Category Archives: Funerals

Our Friend Ken

Ken’s Memorial Service was held on May 8th, 2026. We traveled to Southern California for the service.

Ken and Heidi’s son, son in law, daughter and grandsons all spoke, read scripture, in honor of their dad’s, pop pop’s, memory. They spoke much of Ken’s love for his Savior, Jesus Christ.

Old Testament Readings:

Isaiah 40:31 ~ …but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 45:22 ~Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Isaiah 12:2 ~ Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

Psalm 56:3-4 ~ When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Joshua 1:9 ~ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

New Testament Readings:

John 14:1~ Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

1 Peter 5:7 ~ …casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Philippians 3:20-21 ~ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

My brother-in-law led the congregation in singing. We sang, How Great Thou Art, It is Well with my Soul, and “God be with you till we meet again”.

God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

Our kids and our nieces with Ken’s daughter.

After the beautiful service we had time to catch up with friends and family at a reception at the church. It was so good to see old friends we haven’t seen for ages. I should have taken more photos.

All my sisters in order of birth.

My college bestie who was married to my cousin.

My dear friend, Ken’s beloved wife, Heidi.

The memorial for Ken was held at the same church that Ken and Heidi got married in back in November of 1978. I was the matron of honor, pregnant with our firstborn son. Greg and I were both in the wedding. We met Ken when he started dating Heidi.

The photo above is after the wedding reception at our home in Huntington Beach. Ken and Heidi opened wedding gifts and then changed and headed off for their honeymoon. That’s my dear old Pop watching on. Heidi and I spent so much time together that she was part of the family.

The upper photo in the collage was Christmas 1979 when they were expecting their first baby and the two lower photos were of our last time together as couples in November of 2025. Ken and Heidi traveled to our home to visit. It was a precious time of catching up and of also understanding that these were Ken’s final months on this earth. We had a glimpse of the suffering that they were in the midst of. It helped us to know how to pray for them in the months after this visit and leading up to Ken’s death.

This next song was one that Ken listened to the last months of his struggle and one that comforted him. He shared it with his dear family. It was played at the end of his memorial service.

It is such a comfort to know that Ken is with his Savior, Jesus Christ and that his suffering on earth is over.

Till we meet again, Ken, at Jesus’ feet!

Sibs and Sips Hodgepodge

All my living siblings in 2003 in age order left to right, oldest to youngest. I’m in the middle.

Time once again for the Hodgepodge questions from Joyce!

1. Egg on your face, putting all your eggs in one basket, a good egg, walk on eggshells, nest egg, or a tough egg to crack…which eggy idiom currently applies to your life in some way? Explain

This one wasn’t easy for me. I’ll go with walk on eggshells because of my whole Plantar Fasciitis episode in 2025. I try to walk lightly and I don’t jump or run or stay on my feet in general for long periods of time. I threw caution to the wind on our latest trip in Europe and England where we walked and walked and were on our feet every day. So thankful that my feet survived.

2. April 7th is National Beer Day…are you a beer drinker? If so do you have a favorite?

I do enjoy a good beer once in a while and especially on a sunny day. (Don’t tell my mom…oh never mind she’s in heaven now and she doesn’t care anymore.) Speaking of my mom, today was her birthday when she was on earth. She was a good Russian Baptist…no drinking, no smoking, no dancing, no gambling, no cussing. 🙂

IPA’s and Dark beer, like Guinness, are favorites.

These photos, above and below, are from Bratislava, Slovakia. These are the two beers that are brewed at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant, a Slovak beer hall housed in an 18th century monastery.

I’ll have a full post soon about our time in Bratislava.

Beer battered fish, beer bread, beer can chicken, beer brats…which one sounds good to you? Have you made any of these?

Beer battered fish and beer can chicken sound the best to me.

3. Do you have siblings?

I have/had eight siblings. Our oldest sister died in Persia/Iran when she was only two.  I have seven living siblings, three sisters and four brothers. Four of my siblings still live in Southern California. Two (the twins) live in Texas. I’m the only one in the state of Washington.

Here is our oldest sister, Kathy, who died in Persia and what our Pop wrote about her in his life story.

On April 25, 1944 our first daughter was born.  She was the ideal baby – beautiful, happy, loveable.  Then in early 1946 she contracted dysentery and died. Our hearts were broken.  In addition we as parents were blamed for her death because we didn’t have a dedication ceremony for her when she was born – neither in the Baptist or the Molokan church – because we could not agree as to what church should conduct it.  This guilt added to our grief. But fortunately, it was mitigated with the birth of our second daughter, Kathy, in May of 1946.

