Of the scriptures in the New Testament, today’s reading from John is certainly one of the most comforting. We are told that Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us in heaven. This is a scripture about hospitality, about love, and about serving others. Well, if there is a heavenly banquet and a heavenly banquet table, I would bet that Irv is cooking and preparing a place for his family to join him.
Irv was a very determined man, and that determination held strong for all of his life. He started out in Spring grove Minnesota, and as when he returned from serving in WWII where he received two bronze stars and a purple heart, he and his bride set out to make their place in the world. Irv’s parents had been in the grocery business, and he figured that it would be a good place for him to start, so he and Dorine set out to find a job. They stopped in DeBuque Iowa where the manager of a National Tea Grocery Store manager offered him a job. From there, he would be transferred to Rockford. Irv would work for Piggly Wiggly and Super Valu foods in future years, before he finally opened his own business, the Kwik Buy Food Shop and The Pie Shell Catering Service.
Of all of the things Irv loved about his life, his catering business was at the top of the list. He loved the party atmosphere that catering provided, but he also loved having the opportunity to serve people. He was a very generous and loving man who would give just about anything he could to help someone. And he didn’t just work to have a job, no, he LOVED what he did. It brought him great joy to prepare for big banquets and functions. He was proud that he could cater for Woodward Governer or Chrystler. And he did the job without a single shopping list—he just KNEW what would be needed and he always made enough.
Irv loved his family. He loved his wife dearly and doted on their only daughter Shari. Despite his hectic work and travel schedule, he would drive from wherever he was at the time so that he would never miss a school program. He brought his daughter to Sunday School here at court street every Sunday (he’d even let her drive here) and they would sing together the whole way. And when shari had to spend nearly half a school year in bed due to illness, Irv came into her room and sang to her and taught her to spell. That love for his daughter translated into great love for his grandchildren and his great grand children who will miss their GG-Paw very much.
As much as Irv loved those around him, he was also very well loved. He made friends easily and was very easy to get to know. In the past few months at East Bank Rehabilitation Center, he made new friends with the others at the center. They even threw him little parties every time he returned to the center from a trip to the hospital. He was probably not all that accustomed to having parties thrown for him, as he had always been the one preparing and planning all the events, but it demonstrates how well loved Irv was by his friends—even by those he had only known a little while.
Irv LOVED music. He had a beautiful singing voice which he passed on to his daughter, even if her first grade teacher didn’t believe it at first. He sang operettas and loved to sing with his family. But more than singing, the man loved a polka. He would probably be disappointed to know that there was no polka going on here today. He loved polka music so much that he would go down to his exercise room before dinner and crank up the polka so loud that Dorine didn’t need to turn on a television.
Of course, Irv also loved to eat. How could he own a business called the Pie Shell and not love to eat? His particular weakness was chocolate. If Irv stopped by to visit and there was chocolate to be found, he’d be eating it before you could hide it. He’d even eat your last brownie and leave the crumbs for you to clean up! If you’d make a cake, he’d grab a glass of milk and a fork and sit right there and eat the whole thing unless you stopped him. And while this is a funny thing, it is indicative of the kind of life Irv lived. He dug into it with hunger. He went after the things he wanted with great determination, even if what he wanted was a piece of chocolate cake. This hunger was most evident in his last months, as he was determined to get better and to return to his home.
But, instead, he has indeed gone home. He has left his family to prepare a place for them to join him. But he wouldn’t want you to be upset. He’d want you to know that Just as Jesus went before his disciples, preparing a place in heaven for them, so has Irv gone to get ready. I imagine that he is blaring his polka music and dancing around as he prepares a fabulous banquet for those he loved. He’s probably dipping his fingers in the chocolate, but he is preparing a place.
Be comforted. Know that while Jesus has prepared a place for you in God’s house, Irv is doin the cooking and he will be waiting with open arms when you go to meet him.