Monday, February 25, 2019

2/25/19 Memorial Speech by Daniel


Memorial Speech by Daniel:

     On behalf of my family I want to Thank you all for coming today to celebrate my amazing mom. Thank you to Pastor Bryon, and Phinney Ridge Lutheran for this service and your service to our family. Thank you Jon and Allison for the music, thank you to everyone who helped prepare and serve food. And thank you to Maribeth, Auntie Marti for your words today, and to our scripture readers Riley and Sally.

     I want to tell you a little bit about what my mom meant personally to me—

     They say that nobody is perfect-- but these people never met my mom. My mom was perfect— at least to me, and I am so blessed to have her as my mom, and to carry her in my heart forever. You see, she was not just my mom— she was also my best friend, my spiritual role model, and my hero. Let me tell you why...

     My mom started life with a very difficult childhood, but she grew strong and brave through this. She excelled in school, sports, and had many friends. She met Jesus as a teenager and dedicated her life to Him- this had a tremendous impact on her life, and the lives of countless others. My mom was a devout follower of Christ and she served him with tremendous love and passion every day. My mom graduated from Queen Anne High and went on to Seattle Pacific University where she studied theology to deepen her understanding of her faith, and business-- to help her get a job! She met my dad on the Seattle waterfront, fell in love, and started the most beautiful, loving marriage I’ve ever witnessed. She and my dad served and loved one another faithfully for 36 years. She brought Renée and me into this world and she gave us the perfect home to grow up in-- full of love, God, joy, and laughter. You may have noticed Renée and I never left home the way many kids do— well my parents made our home such a wonderful place— you wouldn’t have wanted to leave it either! We never wanted to be far from it and the love my parents showered on us.

     My mom was an incredible career woman. She felt called to serve the Lord by working for non-profit organizations including local universities, and charities, the longest of which was at Seattle Children’s where she pioneered the major gift fundraising team— which If you don’t know, is how Children’s is able to provide excellent care for sick kids and families at no cost to families who don’t have the means to pay.

     While having a career, my mom always made time to be the best mom in the world-- spending time with us, planning fun adventures with us, exploring with us, teaching us, loving us, making us laugh, and sharing her love of Jesus with us.

     Additionally, my mom was a friend to all- and she struck up genuine conversations and friendships with anyone everywhere she went. My mom had a special place in her heart for marginalized people, LGBT people, and just anyone who was going through a hard time she would come alongside. Look around this room today and you see the evidence of the many deep friendships my mom had.

     My mom was a incredibly loving, compassionate, courageous, kind, intelligent, hilarious, sincere, and humble woman. She lived a beautiful, full life— I could talk about my mom’s accomplishments forever, but here are just a few of my favorites I want to mention today:

1.    My mom Gave birth to Renée and me without any drugs (ouch)
2.    My mom summited Mt Rainer
3.    My mom- just individually- raised over 100s of million dollars for children’s hospital. (Largest gift)
4.    My mom was invited to dinner at the white house and to meet president Clinton and Hilary Clinton.
5.    My mom had the best marriage- she was asked several times to give talks about this to church groups
6.    My mom saved her god son Jericho’s life. She loved him so much Trae and Monica.
7.    My mom fought cancer with courage, faith, hope, humor and strength
8.    My mom inspired and encouraged countless others through her journey- sharing God’s love and salvation through her actions and on her blog through her writing.

     I want to conclude with a short, encouraging note for my mom— the kind you might tape to the refrigerator. She wrote these notes almost every day for my family, in fact we went through so much paper eventually we switched to using a whiteboard. These notes my mom wrote us helped us get through the hard times.

Dear Mom,
     Thank you. Thank you for being the best mom in the world! Thank you for your unconditional love for us. Thank you for your life of humble, faithful service to God. You make it easy for Renée and I to understand and accept God’s love because of the unconditional love you and dad gave us mirrors God’s love for His children. Thank you for the big and small ways you made God’s love tangible through your service to others. Thank you for every adventure, smile, laugh, hug, and moment you shared with us. We are so grateful— and we cherish these memories forever. Thank you for everything mom. We miss you so much. Romans 10:9 tells us: “
if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. Well mom- you shouted these words from the mountaintops and you believed in and loved Jesus more deeply than anyone I know. I am so thankful you are with God now— in the perfect eternal joy of heaven. I can’t wait to be reunited with you in heaven— and to hug you again— but until that day comes, I promise to make you proud, and to follow your example of service to God through service of others. I promise to live by your motto: Eyes on Jesus. I will never fill your shoes, but I will do my best to follow your footsteps. Thank you for being my best friend, my spiritual role model, thank you for being my hero mom. I can’t wait to see you again. I love you forever.
Love, Daniel James







Thursday, February 7, 2019

2/7/19 Obituary (and online guestbook reference)

A quick note to say that we are using Beck's Funeral Home in Edmonds.  They have posted her obituary there.  There is also a guest book ("tribute wall"), in which you can share memories or post comments: 

Gabrielle's Obituary


We will be running an obituary in the Seattle Times this Sunday (February 10).

