Loring Bearce Memorial Service

In Loving Memory of Loring Edward Bearce
Sunrise: January 16, 1951 | Sunset: August 17, 2018
The Joy of Troy Seventh-day Adventist Church
Lansingburgh, New York
Saturday, November 10, 2018
2:00 P. M.

LORING EDWARD BEARCE
A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE AND HIS SAVIOR
Saturday, November 10, 2018
MUSICAL PRELUDE | 2:00 P.M.
Selections from “Praise Him!”
as performed by The National Christian Choir
MEMORIAL SERVICE | 2:30 P.M.
Prayer and Welcome
Elder Annette Barnes
Hymn of Comfort
Congregation Sings - Hymn #526
“Because He Lives”
Written by Bill and Gloria Gaither
Scripture Readings
Old Testament, Psalm 23
Kathlyn Mayer
New Testament, Titus 3:4-6
Stephen Mayer
Loring’s Testimony:
“No Greater Love”
Reflections from Family and Friends
Musical Selection
The National Christian Choir
“God So Loved The World”
Written by John Stainer and based upon John 3:16,17
changes since being a boy in Bolton Landing; but most of all, he was grateful for the
love from his enlarged family and the promise of eternity with Jesus.
On March 20, 2018, Loring woke up to discover that his legs didn’t work - they could
not support his weight. He could not walk or straighten them. Two days later he
began hospice at home. Family and friends continued to rally around Loring to love
and support him as he was transitioning into the final stages of his illness. Unable to
leave the hospital bed, everyone came to Loring. So much love was poured upon him
through home visits, care packages, phone calls, sing-a-longs, more prayers, vespers,
communion services, and bedside reminiscing.
Loring’s illness progressed rapidly during his last two months. Last days were spent
listening to the Choir’s music and to the tender, encouraging voices of his loved ones.
Life on earth was coming full circle. A poignant image of this could be seen through a
daughter who had climbed up into the hospital bed to draw near to her father. As she
put her arm around him and gently placed her head on his chest, she began to sing
softly to her father. Twenty-eight years ago, it was Loring who sang the lullaby,
“Away in a Manager.” Now it was Kathlyn’s turn to soothe and to sing.
On August 17, 2018, Loring went to sleep in Jesus and now is waiting the return of his
Friend and Savior. Reconciled with God, family, and friends, Loring is truly at peace.
He rejoiced to know that the next Voice he would hear, the next Face he would see
would belong to Jesus. And, once again, this child of God will sing to his Heavenly
Father, “No greater love. . . !”

terminal cerebral vascular disease that eats away at the brain. Its characteristics
include mixture of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and ALS. It progresses quickly leaving
its victims with an average life span of 5 to 7 years from diagnosis. After a couple of
days of contacting family and friends, Stephen and Kathlyn called to suggest that Dad
and Mom join them in New York whereby Stephen, Kathlyn, and Chris would care
for Loring. Kathlyn became the resident expert, researching as many aspects of the
Disease as she could. And so began the planning for Bearce’s R&R (retirement and
relocation.) Loring retired in October, 2016; Chris “followed suit” in June, 2017; and
July 16, 2017 was Move-In Day at the Mayers.
True to His promises to provide and abundantly bless, God began an incredible
project of love—The Tiny House. 2017 became the year of construction. Stephen
assumed the lead as builder and engineer; Kathlyn became food services manager,
providing lunches (and sometimes dinners) to the volunteer construction crews; Chris
continued as the fulltime primary caregiver for Loring; and God kept His word to
prosper, to give hope, and to meet the family’s needs in Christ Jesus. Enter the
Church. . . .
Stephen and Kathlyn were new members of the Joy of Troy Seventh Day Adventist
Church. From the moment that Loring’s diagnosis became known, the Church
started praying for him and the family. Family and Church members in Maryland,
Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Utah, and New York were praying. Prayer
Warriors were gathering on conference calls at 4:00 am to lift up Loring and his
family. As plans for The Tiny House were materializing, God moved on the hearts of
many: Family came to build; Friends came to build; Strangers became friends and
stayed to build. All came to fashion a beautiful home and, in so doing, became an
extension of God’s promise to a dying man and his family. Kathlyn dubbed the
home—the House that Love built! To Loring’s family, God had now add His Joy of
Troy family. As the hymn says, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God. . . .
