Graveside Funeral for Stanley W.
Little
August
13, 2002
We gather today to remember the life of Stanley Little, to mourn his loss
and to begin looking forward to our future reunion with him in Heaven.
In Isaiah 40:28-31 we read these familiar and appropriate words,
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will
not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives
strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow
tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV)
This morning we trust God for the strength
that he alone can give.
Will you pray with me,
Our Father, we bow before you and acknowledge once again that you are the
giver of life. We ask for your
comfort and strength as we remember and celebrate the life of your servant,
Stanley W. Little. Help us to
remember, help us to renew our hope. We
ask in the name of Christ. Amen.
Mr. Stanley W. Little, age 88, of LaHarpe,
Illinois, passed away Saturday August 10, 2002 at 5:20 A.M. at the LaHarpe-Davier
Health Care Center, LaHarpe, Illinois.
He was born on June 12, 1914 in Fort Madison,
Iowa, the son of Guy L. and Mary Hutson Little. On June 26, 1937, he married
Frances E. Krause in LaHarpe. She preceded him in death on May 1, 1996.
He was a licensed plumber and co-owned and
operated Little Bothers Hardware store in LaHarpe with his brothers, Robert and
Lldon. Stanley was fond of saying
the hardware store was just a front for the plumbing, heating and electrical
business! In later years the
brothers sold the hardware store and the business became known as Little
Brothers Plumbing, Heating and Electrical. He was a licensed private pilot and
loved to fly. He was a member of the LaHarpe Masonic Lodge # 195 and the LaHarpe
United Methodist Church.
Surviving are one daughter, Karen Satterlee
of Las Vegas, Nevada, one son Rodney Little of Eucha, Oklahoma, and or Haywood
WI. 4 grandchildren, 1
great-granddaughter, one brother, Lldon Little of LaHarpe, two sisters, Darlene
Comstock of Hamilton, Illinois and Martha Jean Cratsenberg of LaHarpe as well as
several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, four
brothers, Wayne, Richard, Robert and George Little and by his parents.
Stanley Little was a man who enjoyed life and
loved his family. While in his
early 20’s his father died and Stanley stepped in as the oldest of the family
and worked to help his mom with his siblings.
Stanley taught both Lldon and Jean how to drive.
He tried hard to fill in where his father could not.
Stanley was the kind of guy who would always
be there when you needed him. When Lldon and Lucille’s Steven was sick up at
the Mayo Clinic, the family was staying in a motel. Stanley showed up at the door.
No one knows how he found where they were staying, but he did.
Stanley loved people but was also very
private. He was good at his job and
most of what he learned, he taught himself about the business.
That was Stanley’s way. He
liked to do things by the “seat of his pants”.
He would make the best decision and then go with it.
He loved his children and his grandchildren.
There was nothing that brought him greater joy than when the family was
around.
Stanley also loved to fly.
Over the years he owned several different planes.
It is said that he liked to trade planes as much as he enjoyed trading
cars. At one point he told Frances, “I’m never going to be able
to afford to fly—but I’m going to do it anyway.”
Stanley looked for any excuse to fly.
He would fly down and pick Karen up from school so she could come home
for the weekend. He took Rodney
down state to pick up a few coon dogs. He
would fly Gayle up to see her folks so he could visit with her dad, another
pilot. Any excuse was sufficient to
get him in the air.
Stanley liked to get up early and watch the
sunrise from the air. He also liked
to “buzz” the homes of his brothers to wake them up in the morning!
In fact, he was known to “buzz” a number of people.
He loved to fly.
One of the things I’m sure he liked most
about flying was being able to share his passion with Karen.
It was an uncommon Father and daughter activity but one they both enjoyed
greatly. Although I am told that
Stanley was befuddled at how in the world Karen could fly a plane and not be
able to manage a clutch in a car.
Stanley had a good sense of humor.
He had a quick wit and was not above pulling someone’s leg.
He enjoyed telling Gayle what the farmers were doing in the field.
Of course, he deliberately told her the wrong thing.
For a wedding gift Stanley bought Gayle a 20
gauge shotgun! I’m sure you could
add your own punch line here but apparently it wasn’t because she was going to
need it since she was marrying Rodney. He gave her the gun because he knew Gayle
was a good shot and he looked forward to spending time hunting and shooting with
her.
For years Stanley had Rodney believing that
the Shaeffer plant’s water tower was filled with ink for the pens. He was a
man always ready with a quip and a smile.
Stanley had a huge heart.
He was constantly showing his generosity but was always anonymous when
doing so. He was known to leave
money at the grocery store for a family in need, or mail them cash in a plain
envelope. He would leave groceries
on a door step and loved delivering toys at Christmas.
