On October 15th, my beloved mother-in-law, Leona Hinze, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has now passed.

She was a courageous woman to the very end, and one who experienced many changes in her ninety-one years. For 68 of those years, she played the organ for her church, St. John’s Lutheran. In my 34 years with her, she often said when she reached playing for a hundred weddings, she was going to retire, but then someone would ask her to play for their wedding and she always did. At the time of her death, she had played 127 weddings and over 300 funerals.

Music was her ministry and her passion, and I, along with many others, were privileged to hear her express her heartfelt passion often and for a long time.

Once, when I thought I was dying, I told her I had been blessed. I’d had a life of being well loved and of loving well. In real life, that’s about the best it gets. A few days before her death, she told me that she’d thought about loving and being loved and she’d been blessed with a wonderful life. Now and forever all of us treasure those words from her and we’re comforted by them.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested contributions to the Leona Hinze Memorial Fund at St. John’s Lutheran Church. The address is 3316 Hummingbird Lane at Hwy 77, Robstown, Tx 78380. This memorial fund is dedicated to a new organ for the church.

Blessings,

Vicki