Thursday, November 2, 2017, The Tiny House passed its final inspection. On Friday,
Kathlyn picked up the Occupancy Permit just hours before the town office closed. On
Sunday, November 5th, the Moving Truck arrived from Michigan and thus ended the
journey home. Of all of the places in this country, God returned Loring to his
childhood home. The Tiny House is about an hour from Bolton Landing and Lake
George. Loring talked about going home—literally and figuratively. The log cabin is
gone but The Tiny House lives on. His dad, his mother, and his brother passed away,
but the childhood stories remained. The beautiful Lake still inspired, but now Loring
also added the analogy of having received “living water” too. There were so many
Reflections
Elder William Moody
Musical Selection
The National Christian Choir
“The Lord’s Prayer”
Written by Walt Harrah and based upon Matthew 6:9-13
Reflections
Elder Reynaldo Baun
Musical Selection
The National Christian Choir
“Midnight Cry”
Written by J. Roddy Walston
Eulogy
Pastor Nathan Madrid
Closing Hymn
Congregation Sings - Hymn #86
“How Great Thou Art”
Written by Stuart Hines
Closing Prayer
Elder Rae Tunney
Recession and Dismissing by Rows
Postlude
The National
“We Shall Behold Him”
written by Dottie Rambo
The Bearce and Mayer family thank you for your prayers and
support. Many of you only knew Loring for a short time, but you
loved him as if he was a favored member of your family. For this, we
are grateful. One day we shall see him again in Heaven, and we shall
sing praises with him to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

LORING E. BEARCE
The Music Man: “I will declare Your Name to my brothers and
sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” Hebrews 2:12
Loring Edward Bearce was born on January 16, 1951, during a major snow storm.
His parents, Helen Frances and Charles Merton Bearce, and older brother Larry, had
moved from Maine to upstate New York after World War II. Home was a log cabin
built by his dad in the lakeside community of Bolton Landing on Lake George.
The earliest photo of Loring is not a baby picture. It is one of a little boy dressed in a
cowboy outfit with his six-shooter drawn, ready to fight the “outlaws.” As a kid,
playing “cowboys” was a favorite pastime. As such, it’s no surprise that one of his
(and his dad’s) favorite singers was Gene Autry, the “singing cowboy.” Loring loved
to sit on the backyard swing and sing “Back in the Saddle Again” and “You are My
Sunshine, My Only Sunshine.” Year round he sang Autry’s Christmas favorites about
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Frosty the snowman, and Santa Claus up on the
rooftop. And who was his favorite movie actor? Just ask any of his family or
caregivers - it was John Wayne.
Childhood brought its share of growing pains with all the ups and downs of a normal
small-town life. Loring loved his mother and brother; but, he idolized his dad. Just
about everything Loring did as a youth was influenced by or centered on his love for
his father and the time they spent with each other. Even as recent as his time in
hospice, Loring wanted everyone that visited him to know about his dad:
“My dad built our log cabin.”
“My dad built destroyers and submarines in World War II.”
“My dad built Highway 87 all the way to Canada.”
“My dad called the square dances at the Grange and taught mom to dance.”
“My dad taught me to yodel.”
“I use to help dad to plant the roses at our cabin. We loved the garden.”
“Dad took me next door to watch Lawrence Welk. We sure liked that show.”
“My Dad said that beagles are the best dog. His beagle saved his life.”
Get the picture? Loring’s father was the model, progenitor and arbitrator for all
decisions, acceptable behaviors and aspirations. Frequently whenever Loring met
someone new and when asked where he was from, the conversation would mention
Bolton Landing and his dad. What devotion…!
as where Daddy Loring hid his chocolate stash of Oreos and Reese’s Pieces. Loring
(affectionately called the “Chocolate Mouse”) figured out that just about everyone in
the household knew the locations but he enjoyed teasing the girls that they were his
betrayers.
2009 was a landmark year. Loring was sitting in his recliner reading the latest edition
of Golf Digest when the cellphone rang. Not recognizing the number he answered it
anyway. It was Stephen Mayer. After introducing himself he proceeded to explain
the purpose of the call, i.e., to ask Loring’s permission to date Kathlyn. They talked
nearly 40 minutes as Stephen explained his intentions and how he had prayerfully
made his decision to take the first steps to what could lead to courtship, and if it was
God’s will, to marriage. Loring gave his consent.
After he shared the phone conversation with Chris, two thoughts crossed his mind.
First, he talked about how impressed he was with Stephen’s decision to follow God’s
leading, and Stephen’s consideration and high regard for Kathlyn and her parents.
