Glen Boyd – August 21, 2023

We are here today to celebrate the 100 years of life that Glen Boyd lived. Every one of us knew he was (and has been) ready to go home to the Lord for a while now. As his birthday neared, he hung on to reach that milestone of 100. When he reached it, we all knew it wouldn’t be long till the Lord took him home. It was one week later.

Today we are comforted by some great texts of Scripture,

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul writes,

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Glen’s worn out body has been replaced with a spiritual body more wonderful than our minds can imagine.

In 2 Timothy 4 we read these words,

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

And finally there are these wonderful words of Jesus,

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14)

Just a week and a day ago I asked Glen, “So, when you get to Heaven who do you think you will see first? Jesus or Esther. His answer was thoughtful: “Jesus”. And in that moment, I am sure Glen realized that all the good things in his life were not to be compared with the embrace of the Savior and the glory that is ahead.

Let’s pray together,

Our Father we thank you that You are the God who comforts us and gives us the assurance of life beyond the grave. We also thank you for the people that come along in our life that help us see what it means to live life faithfully. As we reflect on one of those lives today help us to remember accurately and affectionately. Then help us to remember your promises and spur us on in our faithfulness. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Glen was born August 10, 1923, at home near Lacrosse, Illinois the son of Walter and Olive (Wade) Boyd. He graduated from La Harpe High School in 1941.

I knew Glen was in the Navy, but I didn’t know much more than that. I also knew that he was almost always on the honor guard for military funerals. He served for as long as he could. It was a year or so ago that I came to visit. We talked about Glen’s service in the Navy. He even sent me home with a book about his time of service.

I learned he was on the USS Weaver DE-741 it was a Cannon-class destroyer escort. From what I read when at full force it had 15 Officers and 201 Enlisted men. It was 306 feet long. Glen was a mechanical engineer and then also worked in water purification. Their task was to be a screen of protection for the 5th fleet replenishment and refueling group.

In March of 1945 the USS Weaver helped keep pressure on Japan during the Iwo Jima assaults during the Okinawa campaign. However, Glen said he was most scared during the way on December 18, 1944 when they faced “the Mother of all Typhoons” on the way to the Philippines. That Typhoon had winds of 120 knots (around 138 miles per hour) and there were 80 foot waves! The ship tossed and turned and more than once they thought it would capsize.

At one point in the war, they were tasked to accompany a damaged oiler. They were set free from that duty after three other destroyers were sunk taking 900 men with them to their death. I think Glen never forgot how fortunate he was to come home. I suspect he served in the honor guard for so many years as a way of remembering all those soldiers who died.

Glen came home from the war had a few jobs and then came back to La Harpe. On January 5, 1947 he married Esther I. Miller in Macomb. They met on a boat trip in June of 1946 that was followed by a dance. Glen noticed Esther, they danced, and they were married in a double ceremony with the Bice’s on January 5, 1947 in Macomb, IL.

It’s a familiar story but needs to be told again. They wanted to be married on January 1st but the blood test results (which were required back then) were delayed and they had to wait a few days. There was a snowstorm the night before their wedding and Glen ended up stuck trying to get out of LaCrosse. He secured a tractor to pull him out and he “made it to the church” (Macomb Christian Church) “on time.” The marriage seemed to have worked. Glen and Esther were married for over 71 years. They went on a Caribbean Cruise for the 50th anniversary. Esther always said she was as in love with Glen at the end of her life as she was when she first fell in love with him.

They were a good pair. Glen was content with being quiet. Esther liked to talk. When they would go down to Florida it was almost like Glen had a different personality. He was much more conversant in Florida. Glen loved Florida and Esther endured it. Jordan said “Grandpa came alive with shuffleboard.”

Glen farmed and was a rural mail carrier for over 30 years. In raising the kids Glen had “the look.” When the kids saw “the look” they shaped up fast because they knew there would be significant consequences if they did not.

Glen was known to be “frugal.” Anytime there was a big expense he would say, “If I spend that, it might just break me.” Yet, when Esther wanted an $800.00 Kirby vacuum cleaner, he wrote out a check without a word. He also had no trouble spending money to buy his plane and his motorcycle.

Speaking of motorcycles, when Jordan turned 16 Glen let him ride his motorcycle around. It was their secret until after Glen died. He loved flying and he and Esther did a lot of breakfast fly-ins in various locations. Esther flew only because Glen asked her to. She said “she was much happier with her feet on Terra Firma.”

