Grandma - Eleanor Carter

 

Eleanor Carter (84), passed away in her sleep on March 18th, 2013, apparently because of a heart attack.  Eleanor is survived by her husband, Bruce, of 60 years; her older sister, Marjorie Wilson; her 6 children: Eileen, Alan, Paul, Sandy, Linda, Steve; 30 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.  Eleanor was a believer in Christ, trusting in His finished work on the cross to pay for her sin and grant her everlasting life in Heaven with God Himself.  She rested in His promise: "I will...receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."  (See John 14:1-6.)  Eleanor loved her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  One of the things she loved to do was to stitch special blankets for her great-grandchildren as she heard of their expected arrival.  Another thing Eleanor loved was to play the organ, which she was still doing when she was able to go to her church.  Eleanor was loved by many and will be greatly missed.

The viewing will be on Thursday, March 21st, from 4-8 p.m. at:
Nelson Funeral Home
410 E Countryside Pkwy
Yorkville, IL 60560

Entrance is on Route 47 just north of Route 34.

The memorial service will be held at the same location on Friday, March 22nd, at 10 a.m.

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We were sleeping last night, but our God doesn't sleep.  Early this morning, God's appointed time came in which He would fulfill in Grandma's life one of the promises He has made to all of His children.  "I will...receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."  (See John 14:1-6.)

Today my family and I are grieving because we have lost our Grandma.  It is a joy and blessing to know that she is now in the presence of her Saviour, praising Him for all eternity, and finally free from all of her pain and struggles.  Nevertheless, we will miss her.  She is the only Grandma the younger half of the family ever had, and she has been a part of our daily lives for the past four years.

Grandma passed away in her sleep early this morning, quietly and quickly, apparently from a heart attack.  This is a blessing, as hard as it is.  Grandma had always said that she hoped she passed away in her sleep, partly because she didn't want to suffer through it, and partly because she remembered how hard it was for her family when her own grandmother had struggled, weakened, and suffered so much for so long before she died.

God was gracious even in His timing.  Mom just returned late Saturday night from a visit out to her sister's in Arizona.  Yesterday, we had a potluck lunch followed by an afternoon service at church, so we were home in the evening, gathered around the fireplace as a family.  Grandma was there too, making good progress on a blanket she was lovingly making for one of her great-grandchildren.

Grandma & Granddad have been strongly considering taking a trip out to visit their eldest daughter in Arizona in the very near future.  One part of Mom's trip was to see if it would be do-able for them with some of their physical limitations and health concerns.  It was sounding like Grandma was really looking forward to the trip, should it work out.  Little did she know that now was the time God had already scheduled the trip to which she had been looking forward for years!  The destination is infinitely superior!  The fellowship, as much as she loved her family, could never be sweeter than that which she is now experiencing!  I think it's safe to say that she is not disappointed to miss that trip to Arizona.  My grandma is with God!

Pray for us all as we miss her and adjust to our lives without her.  Pray for us as we learn how we need to change some things related to Granddad.  Though they've become more and more limited in what they could actually do in recent years, Grandma and Granddad have always looked after each other, even after they moved here with us, and they communicated with us when they needed more help.  Granddad spends a lot of time in his room, but we need to learn when and how often we need to go in and check on him...often enough that we don't miss it if he's in there and needing some help or attention, yet not in such a way that he would find it to be an annoyance.  Pray for Granddad.  Pray as well for Mom & Dad, Mom's siblings, and Granddad as they make all sorts of decisions regarding the funeral arrangements, burial, etc.  Please pray also for those who are/will be traveling to be here for the funeral.

