Donor Memorial Quilts

What a powerful gift – to give hope.  These are the stories of those who gave in order that another may have hope for the future.

Preston Stephen

A Child Loaned

“I’ll lend you for a little time a child of mine,”  He said. “For you to love the while he lives and mourn when he’s dead It may be six of seven years Or twenty-two or three. But will you, till I call him back, Take care of him for me? He’ll bring his charms to gladden you And should his stay be brief, You’ll have his lovely memories As solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay, Since all from earth return, But there are lessons taught down there  I want this child to learn. I’ve looked this wide world over In my search for teachers true, And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes I have selected you; Now will you give him all your love Not think the labor vain, Nor hate me when I come to call And take him back again?”

I fancied that I heard them say, “Dear Lord, Thy will be done For all the joy the child shall bring The risk of grief we run. We’ll shelter him with tenderness We’ll love him while we may, And for the happiness we’ve known, Forever grateful stay. But should the angels call for him, Much sooner than we planned, We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes And try to understand.”

This poem was read at Preston’s funeral and the first line is inscribed on his grave stone.  We, his family, are all very grateful that God intrusted his short, precious life in our hands and I feel very blessed that he made Preston A CHILD OF MINE.  – Teri Stephens

Edgar F. Jaynes

Thoughts prompting the quilt block for Edgar F. Jaynes:

When I was approached to do a quilt block for my late husband, Edgar “Ed” Francis Jaynes that would best describe him, I contemplated for over a week and the only thought that kept coming to my mind was the Biblical passage from I Corinthians 13:13.  “And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love); these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).

This was one of his favorite passages and this philosophy was Ed’s life.

I chose the cross, of course, to represent his “Faith”.  He was a very devote Christian from childhood and had been a High Priest in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for over 30 years.

I chose the branch with green leaves to represent his “Hope”.  He was, without a doubt, one of the most positive thinking people I have ever known.  He was always projecting for the future all good and encouraging ideas.  His favorite statement was, “I’m going to live to be 115.”  He truly loved life and all the excitement it held.

And of course, last but not least, I chose the red heart to symbolize Ed’s love.  Ed was a selfless man!  He loved his family and home.  He adopted and raised six children of various ethnic backgrounds- Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, and American Indian- all difficult to place because of their mixed ancestory.  He devoted his life to providing physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially to the welfare of these children.

Ed loved his community – “He never met a stranger!”  He worked very hard in various organizations such as United Way Board- 10 years; Red Cross Board- several years; blood donor for most of his adult life; member of the Civil Disaster Committee; served on the School Board; and Jury Duty.

Ed loved his country and was very proud to have been in the Marine Corps for four years during World War II.

Ed loved his work and fellow employees at the Remington Arms Corp., serving as Supervisor of Community and Employee Affairs and head of the Training Department for 29 years.  He was named Boss of the Year in 1983-1984.

Ed often expressed the desire to win the Lottery so “I can give it away!” – Never a thought for himself.

Ed and I had talked many times about how important it was to us to be organ donors – our final gifts of love, especially precious because it is anonymous!

I chose to add touches of gold to his quilt block to represent “Leo” the King- his astrological sign- August 6, 1925.

Ed and I had known each other since 1968 and God had granted us the blessing of sharing our lives for three wonderful years after the death of our spouses.  In that time I soon learned that Ed was “the King of Unconditional Love!”

Robert E. “Bob” Culp

I would like to tell you about Robert E. “Bob” Culp who died on February 3, 1998.  He was only 50.

Bob was my best friend and my husband of nearly 31 years.  He was the father of our two children, Lisa Adams, 29, and Tim Culp, 25.  We have a granddaughter, Katharine Adams who turned 1 a month after Bob died.  Our family was the pride of Bob’s life and the only thing he would boast about, even though he had much of which he could have boasted.

Bob was a lifelong farmer in Logan County, near West Mansfield, Ohio.  He was a Farm Bureau member, had served a long time on the ASC County Committee, had been elected a Bokescreek Township Trustee and served for well over 20 years.  Bob was a member of the West Mansfield United Methodist Church and had served on several committees there.

Bob loved tractor pulls, water skiing, ballgames, and especially people.  He was outgoing and the life of any gathering.  He was the first to help out a friend or neighbor in need and kept a lot of his acts of kindness quiet.  He was a kind, honest, and hardworking farmer and a good friend to many.

Bob knew he wanted to be an organ donor, and our family had all discussed it.  Bob’s only sister, Jeanne Carpenter, had nearly died of complications of diabetes.  Her life was saved when she received a kidney and a pancreas in a single operation in 1995.

Bob died totally unexpectedly on February 3, 1998.  He had not been ill until 4:00pm and died of a massive heart attack by 7:00pm.

We are still trying to learn to live without our beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.  We receive consolation knowing that somewhere another family is getting a second chance for their loved one because of Bob.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to tell you about the man we love and miss so much.

Doug Dickey

Our son, Doug, was a talented musician.  He was born with an ear for music and started playing piano and guitar at age 7.  Guitar was his first love, and he had played lead guitar in several bands.  That is why we included a picture of Doug and one of his guitars on the square.

The other photo shows the stone bench in the Memorial Garden of our church.  There is a guitar carved on it, as well as his name and dates of birth and death.

In addition to his musical talent, Doug was a sensitive, intelligent guy with a quick wit and a great sense of humor.  He is sorely missed by all who knew and loved him.  He had indicated on his driver’s license that he wished to be an organ donor.  I am sure he would be pleased that he was able to help someone else even after death.

– Phyllis A. Dickey (mother)

Paul Michael Schick

We can’t know why the lily has so brief a time to bloom in the warmth of sunlights’ kiss upon its face.  Before it folds its fragrance in and bids the world good-night to rest its beauty in a gentler place.

But we can know that nothing that is loved is ever lost, and no one who has ever touched a heart can really pass away, because some beauty lingers on in each memory of which they’ve been a part.