You may not know this but Glen was a climber. He also was always fixing or repairing something. Once he was up in a tree trimming it up. His ladder fell over his grandsons saw him still hanging by one arm and sawing with the other.

Grandsons Michael and Jeff lived, right around the corner down the gravel road from Grandma and Grandpa's house for their entire childhood, they found ourselves there quite often. It was a quick bike ride away.

Michael wrote about these visits,

I recall the day that Grandma revealed that Grandpa Glen had saved two pocket knives in a special location. He'd saved one for me and one for my brother, Jeff. After that first reveal, I was absolutely enamored with that little jewel. Grandma let me know that Grandpa was saving it for when we were mature enough to own a pocket knife. I can't remember ever speaking to Grandpa directly about it, but I do remember always working so hard to act as mature as possible around him in the hopes that he'd decide that day was the day I deserved that pocket knife. Even on the day he handed it to me, there were very few words, but it was that gift and what it symbolized that meant more than words.

Another treasure at the farm house was Grandpa's CB Radio. It rested on a shelf right next to the recliner where he sat. It was in his space, but if he got up even for a minute, I would jump into his chair so that I could turn the CB on and listen to the random chatter coming through the speaker. I can only imagine how much he wanted to kick me out of his favorite chair, but he always let me stay there and flip through the channels hoping to hear something more exciting than what we actually heard.

As I grew older and felt like my daily adventures needed to expand beyond the farm at Lacrosse, I began seeking ways to get into town and visit the LaHarpe Swimming Pool. This was before I had a license to drive, so it was a real joy when I realized how regimented Grandpa's trips to town were. On a daily basis, he'd make the trip from the farm to town for a few games of pool. If I was at his place when the red Escort pulled out of the garage, I could catch a ride. And if I was ready to jump in when he was on his way home, I could catch the reliable ride back home as well. LaHarpe's Swimming Pool was a formative place for me during my adolescence, and I made that connection because Grandpa was willing to let me tag along.

As I write this reflection now, I suspect that he would have much preferred to drive his blue Honda motorcycle into town on those summer days; it was probably a sacrifice for him to drag a kid along in the car instead. After I got my license, Grandpa offered to sell me that red Escort as long as I could come up with the money to buy it. After selling a pretty robust collection of Mad Magazines and X-Men comics, I brought him what I thought at the time was a king's ransom for that car. In retrospect, he gave me a pretty good deal, and I used that car to make the commute to my first job as a lifeguard at the pool.

I won't be the only person who knew Grandpa Glen to refer to him as a bit stoic and rather quiet. I always wondered what he was thinking. Especially when I learned that Grandpa was a Master Mason. This was a mystery, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. No matter how many questions I asked or how I asked them, Grandpa kept his secrets but always reminded me that I could learn them on my own if I became a Mason as well. I did. In doing so, I feel like I grew to understand him to a much greater extent, and the way he shook my hand after that let me know that he felt the same about me.

Glen didn’t hear very well in the later years of his life . . . we think! He was driving in the noisy grain truck with Max and Blaze and the windows were open. Surprisingly Glen heard everything Max said over the din of the truck. When they got home Max suggested to Blaze that it was possible Grandpa was sandbagging and actually had selective hearing.

Glen loved to play cards. He was quiet but deadly. When he played, he was serious about playing. It didn’t matter whether it was Euchre, Spades, Pitch or anything else. Brittany said Grandpa had a “tell” when he had a real good hand you could see a smirk on his face.

Glen liked to watch Westerns and shows about the wild west. He also liked to read westerns. He was determined to mow his lawn until he just couldn’t do it anymore.

He enjoyed going out to eat after church on Sundays with Jerald and Clara Jean. He had a close relationship with all his siblings.

He had 5 heart bypasses many years ago. I must say they did a really good job fixing his heart. Many of us thought Glen would not last long after Esther died in 2018 but Glen decided he still had more to do and made the decision to continue to live while he was alive.