Loring’s second thought was the realization that he could be walking Kathlyn “down
the aisle” sooner than he was expecting. For the first time he was seriously
contemplating her belonging to another.
Well, dating did lead to courtship, courtship led to engagement, and engagement
became betrothal. On December 22, 2013, Loring walked Kathlyn down the
Seminary Chapel aisle and gave his princess to Stephen. Loring was so happy and
grateful to be able to sing for the couple and to stand with his new brother, Stephen’s
father Ken, to pray the Fathers’ blessings. Loring sang “Sunrise, Sunset” as a tribute
to Ken and Esther’s wedding. Now God blessed and grew the family again by adding
Ken and Esther Mayer, and Stephen and Alissa (now Mrs. Hansen, wife of Owen,
Loring’s personal cream soda supplier and soda drinking buddy). Twenty-two family
members…. Coins for the Baby Bank. . . . God is so good!!!
What a blessing to know God and His Son Jesus who has loved us with an everlasting
love! To have the assurance that God walks with us through the events of our lives,
promising to never leave us in all our circumstances—good and bad. Born out of a
Love that knows no bounds, freed from our sins, He is our hope for a joyous,
indescribable, eternal existence with Him unmarred by sin and suffering. By faith in
our Lord Jesus, we also believe and trust with confidence “… that all things work
together for good to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Enter the
Disease. . . .
After years of odd behaviors masking as quirks and peculiarities of getting old, Loring
was diagnosed in 2016 with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). The disease is a

ig carnivorous dogs, Redskins football fever and distress, and wonderful holidays
(especially Christmases).
After the boys became young adults and went their separate ways, the rest of Loring’s
time as a parent was as a stay-at-home Dad raising Kathlyn. Being a “Mr. Mom” in
the nineties was a whole new world and very different from raising sons. From the
beginning, Kathlyn was his Angel. When she was a baby he would rock her to sleep
while softy singing. Not surprisingly, some of their favorite memories included
teaching Kathlyn how to sing, performing together in talent competitions, and singing
in the church choir and on the praise team.
As a Christian parent growing in faith and learning to embrace Bible truth, Loring was
being transformed. He became more and more active in the Church and eventually
began working for the local church as a janitor, office manager and substitute teacher
at Vienna Adventist Junior Academy. Later he followed Chris to the World
Headquarters and took a position at Home Study International & Griggs Academy as
the manager of their bookstore and shipping facilities. He especially loved working
with the students and parents around the world. It was while working at HSI that
Loring made three more life-long friends--coworkers Lois Rhoades, Steve Fox, and
Cindy Swanson (later at Andrews University). These friendships continue to bless the
Bearce family to this day.
After attending a performance of the National Christian Choir, and at the repeated
urging of Chris and friends, Loring auditioned for and was selected to be one of the
Choir’s first tenors. He felt that participation with the Choir was divinely appointed.
Serving for 5 seasons, his walk with God deepened and Loring’s music ministry grew
to include singing at other churches, at conference programs, and at the World
Headquarters at the General Conference.
With the General Conference’s decision to join HSI with Andrews University’s
Distance Learning operations, the family relocated to Berrien Springs in 2012. With
Kathlyn attending classes at Andrews, a new “sister” joined the family, Alissa Mayer.
She fit in so well that Chris and Loring felt like they were given another daughter. By
now Jay and Paul were already married adding daughters-in-law, Janelle and Kelly.
Grandchildren (Ellis born in 1996), Karsen (1999), Madison (2006), and Colby (2009)
raised the ranks to 17 members. Little did the family know that God was ready to
build a bridge to expand the family again. Enter the Mayer family….
Allisa Mayer befriended Kathlyn and became a regular member of the Bearce
household. She also adopted Chris and Loring, calling them Momma Chris and
Daddy Loring. An immediate insider, Kathlyn was glad to share family secrets such
Summertime would find Loring in and around Lake George. He swam like the
proverbial fish and eventually became a lifeguard. A love for water in natural settings
sparked his interest in lakes and, later as an adult, in trips to the ocean. Bearce Lake
in Maine, Burke Lake in Virginia, Lake Michigan, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina,
Virginia Beach, The Golden Strand in North Carolina, and his favorite Lake George
provided wonderful memories, inspiring thoughts, enjoyable excursions and more
music.
