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MINISTER’S
REMARKS
AT
THE FUNERAL
SERVICE FOR
DR. PETER OSBORNE HOLLIDAY, JR.
HIGH
STREET CHURCH
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY
24, 2007
Rev.
Rhett D. Baird
PRELUDE
SOUNDING OF THE CHIMES
OPENING WORDS BY
THE MINISTER
As the
minister of this church, I welcome you to this place, this time, this
gathering – to honor and celebrate the life of DR. PETER OSBORNE
HOLLIDAY, JR.
On behalf
of his family who are gathered here, we thank each of you who has
chosen to be
here at this hour to honor DR. HOLLIDAY.
And on
behalf of the friends who have come to honor him and to be with the
family at
this time, we wish to extend our sincere condolences to his family.
To gather in honor of the completion of a
life is one of the
most important rituals in which humans can participate.
We gather to grieve, to mourn, to remember,
to celebrate, to
give thanks, to be with his family.
We gather to give thanks for life and to be
filled with
gladness that we have the capacity to store cherished memories….and to
revisit
those memories anytime we wish.
We gather to be reminded again of the
fragility of all
life…to allow ourselves to be embraced in the sacredness and holiness
of this
special time together.
To know deeply that we humans need each
other as we walk our
journey from birth to death…we need each other in times of joy and in
times of
sadness…in times of weakness and in times of strength.
It is comforting to us as humans to know
again and again
that we are part of something larger than ourselves…that each of us is
an
important and critical link in the procession of generations…a
procession that
has been going on longer than our minds can imagine and will continue
into the
future beyond our ability to create pictures in our minds.
Each person here is connected to this gentle
man by genes or
choice or chance. Every person here will carry their own special and
cherished
memories. Later in the service, I will honor the presence of those
memories by
providing a very brief one-minute opportunity for perhaps no more than
a half
dozen gifts of a special memory – a gift given with love and care to
this
family – perhaps even from some who knew him as a young man.
A COMMUNAL
SPEAKING OF THE 23rd PSALM
I invite you to
join me and each
other in a communal speaking of the 23rd Psalm. I have
chosen the
the King James Version since that is probably the more well known ). As
we
speak these words together, I invite you to reflect upon the likelihood
that
many of your parents, grandparents and generations hundreds of years
back spoke
these words as they sought support and spiritual sustenance. And may we
know
again, that these words, or words similar in translation and intent,
have been
spoken for over two thousand years as part of the Jewish scripture and
later
valued highly by Christianity and others all over the world.
PLEASE
JOIN ME NOW:
THE LORD IS
MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE MAKETH
ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES;
HE LEADETH
ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS.
HE
RESTORETH MY SOUL;
HE LEADETH
ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.
YEA, THOUGH
I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
I WILL FEAR
NO EVIL;
FOR THOU
ART WITH ME;
THY ROD AND
THY STAFF THEY COMFORT ME.
THOU
PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME
IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES;
THOU
ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL;
MY CUP
RUNNETH OVER.
SURELY
GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME
ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE;
AND I WILL
DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER.
HYMN: “ IN THE GARDEN”
(
WORDS ON THE BACK OF THE ORDER OF SERVICE)
RESPONSIVE READING: “ We need one another” # 468 in our hymnal
We need
one another when we mourn and
would be comforted.
We need
one another when we are in
trouble and afraid.
We need
one another when we are in
despair, in temptation, and need to be recalled to our best selves
again.
We need
one another when we would
accomplish some great purpose, and cannot do it alone.
We need
one another in the hour of
success, when we look for
someone
to share our triumphs.
We need
one another in the hour of
defeat, when with encouragement we might endure, and stand again.
We need
one another when we come to
die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey.
All our
lives we are in need, and
others are in need of us.
____________________________________________________________
REFLECTION BY THE MINISTER
When Dr. Holliday welcomed me into his home,
I knew I was in
the presence of a gentle and wise man. When he took me on a tour of
what was
important to him, I knew that he was aware that he was a part of
nature. When
we talked, it was a joy to be in his presence. And I could feel that he
wanted
me to know that he was in my presence. And I felt affirmed as a person.
I am honored to share with you
information gathered from
the family for you to hear and learn and know.
Dr.
Holliday, also known to
many as Dr. “Pete,” loved to learn. He
also loved books. He had a large
library, with an extensive collection of special editions of the
classics that
he ordered over the years. He read them
All. As the son of an attorney from
Washington, GA—who literally “pulled himself up from his bootstraps” to
attend
college; later becoming a Juvenile Court Judge in Macon—Pete was not
afforded
the luxury of an Ivey League education, and greatly admired his friends
who
were so privileged.
