In Memoriam: Ron Blough

Ron Blough, a 1994 EMS grad passed away suddenly in his home on August 22, 2008. Below is his obituary and the outline of Dr Lonnie Yoder's meditation given at his funeral.

Ronald Lamar Blough was born on October 28, 1953 in Canton, Ohio to Robert Samuel Blough and Mary Edna (Nisly) Blough Miller.

Ron married Rhoda Miller on June 21, 1975 in Burton, Ohio. Their daughter Bethany Blough Simpson was born August 20, 1981 and Brooke Natalie Blough was born September 15, 1986.

Ron was raised and educated in Ohio. He attended the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. and received his master of divinity at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Va.

He worked as a master carpenter until he began pastoring. He pastored three Mennonite churches in Harleysville, Pa.; Louisville, Ohio; and most recently in Greeley, Colorado.

Ron was married to his best friend and soul-mate, Rhoda, for 33 years.

Ron will be remembered as a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. He became an avid birder, gardener, and he love the outdoors and being immersed in nature. He enjoyed cooking gourmet meals for his family and friends. Ron was readily available with a story, warm hug, and a listening ear. He was a theologian who embraced the mysteries of the universe. A gentle and kind spirit who always had a keen curiosity.

“O Mortal” - Ron Blough Memorial Service Meditation, Greeley Mennonite Church Greeley, CO- August 27, 2008 By Dr Lonnie D. Yoder.

Intro

When I woke this morning in the room in which I am staying I saw these words, penned by Longfellow, in a print hanging on the wall “Ah! How good it feels—the hand of an old friend.” But today I can not hold the hand of my good friend, Ron Blough. None of us can. If you are like me, when someone dies, you go looking for them. I have gone looking for Ron in the memories of our times together.

One memory which Rhoda, Bethany, and Brooke will remember is the annual pilgrimage to see the musical drama “Stonewall Country” at the Lime Kiln Theater in Lexington, Kentucky. In that drama, depicting the life of Stonewall Jackson, the final song, which is sung after Stonewall has died as a result of injuries sustained in battle, has this line in the refrain “Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the tree.” On Friday morning Ron crossed over the river and now rests in the shade of the tree. We who gather here today are on this side of the river. And so we gather to celebrate Ron’s life and to mourn his loss.

-it has been requested that we reflecton Ron’s favorite text (Micah 6:8)
-reflect also on Ron’s life and contribution to us all

Micah 6:8

-the text is addressed to “O mortal”
-we are acutely and painfully aware of our mortality in this moment
-each of our “Friday mornings” is coming some day which raises for me “How then shall I live?”—“How then shall we live?”
-this text soars to the heights in that regard
-this text which lives in the Mennonite/Anabaptist DNA
-this text which soars to Olympic heights in its vision

-doing justice
-loving mercy
-walking humbly with God

-but this text which literally soars has little meaning unless it is brought down to the earth and incarnated moment to moment, day to day in our lives
-that is the challenge (we mortals must take this lofty vision and make it real in very practical ways)

Ron’s Incarnation of this Text

-out of many things two stand out (presence and perspective)
-illustrate with two stories/memories our family has of Ron (both are amusement park stories)

-1993-Hershey Park, Hershey, PA-CMC junior MYF outing-Ron was a sponsor (lunch time—sitting in a grassy area eating packed lunches—Ron sitting next to one of the youth (Andy Peifer)—Andy didn’t eat all of his lunch—Ron, in jest, encouraged Andy to eat his meal with classical line “remember, there are starving children in India who would love to have that food”—without missing a beat, precocious Andy reached over, patted Ron’s slightly protruding belly as he looked Ron in the eye and simply said, “Tell me about it—tell me about starving children in India”

-a story where you had to be there to get the full import of what happened
-Ron was the recipient of the punchline in this case
-but the real punchline in this story comes later and is still being lived out in the life of Andy (when Andy graduated from high school, he went into a year of service living and working at a Catholic worker house—the spirit of Micah 6:8 grew in Andy during that year and continues to live in Andy’s life as he does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God
-it would be easy to conclude that Andy is living out Micah 6:8 because of his year with the Catholic worker movement—so it is—but Andy is living out Micah 6:8 also because of Ron Blough—Ron’s presence with him and others as a Junior MYF sponsor