Yes, they named their second daughter Kathy, too.

What’s the best thing about being your sibling? If you don’t have siblings, what would you say are the pros and cons of being an only child?

I keep in contact and check up on my siblings. On many occasions, I’m the communication link for us all. Over the years all of my siblings (but one) have stayed in our home for an overnight or longer visit.

My older brother has chosen to separate himself and his family from the rest of us for the past twenty or more years. It is hard to understand and sad for all of us.

4. How do you feel about floral scents in products? Do you have a favorite?

I’d rather enjoy real flowers with their scents. I’m not a big fan of manufactured scents in general. Subtle fragrance in candles are okay. I like a clean light citrus scent. If I was to pick a floral fragrance, I’d choose lavender.

5. What’s one thing in your home that begins with the letter G that you would say is a keeper, something you’ll hold on to? Tell us why.

I could have said the Grand Piano but that is slated to go to our daughter in the future.

I’m going with goblets. I like a nice goblet to set a table with. When we moved I scaled down on my goblets but I still have a nice collection in different colors and clear glass, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It has been so beautiful here the past several days.

I finished this very hard puzzle yesterday. It was a challenge and it felt good to put the last piece in!

I’m still basking in the celebration of Easter and my wonderful Savior who when I repented gave me immunity with his own life and not just immunity but I was delivered by God from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

“How Can Elsie Run?”

From my readings in a devotional by John Piper called Taste and See -Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life – 140 Meditations. I’m sharing part of Meditation 50 (How Can Elsie Run? How to Run and Box when You are over 80) I’ve highlighted in bold parts that really spoke to me…

…”Are running and boxing only for the fit and hardy?
The answer is that we all must run, whether old or young, whether sick or healthy. And this is possible for the sick and senile because the race is run with the heart, not the legs, and the fight is fought with the heart, not the fists. It is a race and a fight not against other athletes, but against unbelief. It is possible for the aged and weak to win this fight because the fight is a fight against lost hope, not against lost health.
Here’s the biblical evidence for this. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul says to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession” The fight is a “fight of faith.” It is not a fight to get out of bed, but to rest in God.It is not a fight to keep all the powers of youth, but to trust in the power of God. The race is run against temptations that would make us doubt God’s goodness. It is a fight to stay satisfied in God through broken hips and lost sight and failed memory. The race can and may be run flat on your back. In fact, it may be run and fought better by the paralyzed than by the able and seemingly self-sufficient.

…Finishing the race means not giving up the hope of the gospel. It is a race against hopelessness, not against flawlessness.

When we cheer on the diseased or aging runners who run their final laps in hospital beds, what we are really saying is, “Do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35) The finish line is crossed in the end, not by a burst of human energy, but by collapsing into the arms of God. And let us not forget: In the Christian race, we do not finish alone. We finish together. It is part of the rules. “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13)”

My mother finished her race and “collapsed into the arms of God at the age of 90 on September 13th, 2013. This happened to be her and my pop’s 70th wedding anniversary. Her family came around her in her last days and she did not finish her race alone. I wanted to share this short excerpt from my mom’s eulogy that my youngest brother gave at my mom’s funeral services on the 27th of September.

“Thank you for coming today to help us honor and celebrate the life of our Mother,
Grandmother, Great Grandmother, Aunt and friend, to support her Husband, our Pop –
but most of all to thank the Lord for a life redeemed and well lived and to be reminded
that eternal life means that there is more life to come after we die, a life characterized
by the resurrection life and body of Jesus Christ. God has not abandoned Mom, but He
promises because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that she will be made like Him,
forever experiencing the fullness of life that is called eternal life and is available to all of
us through faith in Christ. Our Mom is in the hands of God and there is no better place
for her to be.

Until we see her again, we mourn our great loss but celebrate her GREAT gain. As
Proverbs 31:31 says “Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her
praise at the city gates.”

I hope this will encourage someone out there who is having a hard time running. Keep the faith. Keep looking ahead to the Hope we have in Christ. Keep acknowledging God’s goodness to you every day. Blessings on you…

In Honor of the Queen

In many store windows in Oxford and in chapels of the Oxford colleges and other churches there are tributes like these to the beloved Queen Elizabeth II.

