Mr. Meineker's work and recommendations made on behalf of the Department continue to be highly regarded and respected by the judiciary. He continues to perform pre-trial interviews and presentence investigations in an above satisfactory manner. He has excellent working relationships with the judiciary, attorneys, personnel of other agencies, his colleagues and supervisor.

Mr. Meineker is proficient in conducting presentence investigations utilizing ICON. He conducts himself and performs his duties in a very professional and organized manner.

This will mark the last performance evaluation this supervisor will conduct on this employee. Mr. Meineker retires on June 27, 2002, after being employed by the Department for 23 years. I have been his supervisor since 1986 and can honestly say that I have never worked with anyone who has a stronger work ethic than Mr. Meineker.

He is well organized and extremely efficient. I have very much enjoyed working with this employee and the Department, while losing his valuable talents, wishes him the best as he departs to the next chapter of his life. Mr. Meineker is encouraged to make the most of his retirement and have an enjoyable time.

Funeral Service For Edwin C. Meineker

June 27, 2006 – 4:00 PM

ORDER OF WORSHIP

Prelude

Opening Sentences

Invitation

Invocation

Obituary

Family Memories

Hymn #178 – “He Who Would Valiant Be”

First Reading – The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Second Testament – Matthew 25:14-22

Hymn #9 (vs 1,2,5,6)

           “Our God, Our Help In Ages Past”

Message Of Hope – “Good and Faithful Servant”

Prayer Of Thanksgiving

Music #263 (vs. 1-2)

            “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

Commendation

Benediction

Funeral Service for Edwin C. Meineker

January 13, 1928 – June 18, 2006

June 27, 2006 – 4:00 PM

Prelude

Opening Sentences – John 3:16-17, 11:26 & Matt. 11:28

God so loves the world

That God gives God’s only Child,

That whoever believe in God shall not perish

But shall have eternal life.

Like a seed planted in the soil,

God comes into the world,

Not to condemn the world,

But that the world might be saved.

And so our Christ proclaims,

“Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.”

Invitation

Friends, we gather in the presence

Of God’s healing love.

Here we are free to pour out our grief and anger,

To feel our loss and to face our own mortality,

While knowing that God cares.

We gather here as children of God,

to support one another in our common loss.

We gather to hear God’s words of hope

That can drive away our despair

And move us to offer God our praise.

We come to commend to God

The life of Edwin C. Meineker

As we celebrate the good news of resurrection.

For whether we live or whether we die,

We belong to Christ

Who is the Savior both of the dead and the living.

Invocation

Tender God of Mercy, who gave us the gift of life,

The power to love, and the assurance of grace,

Hear our prayers and share in our grief

At the loss of a beloved Husband, Father,

Grandfather, Minister, Friend and Neighbor.

Heal our wounded hearts made heavy with sorrow.

Through the veil of our tears

And the silence of emptiness,

Assure us again that ear has not heard,

Nor eye seen, nor human imagination envisioned, what You have prepared for those who love You,

Through Christ Jesus, the firstborn from the dead.

Amen.

Obituary

     Edwin C. Meineker, was born on January 13, 1928 to Viloa Chalker & Adam F. Meineker, the second of two sons.  Born and raised in Rensselaer, Ed graduated from Rensselaer High School in 1946.  He received a BA in History, Psychology, and Sociology from Williams College, A Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Sacr4ed Theology from Bangor Theological Seminary, a Master in Science in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut, and a MA in History from the University of Nebraska.  In 1958, he was ordained by the Congregational Christian Church, predecessors to the United Church of Christ.

     On November 5, 1949, Ed married Carol Wheeler and began a family of three children, Joan Wellman, Edwin, Jr., and Nancy Smith.  On April 26, 1975 Ed married LaDona Bach Waldon and he became the stepfather to three more children, LaDona Fiskin, Sheri Wilson, and Jeffrey Waldon.

     Ed served Churches in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Southwest Iowa, and Illinois, retiring in 1993 from the Hickory Grove United Methodist Church in Wacker, Illinois.  In 1979, Ed went to work for the Department of Corrections as a Probation/Parole Officer in Illinois, retiring from that work in 2002.

     Ed is survived by his wife of thirty years, LaDona; by six children Joan, Edwin, Jr., Nancy, LaDona, Sheri, and Jeffrey (and their spouses); by nine grandchildren, Joseph, Jacob, Joshua, Jennifer, Emily, Amber, Anthony, Matthew, and Grant; by numerous nieces and nephews, by a lifetime of parishioners, friends, neighbors, and companions.

