Some Thoughts About My Wife's Passing
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
At 6:00 p.m. MST this evening, my wife, Nancy Riley, passed from this sin-stricken world to an existence where no sin and sorrow exist (Revelation 21:4). The following are some thoughts about my wife’s passing:
Nancy was foremost a Christian who served faithfully in the Lord’s church. Like Abigail of old, she was a woman of great integrity. Her joy in life was seen in the teaching of hundreds of children over a period of 27 years as an elementary school teacher, instilling in them a mindset of high moral standards, who would soon become the future generations of our great country (Psalm 78:1-7).
Nancy’s character was similar to that of the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31. Throughout our almost 37 years (March 26th) of married life, I could “safely trust in her” (Proverbs 31:11), knowing that she would seek no other man but me. Nancy sought to “do me good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12), for which I am eternally grateful.
Before we married, my father once negatively criticized me in front of Nancy, saying that she could do better than me. Thankfully, she would have no part of his critical remarks, telling my father that she was going to marry me no matter what he said or didn‘t say about me. I will never forget her standing up for me in that critical period of my life.
My only regret is that Nancy never could mentally give all of her problems and cares to the Lord (1 Peter 5:7), but heavily relied on prescription drugs to get her through the day. She acquired diabetes and vascular dementia the last two years of her life, being in the loving and caring environment of a foster care home here in central El Paso.
Three weeks ago, Nancy acquired a severe blood infection, which caused her to be put into an intensive care unit at a local hospital. She never fully recovered from that infection and has now gone on to be with the Lord. Her burial will be at Fort Bliss National Cemetery on Thursday, March 7th at 2:00 p.m. MST.
I will sorely miss Nancy’s presence in my life. We had a wonderful ride together!