In Memorium

For the past seven years I have had the pleasure of getting to know Rev. Daniel Berry. He was a minister of the Presbyterian Church, (USA.). Rev. Berry graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in 1972 and from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in 1975. Although he lived most of his life in the South, he did serve a congregation of the United Church of Christ in Maine. He was currently serving as pastor of St. Paul's Prebyterian Church in Schulenburg, Texas, when he was called to go to his ultimate home in heaven.

Pastor Daniel was happily married to a lady named Lydia whom he met at seminary. I understand that Lydia originally planned to be a minister herself, but she put this ambition on hold when she married Daniel. The two of them were happily married. One of the things that I most admired about Daniel was his obvious love and respect for his wife. In every way she was his soul mate. Not only did Lydia perform the usual tasks associated with being a pastor's wife, but she also had to travel the extra mile for him. Daniel was blind. There were many tasks that she had to assist him with even though he was fiercely independent. Lydia has my deepest condolences.

I came to know Daniel when he started a southern interests group on yahoogroups. The group is called "anythingsouthern. " I think I was the first person to join. After awhile I became a moderator and helped him manage the list. Anythingsouthern is open to anyone who has a love and yearning for all things pertaining to the south--politics, religion, sports, you name it. There is a link to the right of my blog if you want to see the website. While I was a member of anythingsouthern, I came to appreciate Daniel's wit, his compassion, and his conservative beliefs
about life in general.

Some people who are conservative in politics or religion tend to be rigid or lacking in compassion, but this is not true of Daniel. He had a love of people and a desire to make the world a better place in his sphere of influence. His pulpit included not only his specific church in Texas, but it also included a wider audience through his blog, titled, Straight Ahead (see the link to the right). Daniel was particularly pleased with being able to express himself to the entire universe. His blogs were beautiful expressions of a brilliant soul. Often he would share his spiritual insights, but he did not limit himself to his sermons. There were posts concerning sports, travel, politics, and just about everything in between. He would write about anything that struck his fancy on a given day.

Unfortunately on the afternoon or evening of Nov. 21, 2007, Daniel suffered a fatal heart attack. From what I understand, there was no known history of heart disease in his family. However, I do know that he had been under a tremendous amount of stress this past year. His mother died a year ago. Then there was the trauma of being without a pastorate through no fault of his own. His tiny church in west Alabama could no longer afford to pay his salary, and they had to let him go at the end of June. I think he only had a couple of months to try and find a new church which would be a challenge for an able visioned person, but a real trial for someone who is blind.

In July, Daniel became the pastor of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in an area near Houston, Texas. From all indications, he and Lydia were very happy there. I feel certain that his congregation must be devastated to lose such a wise, experienced pastor. His sojourn there was brief, but he undoubtedly left a little piece of his soul behind.

In closing, I am reminded of the words to the hymn, "Amazing Grace":

"I was once blind, but now I see."

Yes, I can imagine Daniel strolling down the streets of gold in heaven. I can almost hear his rich baritone voice as he sings those lyrics. Heaven has a new saint, but earth will never be the same without him.