A funeral report

A funeral report

The funeral was out at Muddy Pond, a local Mennonite (like primitive Baptist) Community.  There are a lot of German names out there, too.  The Mennonites have a common background with the Amish, the Luddites, the Hutterites, and many other old fashioned stock of mostly Anabaptists and primitive Baptists.

The deceased was a 53 year old female who died of complications from diabetes.  I think she had Type 1 diabetes, but am not totally sure. If it was type 1, it must have been a mild case since to live to age 53 is most unusual.

She had been chief cook at the local Camp Monterey summer girls camp was how I came to be there.

She was from Wise County, Virginia, about 150 miles from Monterey. Remember Tennessee has one area where TN, VA, NC, and KY all come pretty close together.  Whether she was a Mennonite or her husband was I do not know.

In the old fashioned way, she was buried in a wood casket, interred in a plywood crypt, the hole was dug by her children, the hole was filled by the Family after the casket and crypt top was inserted, and the cemetery was a local Family cemetery. The next grave over was that of a female who had been a young teenager during the American Civil War. She died in 1932.

Even the old farmer who lived nearby had his spot already picked out.

It was snowy, wet, and very cold and windy at the Cemetery. The Mennonite Church where the service was held was warm and packed with local Community people.  They had a delicious meal after the funeral ceremony, too.

We also visited one Mennonite home after the funeral, and it had a 12 year old Kitchen Queen wood cooking stove in it, too.

It was truly a ceremony to respect our dead.