A REAL CLOSE FAMILY SERVANT

Through the years, it has been my good fortune to cross paths with serving leaders who serve in various categories. One of the very best family serving leaders has been Sue's father, Hal Herweck, Sr. Sue and I were both divorced and came into each other's lives in 1976. From 1976 to July 4, 1979, we dated and sang together in the gospel group, "One Accord." Sue and I were married on that July date and blended our families together. She had two daughters, Jamie and Holly. Rick, my son, and I moved to St. Charles when he was four years old. Putting the two families together was special for each of us and was made easier than most situations such as this because each member of the family wanted the blending to take place.

Anyone who is or has been married knows that getting married not only includes the bride and groom (and in our case children), but in-laws also. Enter Hal Herweck, Sr. Hal is a great role model for everyone in our family. If you want to know how to treat your wife. look in Hal's direction. LaVerne, his wife, was, is, and always will be "The Queen." He lovingly and forcefully modeled how his children should treat their mother. If one of his children talked back to "The Queen," he would say the following: "Who do you think you are talking to?" "Would you like to pick your teeth from my fist?" He always opened the car or house door for his bride. He did so many things to make life as easy as possible for "The Queen" and his children.

When Rick and I entered the picture, he treated us as a son and a grandson immediately. We simply were part of the family. How often he and "The Queen" would take the grandchildren to their modest lake home. There, they would raise the American Flag with their granddad. Hal would take them fishing and they loved that.

Hal and "The Queen" loved to come to One Accord concerts. It was not unusual to find them traveling a great distance to hear us sing and more importantly be with a part of the family. Many times they expressed how much fun it was for them to be so heavily involved. When One Accord needed financial assistance, there they were.

My mother passed away 15 years ago Christmas eve. There at that difficult time in my life were Hal and "The Queen" giving their support. Five years later, my father passed away and they were there again. In time of need, they were incredibly present.

Now, to see Hal in the last days of his life having little recall of the many great times he enjoyed and made possible, is difficult to experience. However, he still knows who his is Savior and most of the time remembers the names of most of his family. He can't express himself like he once did, but you can still see the marks of Christ all over him. Would it not be a good thing to be able to see those marks on all of us?