Geraldine “Gerry Rose Hasskamp
Geraldine Rose Hasskamp was born to the parents of Edward Reed and Nellie Shafer on November 6, 1926. She would grow up in Barnesville, Minnesota. It would not be long after graduation that she would marry Henry James Hasskamp on September 15, 1945. Two years later and 77 years to today’s date, Gerry would be baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran faith on December 14, 1947 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Barnesville, Minnesota.
During these many years of marriage, Gerry would be at home taking care of her five children, Barbara, Carol, Doug, Pamela, and Mike. In the fall of 1960, Gerry and Jim would move from Minnesota to Klamath Falls, Oregon. While here, Jim would work and retire from the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1982. After Jim’s retirement, they enjoyed traveling and spending time with their family. They were very active members of the Merle West Medical Center Guild. Gerry would have over 8,000 hours in the guild and would be a president of the Volunteers group.
On May 17, 1998 they would join Christ Lutheran Church. In their membership here, they would become great friends and help out with the instruction of the youth in the church, leaving a memorable impression on many. It is here they would have a celebration of 55 years of marriage. This event was marked with a special occasion of seeing two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren being baptized into the church and a celebration of a one-year anniversary of one of the grandsons.
Gerry is survived by four of her five children, Carol (Geeno) Valdez, Doug (Jamie) Hasskamp, Pamela (Bob) Mecum and Mike Hasskamp; she is also survived by many grand and great, and great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jim (2009), her siblings, Everett, Gordon, Marjorie, and Martha Jane, and her daughter Barbara Walker.
On December 5, 2024, at the age of 98 years, 4 weeks, and 1 day, Gerry died, and her soul was lovingly taken to its eternal rest by her Savior God. Blessed be her memory.
The Christian Funeral of Gerry Hasskamp – Pr. Anderson sermon
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “God will bring with Him those who have Fallen Asleep”
December 14, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Cleanse our conscience, we humbly ask You, Almighty God, by the daily visitation of Your grace, that, when Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, shall come in the company of all His saints, He may find us ready for His appearing, to meet Him without spot or blemish; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p.51)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 4th chapter of St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. We read the verses in Jesus’ name:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who is here today encouraging you with His Word, where you hear He died, rose, and will come again, who has taken Gerry to be with Him, and who will bring peace and comfort to you until you are reunited in paradise: To friends, members, and family, and especially to you Carol, Doug, Pamela, and Mike: Grace, comfort, and peace be with you.
If I started out this sermon by yawning, would it trigger anyone to let out a yawn. For many, it will be a long month as we head into the holiday season, making sure that everything is ready. For some, it might be the busy season for putting together all of the worship services for what this time of year brings. For the family of Gerry, it has been a busy few weeks, and if you let out a yawn, no one will hold it against you. As we gather here and maybe all of us are lacking some earthly sleep and haven’t found any rest, we gather here today because Gerry is resting. Now she isn’t resting because she was tired as she commonly did, but her earthly body has fallen asleep. This sleep though it looks different than climbing into bed, is a sleep of eternal rest. Gerry is resting in the arms of her Savior, just as He promised her, He would bring her in.
Our text for today looks at that eternal rest of falling asleep. Like us here today, the church in Thessalonica needed to be comforted. St. Paul would write to them, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” In the moment, this is one of the hardest things. No matter when or how, it is always hard when the people we love exit this world. St. Paul understood the sorrow we have, so he immediately goes to the place where we find all solace and comfort. He writes that though we mourn, it’s not like the world. We can mourn but our mourning and sorrow will turn to joy and gladness because of the eternal sleep that is in Christ.
In the hustle and bustle, an eternal rest sounds really good right now. There are times it is easy for us to imagine it, especially now as we try to fight the feeling of loss we currently have. As we continue in our lives after today, our own bodies will only get more tired. They will wear out, and they will break down. At a little over 98 years of age, Gerry was doing pretty well physically. Sometimes that happens, but maybe it’s our minds that have begun to break down. Whether it’s our minds or our bodies, by the time we make it to 98 years old if we can, our bodies will not work so well anymore. Gerry understood that at some point this would be the case. Her body would get old, her memories might disappear, and the body God had given her would be called back into the earth. Unless the Lord’s Advent arrives soon, this cycle will continue in this imperfect world. As memories may have been fleeting, Gerry had some memories that remained at the end even as she was getting more rest. Memories of the faith she confessed and as King Solomon wrote, “The memory of the righteous is a blessing” (Proverbs 10:7a).
As the confessions of sins was read and an Amen said, Gerry would hear the sweet words of Her Savior, all of her sins were forgiven. She spoke the same confession of faith we all confessed earlier in the words of the Apostles Creed, and she prayed the Lord’s Prayer we will pray at the end. Her memories of these things were a blessing to her. For in these blessings, she confessed and knew she was a redeemed child of God. Redeemed by the waters of her baptism which happened on this day 77 years ago. For these 77 years, Gerry knew that she could do nothing and did not deserve such love. And just like Gerry, as we know this to be true, we are gathered here today because that is not the end of the story. While completely undeserving, God reveals His love with His Son He sent into the world. He came as a baby in the manger to head to the cross. With the defeat of death in His death and resurrection, He promises He will come again. He comes for us like He came for Gerry, and when our time here is done and like the season we are in, we look forward to when “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.”
The event that Paul records is an event that we all look forward to. While we don’t know when this great day will be, we can rejoice and watch our sorrows flee, knowing Gerry is no longer waiting for this glorious day with her earthly pains. For the past nine days Gerry has been seated in the glorious banquet hall rejoicing in the victory of her Savior. While her soul is there with no pain or suffering, it is at this moment in time during the events of our text, Gerry’s earthly body will be resting and asleep no longer. This body that returned to the ground will rise again glorified as St. Paul writes, “And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” As Gerry’s body stands before the throne of the living God, there your bodies will also stand together.
This is why St. Paul ends our text with this message. “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” We watch for the end not out of fear. We mourn not as one who mourns without hope. We are encouraged because as Gerry will be there on the last day, we will join her with our glorified bodies. With all who celebrate Advent, we pray that this day would come soon. The great day that we will enjoy our eternal rest. For some of us, this day could come soon where we are united with Gerry again. For some of us, we might have to endure more tiring days with little sleep. Whatever the case may be, know that Jesus has not taken Gerry and is only waiting to take you to see her again. As Gerry rests with Jesus, Jesus has not forgotten about you. He is with you in the struggles and the heartache. He is here now as you hear His Holy Word. In His cross you receive encouragement. You receive strength and like Gerry, you won’t be alone. And in the end when it looks like sleep is closing in, with Gerry, you will sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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