Eulogies and Memories: Funeral Sermons and Homilies

By Rev. Richard T. Middleton III EdD

The Rev. Richard T. Middleton III shares some of his most memorable eulogies and homilies that he delivered as an Episcopal priest in Mississippi in this collection.

In a homily honoring Claude Rashad McCants, a young man from Jackson, Mississippi, who was senselessly murdered, he said, “The first thing I believe is that God did not will for this to happen. The Ten Commandments clearly state that God does not favor murder. I don’t believe that God ever encourages any of his children to commit murder. When this tragedy happened, God’s heart was the first heart to break.”

In paying tribute to Lula Belle Forte, the mother of a childhood friend, he said, “Brother may die, sister may die, aunt may die, grandma may die, wife may die, husband will almost surely die, but no death is felt like Mama’s death. And that’s because there just isn’t anybody else on earth like our mother.”

Whether you’ve lost a loved one, serve as a minister, or work in hospice care, funeral service or a related field, you’ll be inspired by this collection of memories of remarkable and influential people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532093074

Rev. Richard T. Middleton III EdD

The Reverend Richard T. Middleton III, EdD is a native of Jackson, Mississippi, and a fourth-generation Episcopal priest. He earned a master’s in education from Lincoln University, Missouri, and a doctorate in secondary education from the University of Southern Mississippi. He completed further education in theology from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. The Rev. Middleton served in teaching and administrative roles for more than thirty years before retiring from Jackson State University.

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Copyright © 2020 Richard T. Middleton III, EdD.

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9306-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9307-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020900628

iUniverse rev. date:  01/25/2020

CONTENTS

Mr. Lawrence Jones 11/23/2001

Mr. Claude Rashad McCants 10/17/2002

Mrs. Lula Belle Forte 01/12/2002

Ms. Tammie D. Donelson 10/15/2003

Mrs. Lillian Cade Lane 08/12/2005

Mrs. M. V. Manning Jones 0/23/2006

Mrs. Kathryn Smith Fountain 12/30/2006

Mr. Oscar Bracey 03/03/2007

Mrs. Annie Katherine Pinson 09/26/2009

Mrs. Dora Salone 06/30/2012

Dr. Theodore C. Jones 07/25/2012

Mrs. Barbara Beadle Barber 11/24/2012

Mr. Oree Jackson 10/28/2017

Mr. James Arthur Washington 06/22/2018

Mrs. Caldonia Meeks Thomas 03/09/2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank a number of very dear people who inspired and encouraged me to write this book. To tell the truth, the idea that a book of funeral sermons could be of interest to anyone never occurred to me until I read a book written by my longtime friend and college fraternity brother, the Reverend Hickman M. Johnson, the longtime minister of the historic Farish Street Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi.

Two years ago, I was assisting Hickman with a funeral at his church and noticed a book on his desk that he had authored: Farewell, My Friends: A Book of Eulogies and Tributes. When I asked him about the popularity of his book, he said, Richard, people liked it very much. He gave me an autographed copy, and when I read it, I liked it also. One of the reasons I did was because the congregations of Farish Street Church and my church, St Mark’s Episcopal, are well known to one another. Both are very historic in Jackson, and both have always had a relationship with common places of employment, like Jackson State University and Tougaloo College. In fact, Hickman and I both started our professional careers at Jackson’s historic Tougaloo College. Dr. George A. Owens, then the president of Tougaloo, appointed Hickman as college chaplain and me as instructor of education in or close to 1968. Many years later, Hickman and I officiated at Owens’s funeral at Tougaloo.

I knew that my very capable church musician and executive church historian had captured most of my sermons and speeches on compact discs and/or flash drives. The very intelligent gentleman who edited this book, Charles Raphiell Ashford, had been a star student in my first confirmation class. And I really believe the good Lord told me he would one day be an Episcopal priest.

Ashford was an excellent organist and choirmaster as well as typist and transcriber. I witnessed him help my aunt and lay Eucharistic minister Barbara Barber create the very successful book By Faith: A Century of Progress; A History of the Episcopal Church of Saint Mark, Jackson, Mississippi, 1883–2003. When I asked Raphiell if he would help me with this book, he eagerly and cheerfully agreed to assist me. Thank you, Raph, very much.

I would also like to thank my wife of fifty years, Brenda, who served as my church organist and secretary while I served as vicar of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

I have to thank my dearly departed parents, Army Colonel Richard T. Middleton II and wife and schoolteacher Johnie Mae. They were always very kind and loving to me and my younger siblings, Paul, Michael, and Jeanne Marie.

Thank you to all of my family members and teachers, elementary through graduate school, who encouraged and supported me in every way. My two grown children, Richard and Jeanna, and my seven grandchildren continue to support me.

I sincerely hope that my readers will enjoy this book, be inspired by it, and come to love the Lord more after reading it.

FUNERAL HOMILY FOR

MR. LAWRENCE JONES

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church

Jackson, Mississippi

November 23, 2001

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