Glen would try to fix anything. Sometimes it wasn’t fixed the “right” way, but it worked. He was a proud participant in the 2011 Honor Flight to Washington. He was a proud member of the American Legion, the Masonic Lodge and the Macomb VFW. He was also an active member of the Union Church in La Harpe.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to know him for over 40 years. Glen was the chairman (I believe) of the Pulpit Search Committee that interviewed and hired me. I assume he liked me because I was hired. I do remember one conversation from that interview. The church was going to pay me $12,000 for the year. I asked if some of that money could be set aside as a book allowance because they would save me on taxes. Glen asked, “You want us to give you money so you can buy books?” I said, “Yes.” He asked, “Do we get to keep the books when you leave?” I said “No.” He wondered why they would do such a thing. I told him, “If I am not reading I don’t have anything fresh to bring to the pulpit each week.” He thought that was a good answer and supported the book allowance.

When I first arrived, Glen was the treasurer of the church. I got paid on the 15th and the 30th ($500). Glen wrote the checks and sometimes gave them to me a day or two early or a day or two late. Early was fine but late made it a real challenge to buy groceries. I would call him up and he’d bring the check right over.

I went out to visit him one day. He told me he flew and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I said, “I’d love to.” As we taxied down the pasture and then got ready for takeoff I remember thinking, “I sure hope we are going to make it over those trees fast approaching us. We did. My wife was not happy that I went up in the plane while she was pregnant with Rick.

Glen always listened carefully in church . . . right up to the end. He wasn’t afraid to ask questions and I loved how he interacted with the text. But what I loved even more was when I was able to crack him up. He had a wonderful laugh.

One of the questions that really bothered Glen was a passage where Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven. That bothered Glen. I think one of the things that kept him going was the thought of seeing Esther again. I tried to explain to Glen that Jesus was not taking anything from us. He was saying that every relationship in Heaven will be better than any marriage could be. God wasn’t saying we wouldn’t know each other, He was saying there would be no reason to look for intimacy with just one person . . . and there would be no need to have more children. We talked about it a couple of times . . . I think he understood (or he gave up).

The last few months when he was still able to come to church he frequently said, “I don’t know why I am still here, I serve no purpose.” I always said the same thing, “Glen, every time you come into this sanctuary you remind people of what Christian commitment really is.” I told him that he inspired me and many others. He couldn’t grasp that. He was a humble man and found it hard to believe others looked up to him at a time when he felt so helpless.

He loved and supported his children. A week ago, I asked if he was amazed to look around the room on his birthday and see all those people that were there because of his relationship with Esther. He said he had been extremely blessed. I have a hard time believing Glen ever resented spending time with his grandchildren.

What a gift it was to have Lana next door. The kids worked hard to keep dad in his home. That’s where he wanted to die. They made that possible. Lana had always wanted to learn things with her dad when she was young but he never had the time to teach her. In the last few years Lana has learned many of these things. Glen was flabbergasted she did not already know them.

Glen Boyd was a man who had a way of making his family feel loved and cherished. He didn’t say much, but when he did say something, it was usually worth listening to. He was deeply appreciative of the gift and time his kids and grandkids gave to him which allowed him to stay in his home. It is a gift more appreciated than words could ever have conveyed.

He was an amazingly faithful man. He continued to come to church (and Sunday School) until around a year ago. It bothered him to not be able to be in his church. In those last visits it was my great honor to give him my arm so he could get into the Sunday School class from the elevator. Though he was much older than me, I considered him a friend. He always showed me respect and I always respected him. I suspect most of us here could say the same thing. Glen Boyd was a good man who served his country, his Lord, and his family faithfully. I doubt he had any concept of how much he impacted our lives just by being who he was. We thank God for him.

JESUS DRAW ME EVER NEARER

It’s not easy to get old. You lose your mobility, you battle various maladies, and you feel like you have lost some of your purpose. However, for the person who trusts in Christ these times are the “last leg of the race.” It is our time to fight through the pain and discomfort and kick to finish well. Glen Boyd did that. In 2 Corinthians 4 the apostle Paul wrote,

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies

This seemed like the perfect passage to describe Glen. He went to war and saw things I am sure he never talked about. He survived a terrifying typhoon, He had five by passes, nursed Esther for a number of years, and he dealt with his own decline in health but kept going. He kept being faithful through it all.

Glen Boyd honored his Lord to the end of his life. He knew where his faith was. Even when I came to a meeting with the pulpit committee for the first time in late November of 1981. I was impressed that this committee had a clear view of what they believed. They didn’t want someone who would tell them what they wanted to hear . . . they wanted a Pastor who would teach them from the Bible.

