LINDA HESSE EULOGY
23 April 2013
TOGETHER
Thank you for coming to share our joy of my blessed wife’s birth
into eternal life. Thanks especially to our faith community of St.
Cecilia and those clergy from the Jewish, Islamic, and other
Christian denominations here today.
A blessed monk I knew, Monk Theophane, wrote a wonderful book
entitled “Tales of a Magic Monastery.” The following parable
story entitled “Together” captures this moment.
“I thought it good fortune to go to the Magic Monastery for
Christmas. But at the foot of the hill sat a blind beggar, and when I
drew near to give him some money, I heard him ask, ‘Who will
lead me into the heart of God?’
I couldn’t go on. Who would lead him into the heart of God? I sat
down in front of him. I took his hands. ‘Together, I said.
‘Together we’ll go into the heart of God.’”
My blessed, beloved wife Linda was the one who took my hands
and led me into the heart of God. She did it in so many simple
ways.
An accomplished pianist, when she was happy she would play the
Blue Danube, Unforgettable, and As Time Goes By. But when she
was upset she didn’t attack she would simply play Rachmaninoff.
“Da, Da, Da, Du!” That is when I had to watch my “p’s and q’s.”
Fluent in Parisian French, she once was told by a woman behind a
counter in Paris, that the next time she was in Paris she should learn
how to speak French. When I heard that I knew this woman had no
idea what a tempest she had just stepped into. Linda launched into
machine-gun-firing Parisian French. I just got out of the way.
Later I asked what she said and Linda explained that she told the
woman that if she had spoken to her in French, Linda would have
responded in French.
The message in these stories was not to judge others. Linda taught
me to stop judging others and treat everyone with equal respect.
She would treat the president of an oil company with the same
respect as a common laborer.
She loved our children equally with the greatest possible love. She
taught us to love by accepting suffering for the sake of love. She
did not have to have surgery but chose it out of love for the family.
Having suffered depression and dementia, she finally succumbed to
cancer. And she did it all with grace, charm, and the ultimate of
love.
In spite of her struggles she brought our family joy and laughter
beyond compare. She had a wonderful sense of humor visible in
her pictures that you have already seen and will see at the reception.
So as we exit the church I ask all of you to celebrate her victory
over death in music of pure joy.
HOMILY TEXT Deacon Robert Hesse, Ph.D.
St. Cecilia Houston, Texas
Linda Marie Loddeke Hesse, 69, was born to eternal life on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 1:31 pm.
After graduating from St. Joseph Academy in St. Louis, Linda earned a B.A. in French from Webster College in St. Louis. She studied at the Université Laval in Quebec, Canada and was awarded a teaching assistantship to the University of Iowa for graduate study. She was a member of Pi Delta Phi National French Honor Society. She taught French in the Webster Groves School District in Missouri. She loved travel having visited over 30 countries, her favorite being France. She was an accomplished pianist and avid runner. She had an infectious sense of humor and a glorious smile. She endured immense suffering with grace, charm, and love. Her symbols of God’s visits to her were the red bird and butterfly.
Linda is survived by her husband, Deacon Dr. Robert Hesse, after 45 years of marriage in deepest contemplative love. She is survived by her children Kristin Elizabeth Hesse Cavazos and David Christopher Hesse and four grandchildren Vincent Cavazos, Sydney Cavazos, Sierra Hesse, and Carson Hesse. She also is survived by her identical twin sister Lois Loddeke Fox of Seattle and younger sister Leslie Loddeke of Houston. She is predeceased by her mother Marylois Loddeke and her father Dr. Bernard Henry Loddeke.
Visitation will be at 5:00 – 8:00 pm on Monday, April 22, 2013, at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77079. Funeral mass will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 11720 Joan of Arc, Houston, Texas 77024. It will be followed by public interment at Memorial Oaks Cemetery, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77079.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Contemplative Network, P.O. Box 22947, Houston, Texas 77227-2947, a non-profit dedicated to interdenominational Christian contemplative prayer and research on its effects on the brain.
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