05/08/2023
Our Pastor, Rev. Gary L. Smith passed at his home in Pt Enterprize, Texas this past week. Pam, Daniel, Amity, Will and Chante have shared the details of his upcoming Celebration of Life, Death and Resurrection.
Gary in his own words told the story about Point Enterprize Cemetery where he will be laid to rest on Monday of next week. I’ve included his words in this email as they are fitting and true. Grateful for them now and I with a heavy heart, my eternal friends, share them with you.
“Cemeteries are sacred places. The trustees and the staff and the volunteers who care for cemeteries do sacred work.
Pam’s great-grandfather donated land 100 years ago to the Point Enterprize School District. A school, an auditorium, and a bus barn/teacherage was built on the land.
In the 1960s the Point Enterprize School was dissolved and merged with Mexia School System.
The land where the school was located was donated to the Pt Enterprize Cemetery.
I spent 31 years in the Air Force. I always told my wife and the Air Force that if anything happened to me that I wanted to be cremated and have my ashes spread at Home Plate on some baseball field.
Then in 2010 or so when we lived in San Marcos, Texas, my wife’s father called her and asked if she wanted to buy two burial plots in the Point Enterprize Cemetery where some other plots were being purchased in the new part of the cemetery by Pam’s parents.
I said, “Sure.” Pam said, “What about you wanting to be cremated and buried at Home Plate on some baseball field?” I said, “Forget that. I know you want to be buried at Pt Enterprize and I want to be buried by you. Buy the plots.” So we bought two plots.
In 2013, we moved to Point Enterprize. At our first community function which was an ice cream social, a man named Ken who was about 75 years old or so, came up to me and said, “Welcome to Point Enterprize. I know where you are going to be buried.”
I said, “How do you know that? I do not even know where my cemetery plot is located.” We had never seen or known where the lots were that we bought.
He said, “You are being buried right at Home Plate.” I asked him what in the world he was talking about. Pam was the ONLY person I had ever told about my wanting to be buried at Home Plate.
He said, “The Point Enterprize School Baseball field was where the new part of the cemetery is now. Your plot is exactly where Home Plate was located. I know because I grew up playing baseball on the Field. I played First Base. I bought my cemetery plot right where First Base was located. You are at Home Plate.”
I said, “Who is on second and third base for us?” He laughed. Those lots are still open.”
Isn’t that a wonderful story of how God works, even in cemeteries?
Words are just fragile tools we use today to pound against the mountain of pain and loss we feel. But all we have today are these fragile tools of words. So today we will use some words to pound against this mountain of pain and loss as we think about Rev.Gary L, Smith and the life that he lived.”
Life is Sacred. Life is Short. Life is a Gift.
