As many of you already know, three weeks ago Elena's father passed away. It was not at all expected. He seemed to be doing well, and spent his last day driving Elena around on errands while I was at work. In the evening, several of his children came by for a visit with their families. After they all left, we wished each other a good night, and went to bed. He slipped away in the early hours so peacefully that his wife of 52 years was not awakened.
He is of course dearly missed by his wife and many children and grandchildren as well as those in the church and community who knew him. In the inital shock and grief, I wanted to write about it; to write about him in a way which would be a tribute to him. But after a few days I began to wonder what I could possibly write which would do justice to his life's story, or to give those of you who never had the priviledge of knowing him an appreciation of what he was like. So instead of one very long post, I've decided to write several smaller ones. Maybe not in close succession, but periodically as things come to mind or old photos are discovered I will try to give you insights into the man we called 'Tata'.
For now, here is my translation of the overview of his life which was read at his funeral:
At 24 he married Ana Rehorek, and God blessed their marriage with 14 children: seven boys and seven girls; such is the true promise spoken in the Word of God: "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Finding his Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ in his early years, that is, 1961, it followed that he was baptized and welcomed into the church. There he gave himself with body and soul into the service of God. He was called into the ministry, and later to be a deacon, a capacity in which he served until the end of his life.
In the years 1989/1990 when the opportunity to leave Eastern Europe arose, four of his children left for Germany and began a new life. In 1992 he also left with his wife and six children, finding in Balingen his second homeland. Other children who had already married followed in the same year. The oldest son and his family remained behind in Romania.
In Germany he drew his pension, and for a long time continued to work for nominal wages in order to keep busy and supplement his income.
He fought the good fight, and yet he was not spared from enduring several blows. In the year 2000 his oldest grandson Robert passed away at only 18 years of age due to leukemia, and at the close of 2002 his oldest son Cornel was killed in a tragic car accident. All of his siblings preceded him in death.
In 2003 he suffered a heart attack, but was saved thanks to the able response of a medic from the neighbourhood. A difficult heart operation followed, yet he was able to recover almost entirely and lead a normal private and public life.
As he was not bed-ridden, his death came as a complete surprise to us all. The previous evening he was even visited by some of his children. He fell asleep peacefully in the night on the third of January 2012, insomuch that not even his wife was able to notice that he had gone on to live in the eternal homeland.
