I met Charles Richard Elkins 42 years ago at an old country church in southern Indiana. He was the song leader, long before there were worship pastors (and if you know me, I am not against worship pastors!) He had a booming, yet not overbearing, beautiful tenor voice. It would carry without need of too much sound equipment, although there was one microphone protruding from the wooden pulpit.

He sang songs such as In the Sweet By and By, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, O I Want to See Him, Victory in Jesus, I Need Thee and How Great Thou Art. He could lead a group of people in congregational singing like few could. He wasn’t an outwardly emotional person, although, down through the years I did see an occasional tear being wiped away when ushered into the presence of God or a new grandbaby came along.

He was faithful. Being a masonry contractor and a farmer, he was a very busy man. But when it would come church time, there he was, with his family, sunburned with his famous red face and white head. (John Deere hats were a necessity to keep that head from being the color of his face!) He owned two cars the entire time I knew him. Both bought new and driven until Tava probably insisted it was time to trade. He could have bought a new one whenever he wanted but that would have been wasteful and he was never wasteful.

He loved his work and was one of the best. You can drive around our college town and see so many structures that he created or helped restore. From houses to banks, hotels, office buildings, or my favorite, a brick serpentine wall that seems to crawl down Second Street, he could do most anything in our opinion.

Serving at the end of the war, he was sent to process POW’s as a dental assistant. He even considered that line of work after the war but never pursued it. He was to be outside, working with his hands and giving others opportunity to learn the craft as well. He hired his brother and brother-in-law, among others, and Elkins Masonry was born. All three of his sons helped him at some point in the business but he truly didn’t want them to follow in his footsteps, the work was hard.

While in the service, still stateside, he helped start a brand new work in a small town outside of Camp Crowder, Missouri. He wasn’t a preacher, but of course we all know God doesn’t require a license to spread the Gospel. He just saw a need and with the help of a few of his buddies, began a storefront church to bring others to know Jesus Christ.

This unassuming, 6 ft. tall man with a limp, was my father-in-law, Dick Elkins. Today would have been his 90^th birthday but, unfortunately, he passed away in August, 2001 from amyloidosis, a disease where your body makes too much protein. (It’s much more complicated than that but I’m not complicated.)

I can only remember having one argument with this man-of-few-words in all the years I have been in the family, which is a long, long time. We were making our first move away from our hometown, the first of the kids to do so. He was sure that we were making a huge mistake and let me know that. I had never seen him so upset. Our only child at the time was only four years old and I know that was a huge part of it. But just a few short years later when that son, the one we call The Sweetheart around here, graduated fourth in his class, and went on to be an air traffic controller and supervisor at the Indy Center, he was nearly beaming from his seat at the graduation ceremony in Oklahoma City.

Several years later, we found ourselves buying the farmhouse where they had raised their kids after Dick had subdivided the farm and built a new house for him and Tava. We were ecstatic to be back by family even though it meant an hour commute for The Sweetheart. As much as we loved raising our boys there, God had other plans and seven years later we were moving again.

By then he was not doing so well in health and didn’t have much strength in his legs. That didn’t keep him from puttering around the subdivision, checking on new houses being built and getting in his visiting on his golf cart. We gave them the news and as was his nature, his silence was deafening. Finally, he just wheeled the golf cart around and drove away.

Does that mean he wasn’t supportive? Absolutely not. He understood the call of God on a family’s life, they all had one, but theirs didn’t mean leaving family and that made it just plain hard.

His wife, my mother-in-law, Tava, will be celebrating her 90^th birthday April 29, which is also always their wedding anniversary. She is excited to know that she has made it that far. But today, we will celebrate and remember that Dick would have turned 90 first, on March 8. I don’t think that has registered with her yet, that he would have made the milestone before she did had he lived. (smile)

Happy 90th Birthday, Charles Richard Elkins, and thank you for all you did for your family to make life easier and memorable. You would be proud of your 13 grandchildren, some you were never privileged to meet, and your two great-grandchildren, plus two on-the-way, and of course the new inlaws that have joined us to make our family complete.

Because of your sacrifice and dedication, your family is serving God today. All of your children are in the ministry in some capacity. Your grandchildren include a pastor’s wife, two worship pastors, church board members, praise singers, Sunday School teachers, choir directors and musicians. And who knows what the great-grands will be called to do in the Kingdom of God. Our lives are centered around that and we thank you.

If any of the rest of the family were writing this today, they would add their love and memories of things you have done for their families as well and how much we miss your words of wisdom. We also wish you could see how we fill up the house when we gather together. It won’t be long until we will have to find other places to meet to accommodate the crowd that started with only two so many years ago.

Happy Birthday!