Stan Nelson Funeral
July 16, 2010 (died July 13)
Note: Stan Nelson and his wife Margaret came to First Free Wichita during my first pastorate here during the late 70’s. He was the owner of Joyland, the lone amusement park in the area, and he gave us free tickets to bring our son Eddie to the park. Needless to say, Eddie really liked Stan. He passed away a year before I retired.
Obituary: Stanley Roger Nelson was born on June 24, 1923 in Mr. Vernon, N.Y. and passed away here in the Wichita area on July 13, 2010. He lived more than 87 years. Stan’s dad was a milkman for Borden’s Dairy, delivering milk in a horse-drawn carriage. The family was poor and prospects were dim, so Stan joined the army, serving as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying over the Himalayas in the China, Burma, India theater. After the war he came to Wichita to visit an Army buddy, who introduced him to the Ottaway family, who had started Joyland Amusement Park.
Stan enrolled at WSU, where he intended to play basketball, but he contracted tuberculosis and had to return home to NY for two years. He came back to Wichita 100% disabled, but he was not about to accept that as a permanent condition. He re-enrolled at WSU and went to work for the Ottaways at Joyland Park.
Stan started at Joyland by selling tickets at the Dodgem. Soon he met Margaret, who was working the Skeeball! He began to take her home after work, always the perfect gentlemen. But he was not one to let grass grow under his feet, and they got married shortly after Margaret’s 17thbirthday. While attending school Stan worked 2 or 3 jobs, even after their family started. Eventually he got his degree in business administration. Stan and Margaret enjoyed almost 60 years of marriage, as friends, lovers and business partners, an unusual combination, for sure! Eventually Stan moved his parents from New York to Wichita, and his dad worked at the golf course at Joyland.
For more than 50 years Stan and Margaret operated Joyland Park, and countless kids in the Wichita area owe them a debt of gratitude for the wonderful memories experienced there. My wife remembers going to Joyland back in the 50’s, and may have raised her hand on a couple of those questions. I remember going there for our church picnics about 30 years ago, and my son will never forget receiving a free wristband from Stan to enjoy a day at Joyland.
One of Stan’s goals was to make the park accessible and available to all the children in Wichita, and to that end he made many decisions that were not particularly good for the bottom line but stood him even taller than he was in the hearts of the kids. Stan’s life’s work was never about money. He worked for the love of it. He worked his head off in retirement to try to make sure the park could stay open for future generations, but all those efforts came to naught.
Stan was loved and respected by his employees and peers. In fact, in 1972 he became the first small park owner to become president of the International Assoc. Of Amusement Parks and Attractions. As a result of his passion for the industry at large, he was instrumental in helping develop safety standards that have saved many lives. Stan spent countless hours out at the park even after it closed, trying to protect the equipment and rides that he loved. He had to sell some of them off, but he never could bring himself to sell the Merry-Go-Round or the Wurlitzer Organ.
Stan also loved Bible Study, and for many years he was a faithful member of Ed Pointer’s weekly studies, as well as being a faithful attender here at First Evangelical Free Church. He almost always sat in the third to last pew on that second aisle back there.
Stan is survived by his dear wife, Margaret, sons Roger and Steven, daughters Valorie Hagerman and Barbara Ann Bachman, 17 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Welcome: We are gathered here today to pay tribute to a wonderful gentleman, a truly gentle man, Stanley Roger Nelson. We want this to be a celebration, not a wake, a celebration of Stan’s life and his homegoing. There may be some tears, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
My name is Michael Andrus. I became Stan’s pastor in the late 70’s and have been his friend ever since. Some of you go back long before that. All of us who knew him will miss him.
Message: We have enjoyed a wonderful time of remembrance for a very special man. Now I want to speak to you for a few moments from the Bible, which was Stan’s guidebook for life. This is what he wanted for his service–for his family and friends to hear one last time what it was that motivated him and energized him. Stan was a fairly quiet man, certainly not given to street preaching or proselytizing, but he had a deep faith in Christ, and considered his relationship with Jesus to be the most important one in his life.
I want to speak briefly on one of Jesus’ parables–the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, as found in Luke 16.
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
This fascinating little story teaches us that there is a great gulf between heaven and hell–so great that it cannot be crossed after death. The rich man, who lived an ungodly life of selfishness and ease, and cared neither for God nor man, got his due reward after death–he found himself in a place of torment, while the poor man, who enjoyed very little of this world’s pleasures but did honor God, was rewarded with eternal joy in a place called Abraham’s bosom.
It is easy to draw the wrong conclusion from this parable. It would be a mistake to conclude that the rich man ended up in hell because he was rich and Lazarus ended up in heaven because he was poor! That sounds like Liberation Theology, popular in some circles today, but the Bible clearly teaches that riches or poverty do not dictate anyone’s eternal destiny. Christ told this story to jolt the Pharisees (and the rest of us, too) into the realization that their riches could not save them, not that their riches would condemn them.
Several truths are very clear from the story. First, the man in hades was fully conscious immediately after death. Contrary to what many seem to believe, death is not the cessation of existence. This life is not all that there is. Memory, speaking, and pain were all part of this man’s experience in the afterlife.
A friend of mine, Irwin Lutzer, wrote a great little book entitled, “One Minute After You Die.” He opens with these words:
“One minute after you slip behind the parted curtain, you will either be enjoying a personal welcome from Christ or catching your first glimpse of gloom as you have never known it…. While relatives and friends plan your funeral–deciding on a casket, a burial plot, and who the pallbearers shall be–you will be more alive than you have ever been.”
This parable confirms that view.