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Some pictures and memories

Bruce & Eleanor

 

Eleanor and Marjorie

All of Bruce & Eleanor's children were able to come in for their 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration in December.  Here is a picture of all six of them together:

        Steve                 Alan              Paul

Sandy           Linda                Eileen      

Bruce & Eleanor with Eileen and her husband, Dale

Eleanor with Eileen and her daughters and one of her grandsons:

                Eileen          Cathy    Heather    Adam

Theresa     Eleanor          

Bruce & Eleanor with Alan and all of his family:
Larissa, Phil, Jill, Alan, Amanda, Kati, Micah, Jamin, Eric,
Parker, Bruce, Eleanor

Bruce & Eleanor with Paul and a few of his children:
Cole, Sean, Drew, Kelly, Paul,
Bruce, Eleanor

Bruce & Eleanor with Sandy and the majority of her family:
Brian, Julie, HollyBeth, David, Kimberly, Bill, Sandy, Heidi, Adam, Valerie,
Zachary, Bruce, Eleanor, Lisa

I don't seem to have a picture of Eleanor with Linda except for the one above with all six of Grandma's kids.

Bruce & Eleanor with Steve, his wife, Cheri, and their granddaughter, Chloe

Grandma loved to be involved and know what was going on in the lives of her children and grandchildren.  She greatly appreciated when they would call her on the phone.

Grandma loved to laugh!  She could be perfectly serious, but I loved it when she would laugh, and I think her sense of humor was very helpful in getting over some of the bumps along the road of life.  Grandma enjoyed telling stories too...and she had an abundance of them between all the places she had been, people she had met, and raising six kids!  One of the things that she laughed at a lot was when her kids would spend time together because, when they did, they seemed to put aside their age and maturity and just be little kids all over again...and they all have a very corny sense of humor that invariably makes any family gathering burst out with a least a few series' of laughter!

Grandma loved to play the organ.  It's a ministry she's had at many churches all across the country as her life as a military wife kept moving her from one place to another.  When she would come home from the hospital after some of the different heart attacks and strokes she's had over time, one of the first things she wanted to do was to try and see if she could still play the organ...and she always could.  Even when a stroke caused some speech impairment for a time, her fingers still knew how to play.

The last time Grandma played organ in church was the last Sunday she attended church, March 10th.  She has played since at home, some for pleasure, and some practicing for a duet she was going to play on Easter Sunday.

Sometimes there were too many other noises to be able to hear herself play the organ without turning it up really loudly.  Grandma had no problem with putting on the headphones so she could practice in spite of all the rest of the noise.  :-)

Grandma liked to do whatever she could to be helpful, especially when she could sense that people were under stress that she might be able to have a part in relieving.  In this picture, she is helping to prepare things for the wedding of one of her granddaughters.

Grandma actually loved moving...which is a good thing since that was kind of the story of her life as a military wife.  At one point we tried to count how many times they'd moved.  I don't remember the exact number of times, but I do remember that it was literally dozens!  Grandma also loved packing.  When she got to where she wasn't moving as often, she loved to go and help her kids pack when they were moving.  In this picture, Grandma had gone to the great effort of going upstairs (a rather difficult thing for her by that time) because she wanted to help Julie pack shortly before Julie's wedding.

Speaking of weddings, Grandma wanted to be at all of the weddings in her family.  In some cases this meant traveling across the continent, but she still wanted to do it!  I might be corrected on this one, but there is only one of her nine married grandchildren whose wedding I don't remember her attending.

Here Grandma is pictured at the first of the weddings in my family.

Granddad, Grandma, Becca

Grandma wanted to be at all the weddings, whether she could walk down the aisle with a little difficulty...

...or whether she had gotten to the point where she couldn't walk that far and needed to be wheeled down.

 Grandma loved her family - all of it!

Here she is pictured with the last of her great-grandchildren that she was able to meet in person (to my knowledge) - Cody.

We will miss Grandma, but we rejoice because she is now in a perfect place, with perfect people, freed from the health issues she's had for a long time, and, more importantly, freed from the sin nature that plagues all who are born into this world!  In fact, while we must each await God's perfect timing and keep busy doing His will in the meantime, going home to Heaven is something all who have been bought with the blood of Christ should be looking forward to.