September 2013 Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church ... - Clover

August 4, 2013
Dear Members of Grace,
My family and I cannot thank you enough for opening your
hearts to us and sharing your love and support with us during
the time of visitation and funeral for my husband, our father and your pastor, John Zimmerman.
We send a big thank you to Pastor Will for setting things in motion for us to have the
funeral at Grace. We appreciate the time that it took to make the contacts needed for this to
happen. John would have been so honored to see how many former and present members of
Grace came together to celebrate his life. The choir was wonderful. Being in the choir was
one activity John often mentioned that he missed most after he retired. The hours spent by the
Kitchen Krew to provide lunch for everyone who attend the funeral was amazing. That was
a genuine labor of love which was felt by our family, relatives and friends. John always love
to have Linda Hoch play the organ over the years he served at Grace. Again, our family was
so appreciative that she could change her work schedule and plan one more time for him and
for us. Many thanks to Kathy Snead and the office staff for their work on the funeral bulletin.
Thanks to Dan Morrison for carrying the crucifix, Linda Fichtelman for manning the nursery
during the service, Paul Grant for handling the sound, and Eric Bush and Chris Banks for
video taping the service for us. Of course, we hive special thanks to Merlyn Seitz for officiating
the service. In his last days, John found his voice and was able to tell us what he wanted
for his funeral service including the hymns to be sung. We felt the service was a true celebration
of John’s life.
Many of you have sent monetary gifts to the Zimmerman Family Fund and for this we give
thanks. Let me share with you what this fund is all about. Many years ago, John established
a special checking account which he called his “slush fund.” He put all re-numerations he
received from weddings, funerals, baptisms and other sources into this account. They experienced
the joy and freedom of being able to give it all away. Whenever a need was presented
to him, he helped by giving money to that person in a very quiet way. Many times he just did
“random acts of kindness’ anonymously as the spirit moved him. We, his family, never knew
who the recipients were. His daughters and I could think of no better way to honor John and
his generous spirit that to do the same acts with the Zimmerman Family Fund. Already there
have been two recipients from this fund. Each of our daughters will also be given money
from this Fund to use for random acts of kindness in memory of their dad.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you.
Sincerely,
Candi, Tammy, Debbie and Becky Zimmerman.
Editors note: Pastor John Zimmerman served Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church as Senior
Pastor for 27 years. Grace members who were here at Grace during the time Pastor
John served, will always remember and cherish his quiet kindness, his heartfelt and inspiring
sermons, and his love of Christ and the Church. We thank God for the time and dedication
given to Grace by Pastor John.
The VOICE of Grace September 2013 - Page 8