On October 15th, my beloved mother-in-law, Leona Hinze, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She has now passed.

She
was a courageous woman to the very end, and one who experienced many
changes in her ninety-one years.  For 68 of those years, she played the
organ for her church, St. John’s Lutheran.  In my 34 years with her,
she often said when she reached playing for a hundred weddings, she was
going to retire, but then someone would ask her to play for their
wedding and she always did.  At the time of her death, she had played
127 weddings and over 300 funerals. 

Music
was her ministry and her passion, and I, along with many others, were
privileged to hear her express her heartfelt passion often and for a
long time.

Once,
when I thought I was dying, I told her I had been blessed.  I’d had a
life of being well loved and of loving well.  In real life, that’s
about the best it gets.  A few days before her death, she told me that
she’d thought about loving and being loved and she’d been blessed with
a wonderful life.  Now and forever all of us treasure those words from
her and we’re comforted by them.

In
lieu of flowers, the family has requested contributions to the Leona
Hinze Memorial Fund at St. John’s Lutheran Church.   The address is
3316 Hummingbird Lane at Hwy 77, Robstown, Tx 78380.  This memorial
fund is dedicated to a new organ for the church.

Blessings,

Vicki