by Pa Rock
Retired Social Worker
This morning finds me in Carthage, Missouri, preparing to drive a few miles up the road to the community of Jasper, a wide spot along the highway between Joplin and Kansas City, where I will attend the funeral of Kolleen Howard, the wife of Jasper's Methodist minister - and a good friend of mine.
Years ago when Kolleen's husband, Reverend Bob Howard, was the Methodist minister in my hometown of Noel, Missouri, she and I worked together at the Missouri Division of Family Services where we investigated cases of child abuse and worked with children in foster care and their families. It was a physically and emotionally demanding job that created unusually strong ties between the underpaid state employees who were charged with finding and protecting those children - but it was also the kind of job where the child protection workers could physically see how how their actions were benefiting a highly vulnerable population.
Kolleen was younger than me by a few months. Her death was sudden and unexpected. I will miss her - and so will countless others. Bob and their four grown children - and their families - have my deepest sympathies and encouragement in these hard times.
Retired Social Worker
This morning finds me in Carthage, Missouri, preparing to drive a few miles up the road to the community of Jasper, a wide spot along the highway between Joplin and Kansas City, where I will attend the funeral of Kolleen Howard, the wife of Jasper's Methodist minister - and a good friend of mine.
Years ago when Kolleen's husband, Reverend Bob Howard, was the Methodist minister in my hometown of Noel, Missouri, she and I worked together at the Missouri Division of Family Services where we investigated cases of child abuse and worked with children in foster care and their families. It was a physically and emotionally demanding job that created unusually strong ties between the underpaid state employees who were charged with finding and protecting those children - but it was also the kind of job where the child protection workers could physically see how how their actions were benefiting a highly vulnerable population.
Kolleen was younger than me by a few months. Her death was sudden and unexpected. I will miss her - and so will countless others. Bob and their four grown children - and their families - have my deepest sympathies and encouragement in these hard times.
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