“Pete & Edwarda—Well Done”

Almost 8,000 people die each day in the United States; approximately 150,000 die each day throughout the world. Death can seem almost routine… ” some catch our eye, others remain a distant statistic… some are tragic and untimely… others seem normal or predictable. Yet every death is eternally significant. Each death precedes that momentous moment of judgement where each of us will stand before the Lord and find out where we will spend eternity. This is the most momentous (far-reaching, consequential, earth-shattering) moment in our existence….. where we will spend eternity.  

Two humble and kind and loving and happy people have now passed thru that momentous moment. Peter Francis Harmon (at 82) went home to the Lord on Holy Saturday, April 11, 2020….. and just the other day, about three years later, on August 7, 2023, his dear wife Edwarda Therese Harmon (at 81) went home to the Lord. Their passing did not make front page news in the New York Times. In Pete’s case, his passing was in the middle of the Covid Pandemic where he couldn’t even have a public wake and funeral. And yet, if you had to rank the 150,000 who die each day by “holiness and preciousness”, I would put Peter & Edwarda in the top 10. “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his holy ones”. (Ps. 116:15)

Family and friends who knew Pete & Edwarda were very acquainted with their love of God and neighbor. While each was extremely gifted, they put these gifts at the quiet service of the Lord.  “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”(1Cor. 13:4-7) Those beautiful verses describe Peter & Edwarda so well. 

So many stories of their humility and kindness and quiet love. Even though they tried to hide it, they were both “smarty pants”. At Edwarda’s wake, people exclaimed, “I didn’t know she was a St. John’s grad, and a pharmacist at Newark Beth Israel. Many didn’t know that Pete went to Seton Hall Prep and graduated from Seton Hall. They both tried hard to not boast about their many gifts and accomplishments, but only about the Lord. I do recall a People of Hope District gathering where we were playing a trivia game…. after the rest of us gave our best efforts to answer the question, Edwarda, with reluctance and that little smile, would quietly set us straight. Pete’s quiet service in the Community Office, Koinonia, Scouts, and any other place where there was a need… always willing to say yes….. along with his many spiritual gifts.

When Pete passed away three years ago in almost obscurity due to Covid, I thought of the TV Show “Cheers”. While I couldn’t endorse every episode of “Cheers”, the show did have a catchy beginning where they welcomed each person by name as they walked into the bar after a long tough day, with the song, “Sometimes you wanna go ….. Where everybody knows your name…bom,bom,bom, bom ….. And they’re always glad you came”. Each person was welcomed by name. I could hear the Heavenly Cheers shouting, “hey everyone, Pete’s here…. Pete’s here…. Pete’s home…”

Well I’m sure that Pete & Edwarda  got much more than the “Cheers Welcome”. I believe they each heard, “Well done good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your master.” (Mt. 25:23) 

So, John & Amanda and Joseph & Laura, and the grandchildren and all of us will miss them….but we will see them again. And that is very good news.