Apr 29. Mourning Roman’s death and celebrating his life.

Written by Jack van Ommen on April 29th, 2010

The funeral service was beautiful. Meticulously executed, just like Roman would have wanted it and done it. It was a funeral mass. Father Seamus Laverty presided. A tenor sang Roman’s favorites like the Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus. The pianist played “Sheep will safely Grace”, “Jesus Joy of Men’s Desiring” and the like. Amber, Roman’s granddaughter read the second reading for which she had picked Romans 8 verses 35 through 39.

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: 
 “For your sake we face death all day long; 
 we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

This brought strong emotions up in me. This is the same passage that gave strength and hope to our mother when she was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. See her story at  www.cometosea.us/albums/thewar.htm or go directly to www.cometosea.us/albums/omajun45.htm 

I feel extremely grateful to have been part of the farewell service to one of my most precious friends and heroes. May he sleep in heavenly peace.   

 

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Ralph Protsik says:

    Is this the Roman M. Wydra who graduated from Yale in 1965 and attended Bellarmine High School in Tacoma?

  2. Dear Ralph,

    My friend Roman Wydra is the father of your Roman Wydra. Roman Sr.(1912) passed away in April 2010 (see blog of that period) and his son (1944) passed away in Atlanta, Ga. about ten years earlier.
    I have a few names for you from his Bellarmine period, in case that’s your connection. His only daughter lives in San Diego.