Dear Family and Friends,

     I received several requests to write down what I said at DadŐs memorial service.  I did not use any notes during the service except for the Bible passages, so this message will be the best I can remember plus a few additions. Overall, the testimony should be the same.  I have modified the text somewhat, though to be a letter to those who could not attend the service.

      First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to those who have shown support in so many ways to my family during this difficult  time. When I arrived in Pelham Sunday evening after DadŐs passing, I found two of MomŐs friends, Joann Welch and Sue Rumble, already at the house. The house had been spotlessly cleaned and food had been prepared for the family. I felt very comforted with this outpouring of love from them and many others who stopped by with food  and words of support, and there were many who called to express sympathy and support. Many attended the visitation  and  service, and  I am thankful to those of you who helped make the occasion one that was filled  with joy and gratitude for DadŐs life, though also sharing our burden of sadness.  Many of you also showed support for Mom before DadŐs passing through phone calls and hospital visits. Whether you knew it or not, God was expressing His love to Mom and David and me through you. God blessed my family through you, and I pray He will bless you many times more than the blessings we received.

     I am thankful and proud of the legacy of  love and kindness that has remained in Pelham all during the years I grew up and has not changed since I left. It is true that Pelham has changed considerably in the last 20 years or so, and membership at Hand Memorial Methodist church has declined considerably, but GodŐs love for his people has not changed, and can still be felt strongly here. I am very proud of my Dad (and Mom also, I should add) who were both a strong and active part of the legacy of GodŐs love for his people here in Pelham and elsewhere.

     DadŐs own legacy is that he loved the Lord with all his heart, and to his family he showed unconditional love and commitment that honored God. His life and ministry to others are evidence of ChristŐs overflowing love that lived in his heart. As it is written in GodŐs word:

Love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

                                                                      1 Corinthians 13,1-8, NIV

     Anyone who knew my Dad would agree that you could easily substitute his name in place of the word  ŇloveÓ in this passage.  Dad showed his love for David and me in the most excellent of ways: he was always telling us how proud he was of us, and he always wanted to spend time with us.  David and I enjoyed spending time in his office with him when he was president of the Hand Trading Company. We went with him to the Albany airport when we were young to watch the airplanes land and take off, and Dad renewed his pilotŐs license so he could take the whole family on an airplane ride in order to celebrate DavidŐs 6th birthday. We went to see air shows to see air force jets and other military aircraft perform. We would build model airplanes and rockets together, and then go to my granddaddyŐs farm to shoot the rockets into the air in a field and watch them parachute down. Some of those rockets are still on the mantle of the fireplace in the den of momŐs house, as a reminder of his legacy of love for his sons.  There is also an old, faded newspaper article on the wall showing him and David and me at a Rotary club meeting and shooting off those rockets in a field with other Rotarians and their children. 
He loved that hobby so much he wanted other dads to share it with their children.  Dad also was good at telling David and me how proud he was of us, and I want to say how proud I am of him of how well he loved his sons as well as mom and others.

     Yet Dad also showed his love for his love for his family by how hard he worked at managing the responsibilities of  a home and by providing well for his family. He was a very good steward of the resources God gave him. When I was young he held jobs as a  manager for a fertilizer plant, followed by a stint as president of our family business, the Hand Trading Company. Unfortunately, when I was about 15 years old, the company had to be sold, and he ended up working as a computer programmer for 9 years. He endured some serious adversity in that job that would have caused many men to quit or be broken by health problem. In the end he did quit that job, was unemployed for a year at age 58, and finally took a job as bookkeeper for the remainder of his working years. I am sure that Dad was disappointed in not having work as fulfilling or rewarding as he did in his younger days, but he never let it get him down. He always persevered through adversity through faith and hard work. He was very fortunate to not struggle with materialism as so many men do. He did not care at all if our house was relatively older and smaller than most of our neighbors, the important thing was he paid the mortgage off in just 15 years or so. He had no problem at all with driving older, rusted cars rather than buy one he couldnŐt afford. I remember being very upset with him when I was about 14 or 15 years old and we had only one car in our family, an old Chevrolet Nova with almost 200,000 miles on it. Let me tell you how proud I am now of how disciplined he was with our family finances!

     Dad showed discipline and perseverance in other areas of his life as well. He lived well the truth in GodŐs word:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
                             Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV
     Dad enjoyed running during his middle age years.  We still have a trophy on our mantel along with those model rockets that is evidence of his passion at that time. On the trophy is inscribed an award for 2nd place in his age division, age 46-48, in a walk-a-thon to raise money for a home for troubled teens called Vashti. Dad was running at least six miles a day at one point, and I know he benefited from that exercise. Dad would slow down to walking later in life, but he still enjoyed walking as much as he could around our small town of Pelham. He continued to walk often even during the early and moderate stages of his dementia.

     Dad walked with God during the last 19 years of his life. He was always a conventionally good man, but he did not really understand GodŐs desire to have a personal relationship with him until about 1990. Once God broke through that barrier to him, we were all amazed at how much more loving he became. God called him to serve in the prison and jail ministries in the local area, and he served with great joy and diligence. God was able to minister to many inmates and their families through him, and I know he was blessed himself through this ministry.  

     I am very proud that my Dad was a man of God, and fulfilled the same charge that the apostle Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11:

But you, man of God, flee from all this and pursue righteousness, godliness faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of the faith.  Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I am convinced that DadŐs name now appears in the Faith Hall of Fame (Hebrews11) along with Abraham, Moses, Paul, Timothy, and all the other saints of the Bible. I can only wonder at the fellowship he may be having with them now, and with the risen Lord himself. DadŐs faith still speaks volumes, even though he has gone to heaven. In fact, I could easily write a whole book on his testimony to God and if the Lord gives me strength and focus, I hope to do so.

    I am grateful to you now, my family and friends, for sharing your interest in my Dad and his life by reading this letter. The Lord has blessed me and my family well through your love and interest, and I would like to ask the Lord in prayer to return that blessing to you fourfold. During the service I asked that God would give encouragement to anyone who needed it, and that no one would leave the service without feeling GodŐs hand of love on their hearts. I am going to offer the same prayer to anyone reading this letter. My heart especially goes out to those who did not have the blessing that I had of such a loving father. My heart  hurts for those who suffered from abusive or absent parents. I know I did nothing to deserve a loving and godly father on earth, and no child ever does anything to deserve a bad home situation. I am keenly aware that there are some of you who are reading this letter to whom the above situation applies, so this prayer is especially for you.
Actually, though, my prayer is for anyone with a burden or pain of any kind, and most all of us have some kind of burden or struggle. 
Here is my prayer for you:

      Lord, you have blessed me and my family so much by the love that has been shown to me through these friends and family. I pray you will bless and encourage everyone fourfold for the blessings you have shown to me through them. I pray no one who is reading this letter will finish without feeling your loving hand upon them. I pray for all those with burdens, for you know my Dad was a wonderful burden-bearer and I praise you for his life. I pray that you will show everyone with a burden that your love is deeper and wider than their burden, and that no situation is ever too hard for you. Lord, please encourage those who are in, or have been in difficult family situations, who have experienced painful rejection at home, or at school or the workplace or anywhere else. Let them know that it wasnŐt their fault, and that your love can sustain them, and you will never leave them or forsake them. You understand their pain because you allowed your only son to experience an excruciating death on the cross so that we can all experience your love and eternal life on earth and in heaven. Again, Lord, may your loving hand be on anyone reading this letter. I ask this in JesusŐ name.


                                                                                     Amen

May God bless you all for your love and interest.


                                                                                     Hollis Hand