Over the years, Glen was a good student. He understood that we are all sinful people. He understood that the whole purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to give His life as a payment for sin. He knew that we are not saved because we are good, we are saved because of what God has done for us in Christ. I believe he understood the words from Philippians, “For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.” He believed firmly that Jesus rose from the dead, proving he was indeed the Son of God, and the only person worth following.

Glen had a sharp moral compass. He knew what was right and what was wrong. He was not a man given to compromise on those things. He sought to live his life in a way that honored the Lord. And at the same time, he gave others room to grow. He never tried to push his faith on anyone else. He didn’t dismiss people simply because they did not agree with him.

Over the years in the church many things changed, and Glen changed with them. He didn’t think we needed pew cushions, but he supported the majority. He didn’t know how we would pay for air conditioning, or a sound system, or video projection, and an addition to the church. He was, however, completely in favor of purchasing the former Methodist Church. Glen was nervous about the financing but he eventually supported (and I think enjoyed) all these things. He sang the contemporary hymns and songs, in fact we are playing three of those today. He was willing to let God work in his life and in the lives of those around him. I hope Glen looked at the growth of the church with pride. Pride that his church was strong. And selfishly, I hope he was proud he took a chance and voted to hire a young Pastor from Chicago, who has stayed for over 40 years.

Glen was not intimidated by anything. He learned to use a computer and his cell phone. He sent emails and even got on Facebook.

We live in a world that that seems to think it is all about “the show.” It is all about appearances. And sadly that goes for church as well as everyday life. Glen knew it was actually all about the heart. The “show” was so much less important than the truth of God’s Word. Sure, there were times Glen may have fallen asleep or his hearing aide whistled but Glen was always there in His seat ready to worship and ready to learn more about his Lord.

Glen served wherever he could for as long as he could. He tried to live out his faith by doing right by others and living a life that would not embarrass those around him. He served his country, his family, and his church. Never once do I think he ever believed he deserved Heaven. But he knew that is where he was going.

As the years of his life lengthened, he had a lot more questions about Heaven. Perhaps that is the way it should be. The trials and the struggles of life are the way God weans our hearts from this world and creates an appetite for the next.

At the end of the passage in 2 Corinthians 4 Paul continued his reflection on the trials of life,

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

I believe Glen was greeted by Jesus on Thursday morning and I cannot even begin to imagine how wonderful that would be. I can hear the Lord saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” And I can almost see the look of surprise on Glen’s face because he never thought of himself as anything particularly special. And I imagine the Lord smiling at him and saying, “This, is why I love you. Let me show the place I have for you. There are a bunch people waiting to welcome you home.” And I hope somewhere along the line I hope the Lord reveals how much we loved him as well.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

I want to wrap up by giving some life lessons I think we can learn from Glen’s life.

1. Anyone who faithfully serves their country in a war should be considered a hero. And it would be good if we appreciated those who serve a little more than we do.

2. Life is not easy . . . it wasn’t supposed to be. Sometimes you have to simply hang on with one hand while you keep working with the other (but hopefully, not in a tree).

3. If you find that special someone in your life, don’t neglect them. Don’t let the other things of life put distance between you. Instead love them with all you have, all the time. Live now so you will have no regrets then.

4. Being disciplined in your Christian walk and regular church attendance will help lead you through this mine field we call life to a place that comes after we die that is beyond what our imaginations can even begin to conceive. Regular worship is a good first step for everyone.

5. You can be frugal and generous at the same time if you do so with wisdom.

6. Flying your own plane gives you a quiet and freedom others will never know.

7. God is not afraid of honest questions as long as you are open to His honest answers.

8. Change isn’t always easy but sometimes change does bring blessing.

9. Encourage other people to have a good time playing cards . . . while they are having fun you can usually beat their pants off.

10. It is no use paying someone to fix something until you have found out whether you can figure it out yourself.

11. As we get older we can’t do what we used to do, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have purpose. We need to find what we CAN do, and do it as well as we can.

12. Finally, if you get the chance to experience a typhoon . . . don’t!

Let’s pray together.

Our Father we are grateful for Jesus. His death and resurrection open a door of hope for those willing to enter. The assurance of eternal life is our comfort today.

Thank you for Glen Boyd. Thank you for his smile, his laugh, his warmth and his faithfulness. Thank you for his example that now is held out before us.

Thank you for this family and the love they share with one another. Help them as they support each other.

I ask that you enrich us with wonderful memories and lead us to an ever-deepening faith and trust in you. And I ask it all in the name of Jesus. Amen.