It was during summer that Loring also took an interest in golf. After getting a job at
16, caddying for the Sagamore Golf Club, Loring was hooked for life. Golf became a
life-long obsession. Fast forward to adulthood—Loring subscribed to several
magazines, read numerous books, took lessons and was obsessed with learning and
experiencing the game. If he wasn’t reading about it he was playing it, frequently
arriving before the course staff. He eventually became adept at organizing golf
tournaments (for Fairfax County Services), golf fundraisers (for the National Christian
Choir), and setting up golf outings for men’s ministries (for his local churches). The
best of all, God created new friendships that blessed and lasted for a lifetime.
Back to the sixties—after graduation from high school, Loring took a serious interest
in music, deciding to concentrate his formal education on music arts, instruments,
dance, theater production and performing. His goal was a fulltime career. Classes and
performances were sandwiched between an eclectic assortment of jobs, e.g. logging,
coaching semi-pro football for the Empire League, and short-order cook at the local
diner. Briefly moving to New York City and eventually to the DC metropolitan area
brought an assortment of roles in Broadway, off Broadway, dinner theater, and
summer stock. Loring reveled in sharing behind-the-scenes stories about his parts in
Hair, Oh Calcutta, Carousel, and Finnian’s Rainbow. Performing with the George
Mason Chorale at the Carter White House, at the National Cathedral, and with the
Richmond Symphony were high points in his musical career. Unfortunately, Loring
could not make a decent living by just performing. Fulltime wages became a must as
Loring had fallen in love with a childhood friend, Denise Mary Williford.
In 1977, Denise and Loring were married and were blessed by the birth of their son,
Andrew Loring Bearce, in 1980. Although the marriage did not survive, a life-long
friendship was created through their mutual love for and co-parenting of Andrew.
Becoming a father and co-parenting had its share of challenges and rewards. Loring
especially looked forward to his weekends with Andrew and to planning fun activities.
Loring loved to talk about coaching Andrew’s soccer team and bragged about their
winning record. The stories became epic as they were retold, and sport injuries and
“scars” were lauded as heroic badges.

Loring and Larry continued to share their mutual love of music and of Larry’s sons,
Brian and Kevin. What began as Uncle Loring babysitting grew into adult
friendships that shared the families’ gifts for music and performing. Loring worked for
Larry, helping out at his music stores. The brothers also sang and performed together
occasionally. Their harmonies were beautiful. The Bearce family now stood at eight.
In 1988, life took an unexpected turn when Loring attended a dance sponsored by the
Burke Singles Club. Chris Alexander was also there with her friend Doreen. After
many dances and an evening of conversation, Loring decided it was time to ask for his
first date in over 5 years. When Chris mentioned that she had recently joined a Bible
Study, Loring asked if he could join her at her church the next Sunday. Not wasting
any time, Loring planned another date that began with a dozen roses, followed by
dinner and a movie, and ended with dancing. Courtship included trips to museums,
historical sites, dining out, dancing, game and movie nights, antiquing and weekend
drives in the country sides of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Favorite evenings
included listening to music where Loring would frequently sing to Chris. Loring sang
many genres of music. He would confess his eternal love with songs from Camelot,
Carousel, and a variety of performers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Randy
Travis, Josh Grobin, and Andrea Bocelli. It was on a fall day driving along Skyline
Drive that Loring first proposed to Chris. Trying the indirect approach, he asked her
where she would like to go for a honeymoon should she ever remarry; several
proposals later Chris said “YES!” On October 20, 1989, in the company of family and
friends, and with their sons Jay, Paul and Andrew as their “groomsmen” Chris and
Loring were married in the chapel at Sligo SDA Church on the campus of the then
called Columbia Union College. Their wedding was also the first time of many times
that Loring sang The Lord’s Prayer for Chris.
Did you notice the change of venue? By God’s grace, Bible studies led to a Revelation
Study series, and subsequently to Chris’ baptism and membership in the Seventh Day
Adventist Church. Loring made his commitment to Jesus the next Spring.
God had blessed again and created a new family. Loring’s and Andrew’s family of six
grew to nine as Chris had two sons, Jay Alexander (born in 1974) and Paul Alexander
(born in 1976) from a previous marriage. Kathlyn (born in 1990) raised the total to
eleven—“Yours” and “Mine” became “Ours.” Despite his dementia and even until
the last weeks of his life, Loring was able to recall many stories of family events, e.g.,
the trip to Disney World, soccer, community service, carb-dense dinners, several
vehicle breakdowns, graduations, weddings, funerals, marriages, daughters-in-law
(Janelle and Kelly), grandchildren (Ellis, Karsen, Madison and Colby), monstrously,