Geri Kleinkopf - 8/27/24

We gather today to mourn the death of Geri Kleinkopf, but at the same time, we also want to celebrate her life. Geri was full of life, a vibrant person who touched most everyone she met. While we ache because of our loss, today we cling to the hope of the gospel. Jesus, when speaking to his disciples said this,

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4, NLT)

Jesus was reminding His disciples that the end of life on earth is not the end of the story. He holds out the same hope to us—that there is a way to live, even though we die. Jesus explained what that way was just a couple verses later.

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, NLT)

Jesus said that He alone was the way for us to live even though we die. Jesus demonstrated His power over death when He rose from the grave. He showed that He alone has the power to bring eternal life to those who have died. It is that hope to which we cling today. Will you pray with me?

Our Heavenly Father, our hearts ache today as we mourn Geri’s death. We weren’t ready for her time on this earth to come to an end. It seemed like we should have had so much more time with her. But today, we ask for your help as we grieve. Help us to celebrate her life and the impact she made on each of us and grant us comfort and hope as we grieve. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Geri Kleinkopf was someone who helped to bring out the best in others. The consistent thing I have heard about her is how she seemed to genuinely care for everyone she met. She seemed to actually listen to you when you talked, and she was the kind of person who made note of when you mentioned something you liked or that was important to you. She was a gift-giver by nature, and it was not uncommon for her to unexpectedly produce a gift that was based on something you had mentioned in a previous conversation. She was always looking for ways to help people to feel seen and to know they were loved.

Kevin’s girls all told stories of ways that Geri had made them feel loved. She took an interest in the things they did. She was their greatest cheerleader, and was often the person who seemed to “get” them before anyone else did. When she learned that Beau was a “Brony”, she was excited to be a part of that fandom. She, Kevin, and Beau all headed up to a Brony convention, where she came home with her own Prince Pony.

AJ loved how Geri championed her art, and seemed to understand it in a way others didn’t always get right away. Cindy loved that Geri seemed to get her love of roller derby and loved hearing her stories and celebrating her victories.

The dogs were recipients of her love as well. I’m told that when she first moved in with Kevin, she quickly made friends with his dog, Bailey. It wasn’t long until Bailey seemed to view Geri as the favorite, and it was no surprise that Bailey’s figure began to change a little bit as well…becoming quite a bit…girthier as time went on. When they got Daisy, she continued to love on her and show her she was special.

Though Geri was a self-described Grinch, and Christmas was not her favorite holiday, she was always excited to get personal gifts for each member of the family. Every person in the family also got their own personalized stocking which was filled to the brim with gifts selected especially for them.

Geri’s gift-giving was not just limited to family, however. Becky talked about the fact that when the two of them worked together, they were constantly giving each other little gifts to show they were thinking of each other. They were often not anything expensive or flashy, but simple ways of remaining connected. I know Geri loved getting Becky things with chickens on them, and once Becky became a grandma, Geri seemed to always be finding cute “Nana” cups to give her. Many of Geri’s co-workers confessed that the reason they stayed so long in their jobs was because they didn’t want to leave her. She was a hard worker, but also made sure work was a place where the people around her knew they were loved.

Somewhat paradoxically, this woman who loved to dote on others had a somewhat surprising favorite holiday. She loved Halloween. I’m told that as soon as August 1sthit, it was officially Halloween season, and she would begin decorating everything for fall. Even now, the house is decked out with all sorts of fall decorations. She loved skeletons and would often remark to Kevin how cool it was when they would drive past a house that had one of those 12-foot tall skeletons in the front yard. Her hope was that one day she’d be able to convince him to put one in their yard!

Unsurprisingly, Geri was always popular. She loved people, and as a result, she became friends with just about everyone. Even back in school, she connected with most everyone. And when old school friends were in town, Geri was sure to set up a time when she and Becky could meet them for dinner.

Kevin and Geri were Jr. High sweethearts. She said Kevin used to leave notes in her locker. They never went on dates (because they were in Jr. High), but they were officially “an item.” When Kevin broke up with her, she was heartbroken. Later, she said she didn’t really understand why that was the case, as it was a Jr. High romance, but when she and Kevin finally were able to reconnect (roughly 40 years later), they realized that they’d gotten it right in Jr. High.

Kevin and Geri brought out the best in one another. The girls said they saw their dad come alive again after Geri came into his life. They were grateful for the way she helped to heal his heart. They hadn’t built the house together, but they made it a home together, and the family all felt welcome there. And Geri felt safe and secure with Kevin. She knew she was loved and treasured.

For someone who was so good at seeing the treasure in others, Geri often failed to see the same thing in herself. She loved to dress up, with nice jewelry and handbags, but still often struggled to think that she was anyone special. While she thought nothing of making others feel loved, she seemed shocked when anyone would go out of their way to do the same for her. Sonya once crocheted some pumpkins and gave them to Geri, and the gesture moved her to tears. She didn’t seem to understand what a treasure she was to those around her.