Giving gave Stanley great joy.
Stanley and Francis also loved to garden.
They would plant a huge garden, do the canning, and then share the
harvest.
Stanley was a man who refused to give up.
After his first stroke he worked diligently so he could fly again.
He spent hours in the back of the store counting fittings . . .not so he
could get an accurate inventory . . .he was working hard to get his math skills
back. It was his own form of
therapy.
Even in these last years in the nursing home
you could see Stanley’s character. Up
until he became real bad He was always ready to shake your hand.
If you did something for him he was always ready with a thank-you.
And you seldom left without him saying, “come again!”
I’ve seen how much he enjoyed it when Jean came to visit him.
Stanley Little was ready to die.
We can only imagine how difficult it was for this proud man these last
years. We are grateful that his
suffering has ended.
Today we are left to say good-bye but we do
not do it as the rest of men who have no hope.
For we do have hope. Stanley
trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior and we know this is not the end for him.
Today I share with you the familiar words of
2 Corinthians 5
"Now we know
that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God,
an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan,
longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed,
we will not be found naked." (2 Corinthians 5:1-3, NIV)
These familiar words remind us of several
things. First, we are reminded that
people die. If you live long enough
your earthly tent will be destroyed. Our
physical bodies wear out. That’s
the way life is.
Second, we are reminded that Death is not the
end. If our body wears out and we
die we KNOW that we have a building from God . . .an ETERNAL home in Heaven.
How do we KNOW these things?
We are sure of these things because of our Savior.
Jesus lived, died and then rose from the grave.
He proved that there was life beyond the grave.
And this same Savior tells us that anyone who trusts in Him will not
perish but will have everlasting life.
Stanley was such a person.
He wasn’t real vocal about his faith.
It was private and personal. But
it was also deep and genuine. His body is in this box, but his life is with the
Lord. He lives on.
Finally, notice that Paul tells us that death
is the fulfillment of life’s longings for those who believe.
Paul continues in his words to the Corinthians,
we are always
confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would
prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our
goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. [2
Cor 5:6-9]
Perhaps this is easier to grasp in the case
of Stanley. His body gave out on him several years ago.
He was a man who was trapped in the body that would not allow him to
live. I wonder how often Stanley
yearned for Heaven. I wonder how
many times he prayed that God would take him home.
He understood that thought this life is good, it is not the best.
Today we welcome the reminder that this life
is just the title page of real living. This
life is but a cover of a masterpiece. The
real beauty is what is beyond the cover and title page.
Today we remember not only a life well lived.
. . we remember that we are living now to live again.
Today we focus on the essential truths of our faith,
Those
who trust Christ are forgiven the sin of their life.
Those who trust Christ have
an assurance of Heaven that comes from the Holy Spirit who has been given to
us as a seal that guarantees our inheritance.
Those who trust Christ will
enter Heaven whole and filled with life.
Those who trust Christ will
be reunited with those who have gone before them . . . and best of all, they
will see Jesus.
Stanley Little is
finally at peace. I don’t mean
just that his body has stopped decaying. I
don’t mean just that the struggle of life has ended. I mean Stanley has found the peace that passes all
understanding. He has found the
peace of final forgiveness, the peace of reunion, the peace of understanding the
answers to the complex questions of life, and he has found the peace of being
held in the arms of Jesus.
This is not a bad day for Stanley . . . in
fact it is a very very good day. The
earthly tent of Stanley Little has been destroyed . . . but now he has a
building from God. And what a wonderful building it must be.
He has lived well, he has taught us about character, the importance of
family, and the value of enjoying the journey of life.
He lived well but he lives more vibrantly
now. He is more alive now than he
has ever been. Our hearts ache, but
his bursts with joy. We feel
sadness but he overflows with delight. We
feel an acute sense of loss but he rejoices at his reunion with Frances, his
brothers, his parents, Steven, other family members and many old friends, and he
rejoices most of all to be with Jesus.
So today we commit his earthly body to the
ground even as we look forward to see him in his renewed and perfect heavenly
body. The words penned by Benjamin
Franklin as he wrote his own epitaph seem most apropos.
POEM
Our Father, we thank you for the life of
Stanley Little. We thank you for
his spirit, his character and his faith. We
ask that you welcome him joyfully and triumphantly into your Kingdom and the
place that you have prepared for him.
Thank you for Jesus.
Thank you for the certainty of eternal life that is found in him. I ask
now that you bless this family. Grant
them clear memories even as you give them a fervent hope.
I ask these things in the name of our blessed Savior, Amen.