     Ed died Sunday, June 18, 2006 at the age of 78.  “Don’t grieve for me; celebrate my life, particularly my life with each on e of you.  Remember the good times, the smooth times, the loving times, the fun times, the anticipatory time.  And when next we meet, it really will be at Jesus’ feet.  Do not grieve when we part, for God will watch between me and thee until we are together again.”

Comments of the Family

Music #178 – “He Who Would Valiant Be”

First Reading – The Prophet on Death

Second Testament 0 Matthew 25:11-22

     For it will be as when a man going on a journey, called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his or her ability.  Then he went away.  He who had received the five talents went away.  He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more.  So also, she who had the two talents made two talents more.  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.

     Now, after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.”

     His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set your over much; enter into the joy of your master.”

Music #9 (vs, 1, 2, 5, 6) “Our God, Our Help In Ages Past”

Message of Hope – “Good and Faithful Servant”

  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in they sight, O God, my rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

     Ministry is an odd vocation, as anyone who has ever lived with a minister can tell you.   Perhaps paradoxical is a better word than odd.  Ministry is a paradoxical vocation.

     On the one hand, ministers perceive with great clarity the truth that lies embedded in life.  At the same time, we know in our bones that the truth of God wrapped in mystery, which lies beyond the ken of human mind.  With honest conviction, ministers profess the firm foundation of God on which all life exists.  With the same breath, ministers are called to speak to questions that have no answers beyond faith.  Ministers are called t live in the image of Christ in the full light of the day.  Yet, at the same time, ministers are more deeply aware of the darkness in our own lives and in the lives of all fallen human beings.

     The paradoxes of ministry are part of the reason ministers often turn to parables and poetry to think about the nature of our faith, the essence of what we believe, or the character of our hope, especially in time of death.  Early in ministry, one learns that ministers are experts on death.  A minister’s expertise is not necessarily in dealing with grief or helping those who grieve.  The expertise of ministers comes from a familiarity with death and the rituals of death.  Ministers become familiar with the emotions, hopes, and dreams that surround human understandings of what lies beyond the pale.  Besides funeral directors, ministers participate in more deaths than any other member of society.  The same can be said about weddings, but that calls for a very different kind of expertise.  Familiarity with death gives ministers a kind of comfort with the songs of silence of the river Styx from which we all must drink.  Death is not a stranger, but a companion in life.

     It is a paradox that one can become familiar with the unknowable – yet in ministry one grows to recognize that death and life are truly one – as Gibran suggests – even as the river and the sea are one.  I do not know how many funerals Ed celebrated in his ministry, but his vocation brought him into the intimate contact with the thin veil of mystery that surrounds the light of life and death.  In sitting with people who are dying or who are grieving the death of a loved one, ministers, like Ed, are privileged and honored to be a part of that intimate moment when people come into deep contact with God – for it is often in contemplating death that we discern God’s presence most fully.

     Of course, our faith rests in the Christ, who came into the world to that we might know the assurance of God’s promise and presence beyond the tomb through the power of the resurrection.  Yet, it requires some very specific talents to discern the power of resurrection in life.

     In listening to the stories of Ed’s life, it is clear that he was familiar with the paradox of ministry – both the light and the darkness, the pain and the joy.  It is also clear that he accepted the call to ministry with a commitment to use the talents God had granted him to help others discern their own spiritual paths.  Like the servant in Christ’s parable, Ed risked everything in serving God, in loving others, and in living life.  The increase he experienced is clear in the lives of those who have gathered here to mourn his death.  But the parable of Jesus goes on and challenges the listener to consider what we have done with our own talents.

     Have we risked them in service or have we buried them in fear?

     Ministry is a paradox in which ministers claim the right to comfort the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable.  Ed served God Faithfully, offering comfort to all in need.  He rests now in the joy of the one he knew as master.   But the challenge of Ed’s life still lies with us – for the secret of faith does not lie in the grave, but the secret of faith is revealed in how we ourselves live.  Let us choose to live in the same light to which Ed witnessed in his life.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

O. God, our strength and our redeemer,

Giver of life and conqueror of death,

We come to you with humble hearts.

With faith in Your great mercy and wisdom,

We entrust Ed to Your steadfast love for him

All the days of his earthly life.

