working in front-line service positions and took on more of a mentoring role.

Dick was a real "Barnabas"; an encourager. He generously supported the work of the church financially, and he supported and encouraged those in full-time church work, as well as those who work to further the kingdom through volunteer church service and their everyday vocations. Watching him operate - really, the Holy Spirit operating through him - I came away with a powerful picture of the Body at work. In his later years, Dick was no longer able to do the work of the hands that he once did...but he was able to do the work of the arms - a force behind the hands, enabling them to do their work. And Dick, of course, would be the first one to point out the ultimate source of that force; the Lord Himself. Dick never forgot that we have no strength of our own.

For the last five years, Dick volunteered Monday mornings at a school breakfast program, the Cedarbrae Breakfast Club. This is where I saw Dick most often in the last couple of years. It so happens that my mom is the coordinator of the program and my kids and I sometimes drop by to lend a hand. Most often, Dick could be found engaging the most troubled of the kids. He had a way with young boys especially and this was where his gift for encouraging really shone. By this time, Dick was in his eighties: fully bald, wearing glasses and a cardigan and moving a little slower than he formerly had, he could easily have been a target of scorn for these kids. But instead they gravitated to him because Dick, who understood how very much he had received by God's grace, dispensed grace as well. In this public school, where proclaiming the Gospel is prohibited by law, these children nonetheless saw a picture of their gracious Saviour in Richard Trego.

This is probably the only "eulogy" Dick is going to get. Dick's funeral service is being held this Sunday at Messiah, but a Lutheran funeral service does not have a eulogy. The focus of a Lutheran funeral service is placed squarely where it ought to be: not on the "works" of the one who died, but on the Work of the One Who Died. Dick, who many years ago was baptized into that Death, is now raised to life with Him as well. What else matters, really?

Dick is home now. I will miss him. But, oh I know how he must be rejoicing! He is with his Father! He is with his King! He is now exactly where he most wanted to be: in the eternal presence of God. See you soon.