Twenty-five miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan is the town of of Troy. For many summers my family made the three hour trip to Troy to pick up a good friend of my mother. Her name was Miss Loella Hobson. Miss Hobson was known to my mother’s family as “Hobby.” She had been a staff member at my grandfather’s church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She taught Philosophy, Greek, and other biblical subjects in various bible colleges. She never married and my mother’s family became hers. My mother, Thelma, was the oldest of the eight children and was always Hobby’s favorite. She had lived with my grandparents helping in the large household. When my grandfather, Rev. E. Howard Paschal, was killed in an automobile accident in 1944, Hobby moved to Michigan and competed a degree in elementary education late in life. She taught in the public school system. She loved to travel in the summers or come to our house for two months. She continued to study biblical literature and often spoke of the Old City of Jerusalem.
One day she bubbled with excitement and shared with me what she was reading about Jerusalem’s Gates. It was something like:
“The walls around the Old City of Jerusalem were built in the early 16th century by Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. While there are many stories connected to the walls of Jerusalem, it is the story of the gates that we want to tell today. Via the gates people entered and left the city. Jerusalem was conquered numerous times, here trading has taken place for thousands of years. And although the gates of Jerusalem were in a slightly different place in Biblical times, the city gates were a place to learn Torah and to teach law. Today, officially there are eight gates in the walls of the Old City, although there are a few extra ‘unofficial’ gates. Seven of the official gates are still in use, while one has been blocked off for hundreds of years.”* Hobby could go on for hours teaching me. She spoke of what it would be like walking through the gates where Jesus had entered the city. She desired to visit Jerusalem someday.
She made me try to feel the dust, hear the many languages and take in the multiple cultures as the pushed their way through the crowded streets She could go on and on! I remember her sitting in the living room reading her bible. Her white hair glistened in the sunlight. She wiped tears from her eyes as she often spoke of Jesus and a New Jerusalem! She was also saturated with current news.
Hobby had been reading about the men preparing to land on the moon and was was looking forward to watching it with us. It was June 1969.
She was retired now but still enjoyed living each day! She wrote books, poetry and about fathers even though her father died when she was a baby. When she arrived in Ft Wayne, Hobby noticed the house next door to my parents was for sale, she starting making plans to buy it A.S.A.P. She also announced one evening that she wanted to go to Hawaii and take my us on that trip!! Hurray, I thought as my father, who had never flown, turned white and almost passed out! On my day off, she asked for me to take her shopping for walking shoes that she would need in Hawaii. So we went shopping. She exclaimed, while trying on shoes, “That big old bruise on my foot is gone. It has been there for some time following a bump on a car door.“ She couldn’t decide on a pair, so she purchased three pairs. We had a wonderful day. She laughed at my silliness and I loved her like a grandmother.
That evening she helped my mother with supper. She put on her bib apron and peeled potatoes and prepared the table. My father asked her to say grace. She touched heaven asking God’s blessing for the food and on the family. We started to pass the food and she wiped her brow. The windows were open and a small breeze blew through the warm house. She sat quiet. Then announced, “I am feeling funny. I think I will go to my room.” My mother took off behind her, then my father and I followed. Mother sat beside Hobby on the edge of her bed and fanned her. She laid her head on my mother’s shoulder and boarded a flight for the New Jerusalem. We called an ambulance. They lifted her limp body and transported her to hospital. We followed close behind. The doctor met to tell us she never responded to treatment. She never uttered another word The doctor said. It appears as though a blood clot hit her heart. I suddenly thought about the missing bruise on her foot. That evening, shortly after giving thanks to God, Loella Hobson, slipped through God’s pearly gates.
The funeral home was filled with friends from the 1930’s and 40’s. Most people had lost track of Miss Loella Hobson. They spoke of her kindness and ability to teach and love children and adults.
I lost a spiritual friend and a mentor, another grandmother. I sobbed hour after hour. She left behind three brand new pairs of shoes for the trip to Hawaii….. that my father didn’t have to make.
Before leaving Ft. Wayne to head to Michigan, for her funeral, we met with the funeral director and he said, “In all of my years in this business I have never cared for someone with such soft and tender skin. Her skin was like touching silk. I don’t know what her secret was but it was like taking a hold of an angel.” I replied, “Sir, you did touch an angel!”
Do you ever wonder what will be said about us when we are gone? Will friends speak of our Christian witness, our character and willingness to share Christ and how we loved and forgave others. We all have a legacy that we have been building for many years.
I know that setting our life on a properly placed Corner Stone makes all of the difference. God commissions all of us for service. He can break through all of our plans and call us to serve around the world or report to heaven at any time.
We learned later that Miss Hobson had told her neighbor in Michigan that, “I don’t know why I sense what I do but I think I am going to my ‘daughter’s house’ to die but I am not worried.”
My mother, father and I watched the first moon landing. I thought it was phenomenal but tears trickled down my cheeks as I missed Hobby. Just a few days earlier she took a different journey. The premonition she told a friend came true. I now sing a song that I understand so much better.
“What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
When I look upon His face
The One who saved me by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me to the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be!”
(Written by Jim Hill)
— Pastor Carl Romey