The wake/viewing:
Should take place at the chapel at
Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp. All the flowers people traditionally send, please keep in the vestibule.
The Casket:
Should be made of oak or pine with a light, natural finish. The only flowers I want on the casket to be a sprig of lavender and 2 pink roses. Near the casket I only want a few orchids and rosemary topiaries.
The funeral service:
Should take place at
Reiman Gardens in Ames. Location dependent on time of year/weather. July/August: in the shade of the arboretum. Late April, May, June, Sept. in the rose garden or along the lake. The rest of the year in either the conservatory or the butterfly wing.
This should be a simple service celebrating my life and how I have affected the lives of others.
The Music:
The Inner Light by Chattaway.
The reading:
From Act II, Scene I of As You Like It by William Shakespeare:
Quote:
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,
The seasons' difference; as, the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
'This is no flattery: these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.'
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.
I would not change it.
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The Resting Place:
If I become famous: I want to be cremated and my ashes spread in Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge with a tombstone placed on a hilltop overlooking the prairie.
If not famous: A suitable resting place overlooking a prairie or overlooking a river valley.
The Grave-side Service:
Should repeat the reading and song from the service.
The Tombstone:
With the reading engraved on it, done in a simple design like
Pres. Herbert Hoover's grave.
The Memorial Fund:
Along with moneys from the liquidation of my estate, should go towards the restoration and development of a prairie &/or wetland area on the edge of Ames, Iowa.
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