[Magdalen] Interesting Funeral

[Sibyl Smirl]

I'd wondered about the picture on Facebook.  Someone posted a bit of art 
from San Francisco, a sculpture or carving in the Mythic Cafe that 
looked to me rather like the picture, otherwise not captioned other than 
the city of origin and the gallery.  I'll try to download it and send it 
to you by private mail and see whether you think it's related.

Prayers for Dan's Repose and for Gene rising -- sounds as if Gene has 
loving family to be with him.



On 9/20/15 2:53 PM, Jim Guthrie wrote:
> Albert and I went the the funeral of Our friend Dan Levins in Brooklyn
> Friday. It was held at our former parish, Christ Church Bay Ridge with
> interment at Resurrection Cemetery on Staten Island.
>
> Dan was a Dancer -- formerly with American Ballet Theater (some of his
> performances  from the 1970s are on YouTube); in later years he taught
> dance in Manhattan. But in one of those quintessential New York City
> "Odd Couple" his partner for 20 years (and married for four years) was
> formerly a NYC Firemen, Gene had a stroke about 10 years ago and has
> been in a wheelchair since.
>
> The funeral was a great NYC mix of people -- a few from the parish, but
> lots of Dancers, ex Dancers, Ballerinas and retired ballerinas, but also
> a phalanx of NY Police and Firemen, complete with a bagpiper from the
> Emerald Society. Genes brothers and relatives were all there (as were
> Dan); the four brothers are firefighters or cops -- a traditional NYC
> Irish family, though no priest AFAIK.
>
> Dan has specified some aspects -- he wanted lots of incense. And by the
> vagaries of work schedules and the like, we ended up with a Lutheran
> Pastor as Thurifer (is Lutheran Thurifer an oxymoron?).
>
> The casket was open at the the beginning of the service, as the wake had
> been in the church.
>
> The Casket was well censed, at the beginning -- but later when it was
> time to close the casket (after the sermon), it was censed again, and
> per Dan's Instruction, there was plenty of smoke directed into the
> casket as it was closed. Never saw that before!
>
> Albert and I rode out to the cemetery with the Pastor/Thurifer (we've
> known him for years), with Albert holding the thurible (keeping the coal
> lit).
>
> During the interment, the casket was well-censed again, but then another
> incense innovation (per Dan;swishes), Pastor Miller lowered the thurible
> into the hole under the bier and censed it thoroughly enough that smoke
> was coming out the other sides from underneath.
>
> I'm considering revising my funeral instructions.
>
> Prayers for Dan and especially for Gene who will have a difficult time
> ahead.
>
> Jim Guthrie
>
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
> "The enemy isn’t liberalism;
> the enemy isn’t conservatism.
> The enemy, is baloney." - Lars Erik Nelson
>
>


-- 
Sibyl Smirl
I will take no bull from your house!  Psalms 50:9a
mailto:polycarpa3 at ckt.net