On Wednesday afternoon we watched the processional from Buckingham Palace to the Westminster Hall from our apartment in Oxford. Many businesses are short staffed this day so we are enjoying food in our apartment. We overdid it on Tuesday so we scaled back on our activities and stayed in to watch.

Lying in State now as her people file past to honor her.

Memorial and Reunions

Saturday morning June 11th was our friend Alice’s Memorial service in Whittier, California.

Her daughter Svetlana read the eulogy.

Our childhood friend Natalie is musically talented along with her husband and sons and they sang a favorite song of Alice’s, One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus. This is Natalie, her sons, and her husband is in the background on the keyboard.

We were able to take home Alice’s memoir of her escape from China. Alice’s father was Chinese and her mother was Russian.

Alice is on the left and her older sister on the right.

These are the last two paragraphs in Alice’s story of her escape and journey that eventually brought her to the United States. Her story is one of miracles traveling through China to Shanghai and then being able to sail on an American ship to the Philippines.  From there after a few years, her mother, older sister and Alice were finally able to immigrate to the U.S.A. and they landed in San Francisco in January of 1951. Alice was twelve when they arrived in San Francisco.

Five of my brothers and sisters were also at the Memorial and we took some photos together.

It was good to see so many old friends at the Memorial and to catch up on each other’s life events. It was good to great Alice’s kids, nephews, nieces and extended family and old family friends, church friends, and high school friends.

Later that evening some of us gathered at our niece’s home in Huntington Beach for a meal and more time catching up with each other.

 

Three of the four sisters and our friend Heidi with our youngest brother photo bombing.

A good but draining day. My time has been full here in Southern California with more get togethers to come.

Cali Day One

On Thursday we got up at O’dark’thirty and drove south to the Spokane airport for my trip to Southern California. It was a two leg journey for me. First leg from Spokane to Seattle which is a quick hour up and down trip with not much in the world of perks. The second leg was from Seattle to Orange County (John Wayne Airport also known as Santa Ana Airport). The airport is in the city of Santa Ana which is in the county of Orange.

I’m now in the land of Palm Trees but the sun and blue skies are not breaking through the June Gloom here.

My youngest sister works in a high rise that’s close enough to the airport to see the planes landing and she captured my plane as it came in for a landing. She was looking out for it since she would be picking me up from the airport.

Thankful for another safe landing.

Three of us ‘sisters’ enjoyed dinner out at the Black Trumpet in Huntington Beach before retiring for the evening.

The French Onion Soup was delicious and I’m sorry I didn’t take a photo before I destroyed the top of it!

Today (Friday) my sister Vera and I will have a walk along the Pacific Ocean. June Gloom is still happening here so I’m not sure what photos I’ll be snapping.

Our brother from Texas arrives tonight.

Saturday will be a day filled with many reunions with friends and family as we celebrate the life of our friend Alice.

Our daughter Katie with Alice at Katie’s bridal shower.

Our mom and our life long friend Alice. They are both in heaven now.

Trick or Treat Hodgepodge

 

If it’s Wednesday it must be time for Hodgepodge. Click over to Joyce’s blog to join in the fun.

1. Is Halloween a big deal in your neighborhood?

We live out in the country with homes far apart. We do not get trick or treaters. There are some homes decorated for Halloween. Our kids come by all dressed up which is fun. Our church puts on a Fall Fest Trunk or Treat that our grands will go to this year. Last year because it was the only thing happening in town and we had over a thousand people show up. That’s a lot for a town of 5000.

Was it something you celebrated as a child?

Yes we went around our neighborhood with pillow cases for bags. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was out and most houses gave out candy. We enjoyed sorting our candy when we got home. Our father would accompany us.

With your own children?

Yes, we enjoyed Trick or Treating with our kids and seeing all our neighbors.

Do you like candy corn? 

Not particularly.

2. Are you a scaredy cat? About what? 

I’m a scaredy cat about driving in snow or icy conditions.

3. Last time you were somewhere that should have been busy but felt like a ‘ghost town’? 

Nothing rings a bell.

4. Do you like chili and if so how do you like it?

Funny you should mention it but I made a pot of turkey chili Tuesday.

Beans or no beans?

Yes, we like to add black beans and a can of Pinto Chili Beans

Meat or no meat?

Yes, meat.

Beef or chicken?

