FUNERAL SERMON FOR MARSHALL EUBANKS Pastor Tom Olson; St. John’s Lutheran Church August 31, 2013 There are many words we could use to describe Marshall Eubanks. After a conversation with Eulilia and Marshall, Jr. I will try to put some of them out there for us to consider so that we can learn from them. The first word I thought of when I considered Marshall was intelligent, and might I add with an intelligent wife who could handle him very well. He came from an intelligent family. His father had a very responsible railroad job. His brother was a doctor. He was a Purdue graduate in engineering and expert in metallurgy having worked at Kaiser Aluminum for decades and even owning his own foundry in Iowa for a short while. Marshall Jr. said some of his best memories are working with his dad in the foundry on Saturday mornings while his dad poured castings and he polished them. Most of you are aware that he was well read, up on current affairs and very able to debate political philosophy with those who dared. One of my first sermons here caught him as far to the left of center for Marshall and he let me know in the vestibule…in spite of Eulilia’s efforts to cool him down. I followed up on it and he came to realize that I was more sensible than that sermon struck him. That incident was a springboard into a friendship that brought us to the Eubanks home in Ohio many times and even in Florida. We actually became closer with Marshall and Eulilia than most members. That shows you that he was not offended by serious discussions, in fact they stimulated him. His intelligence in later years caused him to take interest in history, archeology and genealogy. To rest from his thinking, he liked gardening, golf and kids. In fact he did what he could to provide opportunities for young people and foster children so long as they did their part to make the enterprise prosper. Work was a priority to him and he wanted to teach young people how to work and how to prosper. Marshall could be stern on the outside, very likely because he was so soft and compassionate on the inside. He didn’t say “I love you” in words so much as in deeds. He maintained a strong social life through church, Moose, Eagles and many professional organizations. Marshall Jr. said that he appreciated the fact that his dad could laugh at himself. One interesting thing about him is that he was a natural entrepreneur. He could envision business ventures before others could see it. When the family went to Horn’s Hill for water from the spring he would say that a person could bottle this good water and sell it. That was long before the day of bottled water. Eulilia said they laughed at the idea. Now who is laughing? …the millionaires who ran with his idea and sell bottled water by the truckloads. Ironically, I was drinking a bottle of water as I worked on this message. One aspect of Marshall’s life that is worth pondering is his resilience. He bounced back to life after many tragedies; Freddy’s muscular dystrophy and early death, Marshall Jr’s teenage exploits, Marci’s early death, Eulilia’s heart surgery, his cancer, and the bumps and bruises that come from being imperfect parents of imperfect kids in a world of choices. That is where God comes in. Marshall was a Chrisitan, a believer in the God who gave him life and in Jesus Christ, God’s son, who came to this earth to deal with our faults and failures. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” When we take time to examine a life at the end of our earth walk, we see so many good things. There is so much to admire and emulate in a man like Marshall Eubanks, Sr. But there are also faults, short tempers, harsh words, rash comments, and missed opportunities and regrets that trouble us all. That is why Jesus lived the perfect life we could not live and offered himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sins to reconcile us to our righteous heavenly Father and to rise from the dead and go to heaven to prepare a place for us…a place of no regrets. Revelation 21:4-7 …And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain…And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” This reminds me of Marshall’s vision of the need to bottle pure water and sell it. God’s water of life, eternal life, is free to anyone who thirsts. There are reunions in heaven, like a hard working father, a son who died too young of Muscular Dystrophy, a daughter who died too young of cancer… our Savior Jesus Christ opens up His arms wide and invites the rest of us to enter his everlasting kingdom through the old rugged cross of Calvary. Won’t you come today? There is a reunion awaiting us and we don’t want to miss it. May God bless us with the memory of Marshall Eubanks, Sr: intellect, entrepreneur, lover of children, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, gardener, scholar, philosopher, patriot and Christian. Amen
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 11:50:49 +0000
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