Memorial Message for Richard Woll

Richard Woll—many of you knew him as Dad, Uncle, Friend, mentor, and, to Grandma, as her loving husband. To me, and to many others, we knew him simply as Grandpa. My name is Jacob Woll. I serve as a pastor at Trinity Church in Livermore, and I’m also the grandson of Richard Woll and the son of Roy Woll.

In today’s message, I want to share three things that I know Grandpa loved. It’s always hard speaking at funerals, especially when we don’t know if someone loved the Lord—because that leaves us with uncertainty and sorrow. But today we don’t carry that same weight of wondering. One of the things we know with confidence is that Grandpa loved the Lord Jesus. That doesn’t take away the grief we feel—because grief is right, and even Jesus wept at the tomb of His friend—but it does mean this is more than a time of mourning. It’s also a celebration. We can rejoice that Grandpa is with the Savior he trusted, and that his hope has now become sight.

Grandpa Loved Music

Grandpa as you all know, loved music and his life was filled with music. Singing in Choirs, playing the clarinet on Sunday Services, accompanying on the piano for hymns or songs or simply playing music at his house.

Growing up, my common connection with Grandpa was music. I always loved going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Livermore and playing on the grand piano. Usually it was some simple song, and Grandpa would almost always tell me to use the quiet pedal.

I feel like I grew closer to Grandpa when we began attending the same church together. Grandma and Grandpa were already at Trinity Church, but when I was about 13, our family started going there too. Much of my family sang in the choir at some point, and later on I had the privilege of leading the choir for a couple of years. Grandpa—and of course Grandma—were always encouraging. I know I made plenty of mistakes, but Grandpa would encourage me anyway, and he even accompanied a few songs on the piano. Music was special to Grandpa, and I can see how he passed that down to the whole Woll family.

Grandpa Loved Grandma

Another thing that always stood out to me was how deeply he loved his wife, Caroline—our Grandma. If there was one thing as clear as night and day, it was that Grandpa loved Grandma. Now, no marriage is perfect, and I’ve heard the stories of Grandma putting Grandpa in his place when needed—which, of course, is normal. Marriage takes work, and that is true love—a biblical love. It’s a love that chooses to serve, to forgive, and to persevere through the everyday challenges of life.

That’s why I think of 1 Corinthians 13:4–7:

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This is a passage I often read at weddings because it describes love in its truest, most biblical sense. Love is more than a feeling—it is sacrifice, patience, and servanthood.

And today, reading this verse at a memorial is even more powerful, because we got to see this kind of love lived out until the very end. Next month would have been 65 years of marriage for this beautiful couple—and that is no small accomplishment. Their marriage was a living testimony to the love of God, just as Paul writes in Ephesians 5:31–33:

Ephesians 5:31–33 ESV

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

It truly was a joy and an inspiration to see this kind of marriage on display. What a blessing for me, and for all of us, to witness and be part of this family.

And the love Grandpa had for Grandma points to something even greater—the source of all his love. and that is the third thing that I ‘ll share about what I knew G

Grandpa Loved the Lord

Grandpa would tell me almost every time I saw him that he prayed for me—almost every morning, if not every morning. And the crazy part is, I could tell he meant it. He said it with love and with a genuine heart. He knew that the Lord is truly sovereign over all things—that God would guide, lead, and answer in the way that is ultimately best and for His purposes.

His love for the Lord showed itself not only in his marriage, but also in his children, then in his grandchildren, and now in his great-grandchildren. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that what we have as a family is not normal. When I look around at other families, I can’t help but think how blessed we are. Grandpa’s love for God didn’t just transform his own life—it overflowed into the lives of generations. The gospel didn’t just change Grandpa’s life, it changed countless others through him.

That’s why I want to share the gospel with you today—because the gospel is what makes this service not only a memorial, but a celebration. And I know, without a doubt, that Grandpa would want the gospel to be shared here.

The gospel is the love of God displayed for humanity. Every one of us here has made mistakes, messed up, and—put plainly—sinned. Our sin separates us from a holy, perfect, and just God. And no matter how many good works we do, we can’t undo that. We’ve already sinned, and we deserve God’s judgment.

But there is One who can restore us—and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth through a virgin birth, fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect life and died as a ransom for all. But He did not stay dead—He rose again three days later. And that resurrection is what makes Christianity unlike any other religion. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The Bible tells us that if we believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and confess with our mouths that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. That is the hope Grandpa held on to, and it is the same hope offered to each of us today. Do you believe in this?

This is the good news—the gospel. It may sound offensive to some, but I can testify to what it has done in my life, and we can all testify to what it has done in Richard Woll’s life.

Closing

What’s beautiful about this truth is that for those who belong to Jesus, those who truly believe in Christ, death is not the end. Those who perish on this earth will be with Him forever in heaven—a place with no sin, no shame, no suffering. A place that is perfect and beautiful, the place I know Grandpa longed for. It’s the song that Ryan sang earlier about being homesick for Heaven

This is the promise of Jesus Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). That is the hope we cling to today.

And if Grandpa were here, I know he would want every single one of us to share in that hope. His life was shaped by the gospel, his marriage was shaped by the gospel, and his family was shaped by the gospel. And that same gospel—the good news of Jesus—is still offered to each of us today.

So as we remember Grandpa’s life, we don’t just celebrate his story, but the story of Christ at work in him. And the invitation before all of us is this: will you place your trust in Jesus, the same Savior that Grandpa trusted, so that this hope can also be yours?

Grandpa left us with many gifts—his love for music, his example of faithfulness in marriage, his steady encouragement, his prayers, and his deep love for his family. But the greatest gift he leaves behind is the testimony of a life rooted in Christ. That testimony points us beyond himself to the Savior who carried him, sustained him, and has now welcomed him home.

Today we grieve, but we grieve with hope. And we give thanks—for a life well lived, for a faith well kept, and for a Savior who is worthy of it all.