-PRESENCE—among Ron’s many gifts was the capacity to be present

-present with his family (I saw it over and over—with Rhoda, with Bethany and Brooke)
-present with the congregations he pastored and the people in those congregations
-my spirit soared when I would be with Ron during the years he was a pastor (he would often tell me stories of hospital visits, home visits, accompanying people wherever they were—they were not dramatic stories—they were simple stories which reflected beautifully Micah 6:8
-present as a seminary student (Ron was always there)
-wherever he was he was present (what a gift; what a gift which we are missing in powerful ways)

-a second amusement park story—this time—King’s Dominion, Doswell, VA just north of Richmond-our two families were on an outing—our daughters were riding the rides—we happen upon one of the roller coasters—we do the assessment—Who’s going? Who’s not? Rhoda and I take a pass! Ron and my wife Teresa get in line. They survey the ride—it’s a ride where they strap you in standing up—there are multiple complete loops—and one of the loops takes you completely under water—Teresa, who panics at the sight of water, protests and says to Ron “I’m not sure I can do this. I’m scared to death of water”. Ron turned to Teresa and calmly said, “Teresa, if we have problems on this ride, the water is going to be the least of our worries!” His response calmed her, they took the ride, and I can still see both of them smiling broadly as they emerged from the ride.

PERSPECTIVE -Ron had an incredible capacity to see things and see them in unique and helpful ways

-to get perspective you have to start by looking, by paying attention
-I marveled at Ron’s capacity to pay attention
-he looked up (remember his love for birds)
-he looked down (his last contribution to your church newsletter—what he saw in his own backyard) The following is the two paragraphs from Scrolling Good News the Greeley Mennonite Church Newsletter-written by Ron

“At our house in Windsor we received God’s blessings in the form of rain two days in a row last week. It seemed like a long time since it had rained. Even thought I’m still fairly new to Colorado, I’m beginning to appreciate how precious each raindrop is. In the other places I’ve lived, too much rain is a problem more often than too little rain. Maybe that’s why I’m still surprised at the almost immediate effect a day or two of rain can have.

The east edge of our property is beyond the range of the lawn sprinklers and only native plants grow there. As you know, by this point in this hot, dry summer, those plants were almost totally brown and appeared dead. I discovered how wrong that perception was the morning after the second rain when I got up as usual and took the dog out for our morning walk around the property. Nothing seemed different as we walked across the patio and lawn. However, as soon as we got beyond the lawn, everything had changed. There were green shoots sprouting up everywhere. The bases of the ‘dead’ clumps were already streaked with green and the bare ground was covered in new growth that had simply appeared from nowhere overnight. The vegetation was soft and moist instead of crackling underfoot as it had only two days before. It didn’t take much thought to figure out that everything on that hillside had been waiting for water in order to grow and produce seeds and nourish dormant root systems.

-he looked all around (it was fun to be with Ron because of what he saw and the perspective he then brought to what he had seen)

-a classic Ron memory—a group of people are together debating an issue or problem—sides are developing (there is Position A and Position B on the issue)—Ron is usually relatively quiet—Positions A and B are digging in, becoming entrenched, these two positions are all that people are seeing—and then Ron interjects a third way—a new position—a new perspective

-you could always count on Ron to see in a new way

Conclusion

-And so, these two things, out of the many, presence and perspective. Two qualities which bring this Micah 6:8 text down to earth and incarnate it in our lives.
-we now are left behind, we are still here, we are faced with the challenge of living out this wonderful text (we have our own gifts which we can bring—the widows’ mite which we bring to the offering)
-in the midst of our deep grief, I invite us to hold each other, embrace each other—to in the spirit of Ron Blough,be present with each other and gift each other with the perspective we need to move forward.
-I close with the words I wrote on Ron’s Facebook page soon after I learned of his death “I will miss you, brother in Christ and good friend”. Amen.