Second, it is clear from this little story that the eternal destiny of this man was irrevocably fixed. As Abraham says, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” After death it is too late for negotiation, too late for a change of heart, too late for a cry of warning to loved ones still on earth. There is no eternal destiny midway between these two extremes, no purgatory. It will be either gladness or gloom, joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain.
Third, it is also clear that this rich man knew that what he was experiencing was fair and just. He complains about the pain, but he does not complain about any injustice. He was aware that he was experiencing exactly what he deserved. Furthermore, he knew exactly what his brothers would have to do if they were to avoid his fate! They would have to repent, or they would join him in his misery.
One might suppose this man would have wanted his brothers to join him for the sake of companionship. I’ve even heard young people say, with a touch of bravado and an attempt at humor, “I want to go to hell, because that’s where all my friends are going to be.” But this man was more than willing to never see his brothers again if only he could get them to repent and thereby choose the other side of the gulf with Lazarus.
Now obviously the most important question this little parable raises is this: What does a person have to do to be sure he ends up in Abraham’s bosom (or in heaven), instead of in hades (or hell)? The answer is given there at the end of the story (verse 31)–they must listen to Moses and the prophets. In other words, they must pay attention to what God has said through His prophets and apostles in the Bible. Scripture provides the only reliable source of information we have about God or the afterlife.
When the rich man begs for someone to go and warn his five brothers, who are still alive on earth, Abraham’s argument is that if people won’t listen to what God has said in His book, they would not be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead to tell them what the afterlife is like. And, of course, not long after Jesus told this story, He Himself actually rose from the dead, but the vast majority of people went right on living their lives the same way, ignoring His calls for repentance.
Now when we do listen to God’s Word carefully, we discover that there is not only a great gulf between heaven and hell in the afterlife; there is also a great gulf between sinful man and a holy God in this life. And what we do about the gulf in this life determines which side of the gulf we will inhabit in the next life.
I think most people know instinctively that they do not measure up to God’s holiness, and that is why most people pursue some sort of religion. The whole of the history of human religion reveals mankind’s efforts to bridge the gulf between himself and God. Some religions teach that if you perform certain rituals, like christening or confirmation or baptism, you can bridge the gulf. Others tell you that if you do enough good deeds, practice the golden rule, and keep the Ten Commandments with reasonable consistency, you can bridge the gulf.
But the Bible ejects all such efforts. It tells us there is no way for us to bridge the gulf, for no one is righteous, not even one. All have sinned and the wages of sin is death. God, who is holy, cannot allow sin into his presence. That, friends, is the bad news.
But the good news, another term for the Gospel, is that God Himself has already bridged the gulf between Himself and us. He did so when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Now a cross makes for a pretty narrow bridge, doesn’t it? Yes, but again, that’s exactly what Jesus taught. “Enter through the narrow gate,” He said, “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
What does it mean to come to God by way of the cross? It means that we must renounce every pretense of self-righteousness. We must admit that we are sinners and deserve to be separated from God because of our sins. It means that we must recognize that Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, came to die in our place to pay our penalty. And it means we must receive Jesus as our Savior by faith. The people once asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” He answered his own question, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
The Bible makes it clear that someday every one of us will stand before God in judgment. And God is going to render a verdict: either guilty or not guilty. Of all the great truths in God’s Word, the one that means the most to me is the truth that when we receive Jesus as Savior, God declares us to be “not guilty” of all the sins and trespasses we are guilty of. He can do that because Jesus, who had no sins of His own, died for ours. He took our place.
There’s an old saying that a man who serves as his own attorney has a fool for a client. That’s especially true when we are approaching God’s judgment seat. I have asked many people this question, “If you died tonight and stood before God, and He asked you, ‘Why should I let you spend eternity with Me,’ what would you tell Him?” And many have said they would argue that they have done their best or they have done more good deeds than evil ones or they have tried to be a good Christian.
Friends, we will never be acquitted by pleading our own case. There’s no point in even trying. There is an attorney, however, who is able and willing to plead your case for you, and His name is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. If you engage this attorney to represent you, then when the prosecutor, Satan himself, begins to enumerate your many sins before God, Jesus will say, “Yes, I’m sorry to say, my client did that, but I died for that sin and he or she is trusting my sacrifice for forgiveness.”
I am confident that Stan Nelson was relying on Jesus as his attorney and has received from God the verdict, “Not guilty.” Is Jesus your attorney? He can be, even this morning–for anyone who will pray the sinner’s prayer and mean it with his whole heart. I will close with a simple prayer that you may want to repeat silently in your own heart.
Father, I know that I am a sinner and do not deserve to spend eternity with you. I thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place and to forgive me for my sins. By faith I receive Him today and want Him to come into my life and make me a new person. Amen.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the confidence we have that Stan Nelson belongs to you and is right now enjoying the splendor of heaven in the presence of His Savior. We are grateful that you have not left our eternal destiny to chance, but have prepared a special place for those who have received your Son as their Savior by faith.
We miss Stan, Lord. He has touched all our lives in one way or another, and we thank you for the special memories he has left us. We are better because we have known him. I pray for Margaret, for their four children, for their many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Father, give this dear family all the strength they need for the days ahead and the peace that passes all understanding. Help them to realize the special love you have for the widow and the fatherless. May all of us wrap our arms around them and encourage them.
Thank you for the promises in your Word that the separation of death is not permanent for believers. Our Savior rose from the dead and will in like manner raise us up that we might spend eternity together in your presence. Thank you most of all for Jesus and the confidence we can have that we will one day see Stan again if we too know Jesus as our Savior. In His name I pray, Amen!