Today we bury Elsie.
At 92, she was still young. She emailed. Used Microsoft Access. Was an ace at Wheel of Fortune. She was a regular out at our campfire, spinning stories into the sparks and dark.
We will miss her.
Born in 1924 in Chicago, Elsie once met actor Charlton Heston, at the time a student at Northwestern University. She attended a production at the Goodman Theater. Later that evening, Charlton Heston gave Elsie and her girlfriend a ride from the theatre to their home. Elsie commented that she wasn’t very impressed with him. Then again, that was before Heston used his staff to part the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments.
Speaking of biblical themes, the thing that her children, grandchildren and friends knew Elsie for best was her love of the Bible. She read it, pondered it, lived it, memorized it.
Out at the campground, it was easy to find Elsie on her deck—reading the Scriptures, or should the weather be drizzly, sitting inside, an open Bible on her lap. Her grandson remembers falling asleep as a little child, then waking up and seeing Grandma Elsie asleep…but with a Bible still open on her lap.
Elsie’s love of the Scriptures stands in sharp contrast to the biblical illiteracy that increasingly describes America:
- Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.
- 82% of Americans believe that the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” is actually in the Bible.
- A Barna poll indicated that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
- Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three disciples.
This is just one of many reasons why losing Elsie is such a loss. Our team is down one very knowledgeable Bible reader. But better than merely reading the Word, she really did try to live it out. There could be no better way to close this tribute to Elsie then quoting the passage she loved best, Proverbs 3:5,6:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."