A Funeral At Punchbowl Cemetery Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I will officiate at a brief inurnment service for a member of my congregation. The service will take place at Punchbowl cemetery in Honolulu. The official name for the Punchbowl site is, "The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific." It is always an honor for a airman, seaman, soldier or Marine to be buried there.

Joe Hazard died last Saturday at the age of 83. He had been bedridden and confined to his home with Parkinson's Disease for over 7 years, personally cared for by his loving and devoted wife, Karen.


Joe served in the U.S. Navy for over 32 years, a span of time covering World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. He worked in the area of aviation maintenance. As a licensed pilot himself, he would never release a plane back into service unless he knew he would be comfortable flying it himself.

In his younger days he had been a Navy boxing champion and weight lifter.

He retired at the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, the highest non-commissioned rank in the Navy.

When I first met Joe, he was already showing the first signs of Parkinson's. His one hand, in particular, shook uncontrollably....unless he was driving his car...when the shaking would stop as he clutched the steering wheel!

As his health declined I visited Joe and Karen at home each month and served the Sacrament of Communion to them both. Although baptized as a child, Joe had only attended Navy chapels as an adult, both before and after his retirement. Consequently, he had never had an opportunity to "join a church" or to publicly make a personal confession of faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

After many conversations and much prayer, Joe, now confined at home to his bed, made his confession of faith in my presence. His health did not permit other visitors to come into his home at that time. Soon after, Karen did not even allow me to visit as it made him too anxious and upset.

In any case, I reported Joe's confession of faith and desire to be received into the membership of our church to the church Session. They voted to receive him into membership on my recommendation alone, without meeting with Joe or hearing his confession shared publicly. This is the only time in my 26 years of ordained ministry that this has happened.

After receiving news that he had died last Saturday, I drove over to the house. He had passed away less than an hour before I arrived. It had been 5 or 6 years since I had last seen Joe. Karen, on the other hand, had, in the beginning, been able to attend worship on occasional Sundays. Eventually, however, she was unable to leave Joe for even that one hour each week.

At the house I prayed for Joe and Karen as I trusted his soul "to the care and mercy of almighty God." Because of his earnest and sincere affirmation of faith seven years ago, I was able to add those glorious words, "In the sure and certain hope for resurrection to eternal life."

Tomorrow I will share these words at his service. There will be full military honors as well, with the presentation of the American Flag to his wife, Karen.

Karen, born and raised in Japan and living through World War II as a child, has her own amazing story to tell. I hope to post it here soon.

.