The Witness

The following funeral meditation was preached during the funeral of E. T. (Eck) Ring, age 80. Mr. Ring was a service station operator and worker for over sixty years.

Our assignment today, to celebrate the long and good life of Eck Ring, is one we attempt with ease and joy. If there is anything good that a minister can think to say about a kind and gentle person, Eck did it. His greatest happiness in life came from seeing other people, especially his children, do well. He was always more interested in how other people were doing than in how he was doing. Consequently, Eck always possessed the kind of smile that you couldn't knock off his face with a baseball bat. In a succinct and forthright manner, I don't know anything better that one can articulate about any person's life.

But …