He
graduated from North
Georgia College (which was a junior college at that time), and then
came to
Mercer University, where he roomed with Ferrol Sams, the distinguished
author
of “The Whisper of the River,” and other works. (The
lead character in that book is named “Porter Osborne,” after
Pete.)
He
received his DDS from
Emory University in 1945, and joined the Navy, where he served for a
couple of
years in China. He returned home and
began practicing Dentistry in Macon in 1947. He
then married his beloved wife, Mary—57 years ago.
He wished
for more formal
education, however, and continued to read and study all he could,
including
innovations in the sciences. Dr. Pete’s
life was greatly informed by such men as Albert Einstein—particularly
his
“Essays on Humanism”—Cooper’s work in Aerobics; Adelle Davis’ “Let’s
Eat Right
to Keep Fit;” the magazine, “Scientific American;” and the writings of
Linus
Pauling, whom he called, “one of the greatest scientists America ever
produced.”
Dr. Pete
also carried his
love of learning over to his chosen field—Dentistry.
Until just a few years ago, he regularly attended
Continuing
Education courses of the American Dental Association, the Georgia
Dental
Association, and the Hinman Dental Society, in order to be certain that
he was
proficient in the most current Dental Procedures available for his
patients.
More than
money or anything
else, Dr. Pete wanted to leave his children with a legacy of education. He worked hard to insure that they all went
to good colleges—as indeed they did. Peter
III became a Neuro-Surgeon; Lucy, a Dental
Hygienist; Lindsay, a
Dentist; and Mary, a para-professional at Vanderbilt University, where
her
husband, Ben, is a Cardiologist.
Although
the circumstances
of his death were Very tragic, the legacy of Dr. Pete’s and Mary’s life
is
present—8 of their 9 grandchildren are here with us in this space
today. (Their
granddaughter, Dorothy, is in Malawi, Africa, teaching school, and
could not be
with us. However, their granddaughter,
Jane, Is here; and is expecting their first Great Grandchild in May.) Their grandchildren are the living legacy of
Dr. Pete and Mary-- vibrant, intelligent, and full of life! If you have seen the website tributes at HollidayDental.com,
you will have noticed that Dr. Pete was primarily noted as kind, sweet,
intelligent, compassionate, studious, deliberate, and a Gentle-man; and
these
traits live on in the generations which follow him.
HEAR NOW A SPECIAL READING SELECTED BY
THE FAMILY -
THE
LAST THREE VERSES OF “A PSALM OF LIFE”
BY
HENRY WADWORTH LONGFELLOW
“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
SPECIAL MUSIC
“Amazing Grace” Alison Johnson
AN INVITATION TO A BRIEF SHARING OF
MEMORIES
( FACILITATED BY Rev. Baird)
For a few
moments at this point in the service, I would like to call forth a
communal
ritual of honoring Dr. Holliday, a kind of celebration of our capacity
to store
and cherish and share precious memories. If you would like to share
with this
family and this gathered community a very brief not more than
one minute
gift of a personal memory of your tie or connection with Dr. Holliday
that you
will carry all your days, you are welcome to come forward and
line up
to my left.
As you
complete your one minute gift for this family, you are invited to exit
this
area and quietly return to your seat.
( CLOSE THIS SECTION WITH THESE WORDS )
“ we give thanks for our memory, our
capacity to
recall cherished memories and to revisit those memories anytime we
wish.”
A READING – SELECTED BY THE FAMILY –
“CROSSING THE BAR” Alfred Lord
Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
A CLOSING REFLECTION
We are all very much a part of every person
with whom we
come in contact throughout our lives. In this very real sense, Dr.
Holliday
will live forever in the hearts and minds of those who knew him and
loved him
for many generations to come.
Life is not fair. We do not know the
numbering of our days.
We do know that birth and death are the two most profound and
mysterious and
sacred acts. We have no choice but to accept them both and do our best
to learn
to dance in the space between our birth and our death.
May we always find ways to say ‘yes’ to life
and be filled
with thanksgiving for the blessing of every new day. May we learn and
act upon
new ways of being kind to each other, honorable and just and loving in
all our
relationships.
May we know again that love lives
eternal and that the
cherished memories of Dr. Holliday will be carried forward into the
days ahead
by every person here today whose life is bound to his by love and
affection.
HYMN
Spirit
of Life # 123
CLOSING PRAYER
THE LORD’S
PRAYER
“Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be
done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever and ever.
AMEN
THE
SERVICE IS ENDED
POSTLUDE
minister,
casket and family exit – followed by congregation
followed by
processional to graveside at Riverside Cemetery
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