Miss Asbury

Joe Hunnicutt.

Harold Wiley.

Nell Hagins.

When my (then) husband and I first started attending Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church in 2005, they were the three ElderBerries who welcomed us in. Sure, everyone was friendly, but these three went that extra step to personally greet us every time we came.
Joe died in 2009. A World War II veteran, like my stepdad, he was 93 years old. Sadly, his poor health had neccessitated his move into a nursing home, so he wasn't able to make it to the church very often for the last few years of his life. Still, his loss was deeply felt by those of us who knew him.
Harold, also a WWII veteran, died in 2011. He was 88 years young, still passing out hugs in his role as greeter at the church. Those hugs, and his genuine smile while bestowing them, have been missed.

Now, Nell has left, too.
Today, the church held a Celebration of her Life, to acknowledge the many contributions she made to keeping the faith, and the church itself, alive.
You see, at one point, not so very long ago, the church was dying.
Twenty-five members, most elderly, were all that were left. Enter Reverend Billy Hester in 1993, splitting his Sundays between two churches of roughly the same size and age group. With the assistance of the ElderBerries (get it?), he helped turn Asbury Memorial into a shining beacon once more.
Nell's light was a big part of that effort. Whether it was handling the office duties, constructing clown dolls as one of the Busy Bees, or greeting all comers, Nell was a regular Gal Friday.
Not that those were her only areas of activity. I knew her as part of the Hospitality Team in the kitchen, which is where she recruited me into an active role. How better to get to know people than to be serving alongside them?
She was also present at some of the Shekinah Spiral meetings. Those are for women only, encouraging bonding through frank - and confidential - discussions. That was a safe place for me to try to work through the loss of Mama.
Today, all of those groups are still going strong, providing not only spiritual support to the women of the church, but also financial support through the organized sale of personalized clown dolls and theatre tickets for the many productions performed here.
I am glad I was there for this tribute today at the church.
I just wish more of the new folks had known her.