We thank You for Ed’s ministry

among us

the wisdom he shared, the love he practiced,

and the witness he bore.

We pray for his family as they mourn.

Sustain them in this time of loss and loneliness.

From the ashes of our sorrow,

Kindle anew the flames of joy,

And grant us the peace of knowing

 that this – Your child – is with you,

The Mother and Father of us all,

Both in this life and in the life that is to come,

Through Jesus the Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen.

Hymn #263 (vs1-2) – “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

Commendation

Into your hands, o merciful God,

We commend Edwin C. Meineker.

Acknowledge, we humbly pray,

A son of Your redemption,

A good and trusted servant in Your household,

And a faithful minister of Your Church,

Receive him

Into your strong and gentle arms of mercy

and into the company of the saints of light.  Amen.

Benediction

May the Peace of God Creating,

The Love of Christ God’s Child,

And the Joy of the Holy Spirit, be with you.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

Thanks be to God who gives us victory

Through Christ our Lord.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

God is our shepherd, we shall not want;

God makes us lie down in green pastures.

God leads us beside still waters

And restores our souls.

God leads us in paths of righteousness

For the sake of God’s holy name.

Even though we walk through the valley

Of the shadow of death, we fear no evil;

For You are with us, O God,

Your rod and your staff comfort us.

You prepare a table before us

In the presence of our enemies;

You anoint our heads with oil, our cup overflows.

Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow us

All the days of our lives;

And we shall dwell in the house of God forever.

Eternal God, who breathed life into dust

And brought forth woman and man in your image,

We faithfully commit the body

Of Edwin C. Meineker to the earth

With abiding hope of resurrection to eternal life,

Through Jesus the Christ, firstborn from the dead.

Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,

But Ed we commit you to our God.

So may God bless you Ed and keep you,

May god’s face shine upon you

And be gracious to you.

May God look upon you and give you Peace.

     If you care about my father, don’t mourn.  His time with us has passed.  Know that he is beyond pain and accept that he is where he has dreamed of being.  Celebrate his life and rejoice that you were a part of it.
     Each of us will remember Dad in our own way, and in many ways.  My earliest memories are of fun – Having my nose “caught”; being thrown into a lake; magnificent sand castles and elaborate marble rolls; going to bed early so I could stay up later to be terrified by scary TV shows.   Whatever his own life held, Dad tried to make sure that his kids had fun.
     As I grew, I learned that the best fun includes others and is enjoyed through their pleasure: surprise trips to the swimming pool or to Dairy Queen; hiding in a hamper on a Christmas morning to surprise my mother; folding church bulletins to give Dad some leisure time, watching my brother bask in the ownership of his first car; helping my sister to memorize lines in a play and being so proud to watch her perform.
     Education was very important to my father.  Gosh, I was being educated and I didn’t even know it.  Not just “books and school” education (although that was very important to Dad), but hands-on learning.  The idle questions that every child asks were taken seriously by my Dad, and he tried to explain the mysteries of life to the extent of my childish ability to understand.  Trips to museums of Art, of Culture, of History were family outings.  Our annual vacations were field trips – places like Indian Mounds, Mammoth Cave, and the Hermitage were woven into our carefree camping trips each summer.
     Dad had a vision of what he wanted of and for his children, and he did his best to help us to achieve his ideals.  When Dad taught me to consider others, I learned to respect myself.  When Dad encouraged me to collect pop bottles and, later drove Skip and me around on what seemed to be the world’s longest paper-route, he taught me that I have to work for what I want and to be self-sufficient.  When Dad forced me to defend my opinions or decisions, he taught me to think critically and independently.
     I remember testing Dad’s lessons when I was about 11.  I fell in love with a stray dog I’d befriended on my paper route, and, much to my father’s displeasure brought her home.  We had never had pets in the house, and Dad wouldn’t have wanted a dog to begin with.  But when I rationally explained that she could sleep in the garage, that I would pay for her food with my paper-route money and that I would take on all dog-owning responsibility, he had to relent.  I had, after all, just passed those lessons he so diligently taught.
     Eventually, Dad did come to like, and even to love, Laddie.  I realize now that when I brought her home, Dad was afraid that I’d be hurt – she might be claimed, she might get sick, she might run away.  Nonetheless, he allowed me to keep a dog he didn’t want and thus helped me to learn an awesome responsibility.
     That responsibility – caring for his loved ones – is one my father took very seriously, as anyone in our family can attest.  His need to guide us, to educate us and to protect us, was so strong that it could be overwhelming at times; so strong that he found it difficult to let us do the same for him.  LaDona, Dona Ann, Joan & John – thank you for everything you did for him.
     My father always assumed the best of us, and from us.  He didn’t tell me what to do, but expected that I would do my best at what I chose to do.  Even when, as often happened, our opinions differed, Dad asked only that I be true to my own feelings and beliefs, although he did expect that I should have considered those feelings and beliefs and be prepared to defend them.  He wanted us to think for ourselves.  He challenged us, but he respected us.  And even when I made a bad decision, my Dad was always there, just to love me.
     And love is what this is all about.  Love Dad enough to let him go, as he wanted.  Take this time to show your love to the people in your lives who are here to know it.  Don’t mourn – LIVE

