Deaths in the Family - Grandma & Cleo

Grandma on her 90th birthday (2009)

I know it has been a little while since we've posted. Bear with us, we've been dealing with some losses in the family. On October 2, Curtis' grandmother passed away. We traveled to Hopewell, Virginia to attend her funeral. Although it was sad, it was a precious time to spend with his family - some of whom I had never met. Curtis' father showed us where he grew up (as he would say "his stomping grounds"). I've attached her obituary below, she was an amazing woman of God:

Velma R. McDaniel, 90, former resident of Enon and Hopewell, passed away in the early morning hours on Saturday, October 2, 2010 in Butler, PA after an extended period of declining health.

She was born October 26, 1919 in Malvern Hill, VA, the daughter of Harry Rathien and Bertha Cornelia Foster Rathien. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 30 years, Henry Curtis McDaniel, Sr. who died November 20, 1981 and twin sons Mark and Scott who died shortly after childbirth in 1960.

Velma graduated from Hopewell High School in 1936, then went on to Business/Secretarial School under the sponsorship of Dr. Joseph Osborne before working for 17 years at Allimac Stamping Company in Petersburg. Following her first family respite, she worked for fifteen months in 1957-1958 for Continental Can Company in Hopewell, then returned after a second family respite to CCC and served for 22 years as a production secretary until her retirement in October, 1983.

“Babs,” as she was affectionately called, was a member of Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Hopewell from the late 1920s until the late 1940s. Following a 1949 Jimmy Mercer Evangelistic Crusade, she united with the congregation of West End Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Hopewell in 1950. For more than fifty years, she served her Lord and the West End Congregation in numerous ways: as a teacher in the Primary and Junior Sunday School Departments, President of the Women in the Church (WIC) in 1959, a WIC Circle Bible teacher, administrative and correspondence secretary for the World Missions Committee, Director of the Church Christmas Play and as a faithful member of the church’s prayer chain, hospitality committee, Christian Day School Commission and mercy committee to the sick, bereaved, elderly and shut-in. She is humbly remembered as a devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother and sister, tender caregiver, faithful Bible teacher to children and to women, persistent prayer warrior, sacrificial giver, and a passionate advocate and staunch supporter of the church’s missions and Sunday School ministries.

She is survived by a daughter, Ellen M. Garrett and her husband Frank in Glen Allen, VA; a son, the Rev. Dr. H. Curtis McDaniel and his wife Karen in Butler, PA; six grandchildren, the Rev. H. Curtis McDaniel III and his wife Margaret in Savannah, GA; Megan E. McDaniel and Heather P. McDaniel in Butler, PA; Lieutenant B. Camm Garrett, United States Army, Laura Garrett and McEnery Garrett of Glen Allen, VA; a sister, Doris R. Hubbard in Fairfax, VA, and a brother, John Rathien in Chester, VA along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 from 4:00-8:00pm at the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. A worship and memorial service will be held on Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 11:00am at West End Presbyterian Church in Hopewell with Velma’s son, the Rev. Dr. H. Curtis McDaniel presiding and her grandson, the Rev. H. Curtis McDaniel III assisting. A graveside service and interment will follow at the Bermuda Memorial Park and Cemetery in Enon.

Serving Pallbearers are Curtis McDaniel III, McEnery Garrett, John Partin, Col. William Butler, Johnny Partin, Ken Tomko, Rolf McDaniel and John Hartman. Honorary Pallbearers are Camm Garrett, Frank Garrett, Charles Sadler, Paul McCullough, Jim Copal, Gene Wilkes and the ordained ruling elders and elders emeriti at West End Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to the missions ministry of West End Presbyterian Church, 1600 Atlantic Street, Hopewell, VA 23860-3761.

As you can see, Curtis was heavily involved in the funeral service. He not only assisted in the funeral, but he was also a pallbearer.

In my family, we also had a family pet loss. Cleo had been in the family since 1998 and she passed away last week after having a cardiac arrest as she was in the animal hospital. She had been missing from my parents' house for about a week and she dragged herself in pain out of the woods in my parents' backyard. My parents took her to the hospital and she was beginning to get better. We thought she was going to make it through and become an inside cat. Instead, we got the bad news after church last Sunday. Thankfully, she didn't pass away on my dad's 60th birthday last Saturday.

Cleo was a sweet cat and it will be weird not to have her around as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year.