Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By Deacon Amy Schmuck
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church
A few short weeks ago, my grandfather Ken went outside to take care of his annual task of prepping and displaying his large pots of red geraniums outside his home in Sabetha, KS. At his age, (99 ½) he was pushing boundaries of his energy and strength, and he didn’t “bounce back” after exerting himself with this beloved gardening activity as he usually would in a day or so.
Grandpa saw the doctor and they decided together that he could go home on hospice care. Grandpa’s body was finally meeting its limits. To give color to this short reflection on a long life, Grandpa celebrated turning 90 years old nine years ago by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and he fared very well
afterward! He trained as a paratrooper in WWII, so he really wanted to jump solo! They talked him into tandem jumping because he could get a longer “free fall” that way. He agreed to it and had “no regrets”.
He relished all his life in joke telling and lived up to his old CB radio handle of “Corn King” for all the corny jokes he shared on the airwaves as a truck driver in his younger days. Grandpa’s delivery of the quintessential “Dad jokes” made my two kids groan and roll their eyes like no other could. He had the art of teasing down to a science. Nobody was safe.
Grandpa loved nature, loved creating things, loved birds, loved Kansas, loved Royals baseball, loved the KC Chiefs, and loved teasing his grandson-in-law about the Raiders. Grandpa loved all his family through good times and hard times, you never doubted that he loved you. He was one of a kind, and my favorite elder in the world. Now he is no longer of this suffering world. My prayer and hope rests in Jesus’ resurrection promises, that God may have granted him a beautiful reunion with his creator and all Grandpa’s beloveds (including pets) that he’s been grieving in the process of outliving so many that have died before him.
I imagine it’s the loss of loved ones that brings the biggest challenges to aging over a very long stretch like he did. His courage to state each morning in recent years that “every day above dirt is a good day” will remain alive as a mantra for me to carry forward.
Grandpa died early this morning (Tuesday May 20, 2025), just six months shy of his 100th birthday. He slipped away from his well-used body in his sleep, just the way most of us hope to do. Being Ken’s oldest granddaughter, I got to bear witness of the best of him. He took all the chances he had to be a wonderful spouse, parent, grandparent, great grandparent, and good friend to his bonus family he gained through marriage to my bonus-grandmother, Darlene.
Grandpa leaves us all well-loved and inspired to squeeze the marrow out of every inch of this life we get to live here. We have been so deeply blessed beyond measure. So, I’ll plant the geraniums, I’ll tell the “dad jokes” and I’ll tease and love my children with every breath God grants me because I learned from the best.
May we all strive to leave our strange and quirky mark on the world with love at the center, like Ken did. Amen.
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com); The Rev. Lynn Finnegan, Associate Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org); Deacon Amy Schmuck, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (deaconamy@bethluth.com); and ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com).
Grandpa Ken died in his sleep on May 20, 2025, just six months shy of his 100th birthday. Courtesy photo