With that said, she also had an ornery streak. While she was quick to give gifts, she was also quick to give you a hard time. While she loved Kevin’s girls, she was not shy about saying that she was glad she’d raised boys, as raising the girls might have killed her. She often teased Kevin that because she watched so many true crime shows he had better not cross her, because she knew how to cover up a murder. While she appreciated the technology Kevin had in the house, most of it baffled her. She usually needed help from someone to change the TV or the lights. But one night, she used the technology to her advantage when Kevin went to bed early. He kept turning on his ceiling fan, only to discover that it would stop a short time later. After a couple of rounds of turning it back on, he got out of bed and got up to try to figure out the problem. It was about this time Geri burst into the room laughing because she had been turning it off from the other room just to mess with him!

Geri was the ultimate online detective. All of the family seemed amazed when she seemed to know about things in their lives before she told them. It was because she had sleuthed out the information on Facebook already. She could find most anything online if you gave her enough time. Sonya once found a boutique bathing suit she wanted, only to discover when she got to the store it was already sold. Geri, working only from a single picture and no other information, managed to find the exact bathing suit in stock somewhere else and in the right size. The family agreed that the FBI could likely have used someone like her.

Geri faced her share of hardship in her life. I think part of the reason she didn’t like Christmas was because it reminded her of the family life she didn’t have. She was always grateful for the chance to celebrate with family, but knew that it would never be what she would have liked it to be. But, to her credit, Geri did not seem to hold a grudge. She loved people too much to hold on to past hurts. She understood that sometimes people have bad days, or even bad years, and was always ready to welcome restoration with open arms.

I suspect that Geri’s struggles in life helped to make her soft toward others. AJ described Geri as being like a hand-woven blanket. Anything handmade has things that maybe aren’t perfect, but rather than detracting from its value, those things help you to see the love that went into making it. Geri’s life was a tapestry that when woven together made her like a blanket you could wrap up in and feel surrounded by her love.

The challenge, when we face the death of someone like that is to wonder why any of this happened. Sometimes people find themselves questioning whether God can be real when He allows people like Geri to be taken earlier than we expected.

But I would remind you that God sees things that we cannot. And His perspective is different from ours. We have a tendency to see things only from our point of view. We only see the way things affect us. He sees it all. I don’t have an answer to why things happened the way they did, but I do know that God is still in control.

And that is part of the hope I would offer to you today. The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the early Christians,

13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, NLT)

Paul was not saying that believers shouldn’t grieve the death of those they love. But he was saying that believers do not grieve like people who have no hope. The Bible promises that for those who have placed their trust in Jesus to forgive them of their sins and who follow Him with their lives, their eternal destiny is assured. When their life on this earth ends, they will be ushered into the presence of God.

I hope and believe that Geri had that kind of faith. If so, then today she is experiencing a life greater than she could possibly imagine. Today she has been delivered from the pain and heartache of this life and is in the presence of her Lord. Today, we grieve, but our grief is not for her, it is for us. She has lost nothing and gained everything. It is our loss for which we grieve.

But even there, the Apostle Paul reminds us that there is hope as well. He holds out to us the hope of our own resurrection, and points to the fact that one day we can be reunited with Geri in heaven. But remember what Jesus said—there is only one way to the Father, and that is through Him.

Today, I hold this hope out to you. I pray that you can be confident of Geri’s eternal destination, but even more than that, I pray you can be confident of your own. When you stand in a cemetery, the questions of faith cease to be merely theoretical. At a cemetery, burying someone you love, those questions are immensely practical. My hope today is that you will deal with the questions of faith for yourself—do not put them off any longer. If we have learned anything from Geri’s death, we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. So don’t put off the things that matter.

My hope is that you will find comfort in Jesus today. Jesus also is like a hand-woven blanket. As we look at Him, we can see His love for us. We may not understand everything that happens, but one thing we can be sure of is His love and care for you and me. So I hope you’ll find comfort in Him—and that even though you grieve, you will grieve with the hope that Jesus alone can give.

As we conclude today, I’d like to draw just a few lessons from Geri’s life that we should take with us into our own.

1. You can have a profound impact on those around you by simply seeing them. Often, it’s not the big, grand gestures that make the most impact, it’s the simple ones that help people feel seen.

2. You don’t have to be blood-related in order to be family.

3. Just because something isn’t your cup of tea (like Christmas), it doesn’t mean you have to ruin it for everyone else. You can view it as an opportunity to help others feel loved.

4. Everything is better when it’s purple or Halloween-themed.

5. Joy can be found in the simple things of life, if you’ll just take time to look for it.

6. Sometimes heartbreak is not the end of the story—but it might take another 40 years to where it leads.

7. True crime shows are not only entertaining, but also educational…and maybe the key to a healthy marriage!

8. There is lots of music that can minister to you in different ways. Sometimes Prince is what you need, and other times you need Jason Gray.

9. When no one else seems to understand you, God does. And He loved you so much that He made a way for you to be forgiven. So take Him up on His offer. If you will, you can face anything, even death with confidence.

Will you pray with me?

Our Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for the privilege of getting to know Geri Kleinkopf. As we think about the treasure she was to each of us, we are grateful you gave us the opportunity to know her. But Lord, that gratitude at knowing her is also tempered by the grief of loss we feel right now. So Lord, I pray that you would grant comfort and strength to these family and friends today. Help them to know the peace and hope that is found only in you. Surround them with your love and comfort, like a warm blanket. For we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.