     The Rev. Edwin “Ed” C. Meineker, Sr., 78, of Peoria, IL, formerly of Iowa, passed away at 2:05 a.m. on Sunday, June 18, 2006 at Heartland Healthcare Center in Henry, IL.
     Ed was born on January 13, 1928 in Rensselaer, NY, son of Adam F. and Viola J. Chalker Meineker. He married Carol Wheeler on November 5, 1949 in Pittsfield, MA. He later married LaDona J. Basch Waldon on April 26, 1975 in East Dubuque, IA. She survives.
     Ed is also survived by two daughters, Joan Wellman (Dr. John Haugeland) of Chicago and Nancy Smith (Burton) of rural London, Canada; one son, Edwin C. Meineker, Jr. (Leigh) of Taiwan, China; two step-daughters, LaDona Fishkin (Dr. Paul) of Peoria and Sherri Wilson (Kirk) of Letts, IA; one step-son, Gunnery Sergeant Jeffrey R. Waldon (Tamiko) of Summerville, SC; twelve grandchildren, including Joan’s children: Jennifer Swain and Emily Wellman, Edwin’s children: Joshua, Joseph and Jacob Meineker, LaDona’s children: Grant and Alena Fishkin, Sherri’s children: Amber (Donny) Feaker, Anthony (Erin) and Matthew Wilson, Jeff’s children: Huey and Nicole Waldon and Nancy’s beloved pets; and two great-grandchildren, Lily and Bella Feaker. Also surviving are his brother's wife, Florence and nephew, James Meineker.
     His parents and one brother, Frederick James Meineker, preceded him in death.
     In early years, Ed loved building with his hands, especially model ships & camping with his family. Ed’s passions included his wife: LaDona, history, symphonic music, archeology, reading, cooking and video lecture series.
     Ed graduated from Van Rensselaer High School. He later earned his Bachelor of Divinity Degree and a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from Bangor Theological Seminary and was ordained with the Congregational Christian Church in 1958. He earned a Bachelor Degree, with majors in History, Psychology, and Sociology, from Williams College in Williamstown, MA. Ed also earned a Master of Science Degree from the University of Connecticut, with a major in Clinical Psychology, and Master of Arts Degree from the University of Nebraska, with a major in History.
     Ed served student parishes in Frankfort and Carmel, Maine. He was pastor of two churches (a yoked parish) in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts and a church in Hartford, Connecticut.
     Retiring in 1974, Ed was a minister with the United Church of Christ. He served at Peace United Church of Christ in Walnut, IA, Tabor Congregational United Church of Christ in Tabor, IA and First Congregational United Church of Christ in Oakland, IA.
     In 1975, he was appointed to serve Hickory Grove United Methodist Church in Wacker, IL by the Rockford Illinois Conference. He retired from Hickory Grove in 1993, after eighteen years of service. Ed will be greatly missed for his amazing sermons.
     He was a parole and probation officer for the First Judicial District Department of Correctional Services in Dubuque, IA for twenty-three years, retiring in 2002. After moving to Peoria, he and LaDona became active members at First Federated Church in Peoria. There was nothing he could not do, from working on a railroad to engaging judges in a courtroom or counseling a person in need.
     A committal service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Council Bluffs, IA, with a memorial service at 4 p.m. at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Council Bluffs, with the Rev. Anthony Paff officiating.
     Active pallbearers are Ed “Skip” C. Meineker, Jr., Jeff Waldon, Bob Wellman, Kirk Wilson, and Denise Thompson.
     A memorial service will be held at First Federated Church in Peoria, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the charity or church of your choice.
     The family would like to thank all of the healthcare providers who cared for Ed during his illness.