Beef, chicken or ground turkey

Spice or no spice?

Yes, jalapenos and chili and cumin.

Favorite toppings? 

5. Would you describe yourself as a night owl? What time of night qualifies? What are you doing while everyone else is asleep? Do you then ‘sleep in’? Define ‘sleeping in’. 

Not a night owl.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our son Josh was able to fly down to our nephew-in-law’s father’s memorial service last week. These are some of our nieces, nephews and our son together at the memorial. We couldn’t attend but were glad that Josh could be there in person to represent our family and to support Lenny and his family as they grieve.

Love each other, stay together.

Farewell…

Taking the day off to honor and remember our 41st President George H.W. Bush. He will be eulogized by his son, our 43rd President George W. Bush.

Our childhood friend George Katkov is also being laid to rest today. Sorry to miss his service in Southern California. Thinking of the family and praying for them.

I’ll be back to share about our quick trip across the mountains later this week.

Tuesdays With Moisi

The Reception:

After the graveside ceremony we all got in our cars and headed to Fullerton for a luncheon reception at an extension of EVFree Fullerton. We are thankful for them allowing us to use their facilities.

Our brother Tim left the reception before we thought to take a sibling photo.  There are 8 siblings that have survived our parents. Seven of us were together for our Pop’s funeral gatherings. We have one brother who made the choice along with his family of 12 (wife, 4 children, their spouses, and 3 of our pop’s great grandchildren) not to attend and we don’t know why. Just keeping it truthful and real. I haven’t seen this brother who is a couple years older than me since 2009. They didn’t attend our mother’s funeral, either. I’m sure they have their story but it’s a bewilderment and causes sadness to the rest of us.

But…the rest of us gathered and were comforted with all our extended families and friends who did honor our dear old Pop and us by showing up and giving us hugs and encouraging words, grieving and rejoicing together.

Our parents’ grands and great grands minus about 17…

Dear’s side of our family. Bottom left is Dear with his only brother. One of his daughters, who was in Southern California, was able to attend the funeral with him.

A few more photos from my DIL’s phone. We had a good time of impromptu singing some of our favorite songs in Russian with a few of our former church buddies from the Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles that we were part of for many years.

Josh with his cousins Hope and Andrew and his niece Addy.

Addy with her cousin once removed, our niece Debbee.

Starting next week Tuesdays with Moisi posts will begin to share the story of my Pop’s life that was given verbally by him and transcribed by a journalist from Russia.

This photo is of Pop barbecuing Shashlik (Marinated Lamb Kebobs) for his birthday party in the early 90’s.

Happy Tuesday y’all. The air is clearer in Northeastern Washington, woohoo! So thankful!

Tuesdays with Moisi

From our Hillside Chapel service we got in our cars and traveled the short distance to our pop’s graveside next to our mom’s in the Summer Terrace area of Rose Hills. Many of our relatives are buried in different sections of this Memorial Park.

Rose Hills Memorial Park was founded in 1914 by Augustus Gregg on part of the historic Rancho Paso de Bartolo land grant. Whittier Heights Memorial Park, as it was originally known, began as an 18-acre cemetery serving the burgeoning city of Whittier. … At its largest, the park once spanned nearly 2,500 acres. Today, Rose Hills Memorial Park covers more than 1,400 acres, making it the largest cemetery in North America.

Our 93 year old aunt, Pop’s sister was a real trooper hiking up this slope with help from her grandchildren.

Our two sons, Josh and Dan.

Our nephew Andrew giving his respects.

Hope recited the 23rd Psalm in English.

Our parents lie side by side. My mom’s headstone reads “The Lord is my shepherd;… and on my pop’s headstone to the right of my mom it reads, “I shall not want”.

Hope’s dad, my brother Leonard, read the 23rd Psalm in Russian.

My pop’s grandsons Caleb and Joseph gave the graveside messages.

Some of Moisi’s granddaughters.

Dear’s only brother with one of his three daughters, Annie, our DIL Jamie and Addy.

Jamie and Addy with Addy’s great great aunt Anna who is our pop’s sister and the last surviving sibling in our pop’s family.

We don’t shelter our children from death and funerals.

We always do our part in burying our loved ones.

From the graveside services we drove to Fullerton for a catered reception that our dear old Pop provided the money for. We are grateful to EV Free Fullerton for allowing us to use one of their large halls. Next Tuesday with Moisi I’ll have photos from the reception.