In case you don't want to go to Beck's website (or wait till Sunday), here it is here.  However, you need to go to Beck's website to write on the "tribute wall".



                                   Gabrielle DUDLEY




Gabrielle Dudley (née Miller), age 58, passed away on Jan. 31 from ovarian cancer, stepping out of time and into eternity with her Creator. No doubt she had a grand reception, waltzing right into the loving arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ, whom she served so faithfully throughout her life. Her mantra was “eyes on Jesus” as she fought cancer with courage and stamina. She wrote openly and inspirationally through her blog (WeLoveGabrielle.blogspot.com). She leaves a huge void in the lives of her husband of 36 years, Dr. Steve Dudley, daughter Renée (Riley) Dudley, son Dr. Daniel Dudley, sisters Marti (Merle) Reeder and Xan Kristjansson, along with a host of extended family and friends.

She grew up on Queen Anne hill, where she showed her precocious confidence and courage in such acts as stopping the school bully and protesting the "no pants for girls" rule at her elementary school. At Queen Anne High she excelled in academics and sports. She then went on to graduate from Seattle Pacific University. In 1978 she met a college dropout on the Seattle waterfront and argued with him about the merits of higher education. Using her powers of persuasion, she convinced him to return to school. He was a hard sell, but Gabrielle--being who she was--persisted and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse: she’d foot the bill, house and feed him, marry him, and give him the two greatest kids in the world. Together they embarked on a grand adventure, creating a loving home that was warm and welcoming to all. Along the way, she swapped her pigtails and overalls for professional business attire and had a stellar career in planned giving and development. She raised tens of millions of dollars for institutions such as UW, WSU, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and SPU. At Children’s, she pioneered the major gifts program and raised money for both research and patient care. She was so successful that when her children were young they drew a cartoon for her office door warning people to “stay away unless you're prepared to write a big check to Children’s." She was a mentor to others in the field, and many former colleagues trace their beginnings to the nurturing she gave them. Gabrielle was also a bold social justice advocate. She was a stand-in mom to many young LGBTQ people and an invaluable encourager to anyone who needed extra support.
Gabrielle loved Jesus, Cannon Beach, great food, deep conversation, laughter, hiking, snowshoeing, boating, traveling, and snorkeling in Maui. She traipsed all over Europe with that same college dropout. She summited Mt. Rainier. She threw awesome parties and was a fiercely loyal friend. She will be forever missed, but always in our hearts.
A memorial service will be held on Feb. 23 at 1:00 PM at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church. All are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to ovarian cancer research through a fund we have

set up for her at Fred Hutch:
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engage.fredhutch.org/goto/gabrielle
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Guest book at: becksfuneralhome.com



Wednesday, February 6, 2019

2/6/19 Memorial service updated time and other things

Hello, everyone.  
First of all, thanks so much for the outpouring of support with all your notes, kind words and assorted meals, baked goods and flowers.  It all means so much at such a difficult time.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give you an update on the memorial service.  The start time is now 1:00 PM, not the previously mentioned 2:00 PM.  Here are the details:


Date: 

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Time: 

1:00 PM

Place:

Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church
(7500 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle)

We will have a service in the main sanctuary followed by a reception in the basement of the church with cookies and other light refreshments.


There is some parking in the church lot, but I have a hunch it may fill up quickly.  Street parking is in the neighborhood, but you may have to walk a couple of blocks.  Please allow time for that.  It is also on some major bus lines going down Greenwood Ave.  


Also, I wanted to let you know about an ovarian cancer fund that we have set up in Gabrielle's honor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (The Hutch) here in Seattle.  Gabrielle had a passion for advancing ovarian cancer research, as well as a passion for fund-raising.  As such, we like to think of this as her first fund raising job in heaven.  We are just her earthly emissaries!  Anyhow, if you have any interest in donating to the cause, or if you would like to learn more about ovarian cancer research, here is the link:





Thanks,
Steve



Sunday, February 3, 2019

2/3/19 Memorial service, save the date

Dear family and friends, 
We have set a date for Gabrielle's memorial service.  

Date:

Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019

Time:

Tentatively set for 1:00 PM, but this may change by an hour one way or the other. UPDATE: Official time is 1:00 at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church. 

Place:

Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church
7500 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

We will have the service in the sanctuary and then repair to the basement for a chance to chat, mingle, laugh, cry and maybe eat some food.  


As before, I would like to thank so many people for their love and support over the years, and especially in this past month.  


And now for a couple of pics: