Louise Stevens Garner

Glory to God, Our Father, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! In Jesus, there is no darkness. But here on this Earth and at this moment, our Earth feels void and dark. Our lives have changed suddenly and forever with the passing of our Dear Mother. The sun rose this morning and as we walked out in to this new day, our only question to God was why: why did you take this beautiful and loving woman from our lives? What are you trying to teach us from this unexpected, deep and horrible pain? With all of the hurt, anger, disbelief and desire to know the answers, you have taught us through your word, that with each passing day, God is preparing a beautiful place. In this place, our Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” We have to remember, that there is truly a reason for everything. For some of us, we have been brought to our knees and placed in to the lowest valley that we can be in. For others, we know that she has been delivered from a constant heart ache from the loss of our Dear Daddy and the struggles of this life here on Earth. For all of us who believe, we know that as much as she enjoyed her life experiences with us, she’s in a better place. In this, we believe and we know that there will also be streets lined of shining gold and in the valley is where he restores our souls. We will meet with our loved ones as a promise from God, our Jesus from above. We had this opportunity given to us from birth, but it was our mother that led us to to him. We heard, we learned, we had the word of God etched in to our souls and lives forever. We have failed him and left him at times, but he never left us. Jesus led the way and our mother always made sure we came home. What we know now is that “Heaven has never welcomed a Sweeter Mama and Earth has never lost a Sweeter Soul.” We thank the Lord for choosing our dear, faithful and loving mother for us, to enrich our lives on this Earth but we know that the Angels are now singing from the portals of Heaven. On this Earth, a voice will be missing from our little country choir, “Rock of Ages”, will never sound the same. God heard her singing and Heaven wasn’t complete, now Mama’s teaching Angels how to sing. We love you Mama and will hold you in our hearts until we meet you and Daddy again. Your loving and always grateful children. Louise Stevens Garner left this Earth, surrounded by her loving family, on February 14, 2017, Valentine’s Day. It seems so fitting in a way, considering that her one and only Valentine of 65 years, her late husband Robert “Curly” Garner, left this Earth, just two years earlier and she longed for the day to see him again. In those two years after however, God allowed us this time, to create those extra memories of fun, laughter, happiness, good health and wonderful times with her. Born in Nelson County, December 17, 1935, she was the daughter of the late Shelton H. Stevens of Nelson County and is survived by her beloved mother, Elizabeth Viar King of Richmond. At her youthful age of 81, she was beautiful, vibrant, lively, sweet, kind, and admirable. A mere 2 months ago, she drove herself to Richmond to stay with, take care of and spend time with her soon to be 98 year old mother; with plans to continue on her own unless we took her there, showing her always spunky side as well! Her friendly side always showed that she knew no strangers, in fact, she taught us the phrase at a very young age, that “There are no such things as strangers, only friends we have not met.” She was in so many ways, our hero. From her birth to her last day, there were so many struggles, trials and tribulations, but nothing ever stopped her from taking care of her family and friends before her own self. Her nurturing, generosity, supportiveness, and spreading love and happiness to all, were always at the top of her priorities and things that she’ll be remembered for. These characteristics from her living years however, were always brought on by her highest priority; being a faithful and loyal servant to our Lord, Jesus Christ; in her heart, our home and to her Church, where she was a member of the Eastbrook Baptist Church for 50 years. She had a passion for learning the gospel and singing gospel songs, starting with her late husband and at the time, very young children, growing in to what would become her favorite group of all times, her own families as “The Garner Family”, followed by us growing and having to separate, still singing with her children when given the opportunity but ending with her singing solo for her unknowingly last time, the Sunday before God called her home. She wanted one thing most in life, and that was for all of her children and grandchildren, to be happy and cared for. Knowing this and despite our sins and shortcomings, the only true way to achieve this was to receive and accept Jesus Christ in to our hearts, as our Lord and Personal Savior; To know that he died and rose again giving us our promise for eternal life with him. She passed knowing that we will be there with her one sweet day and left this Earth with a peace and assurance that made her the happiest mother that she ever could’ve been. She was a dear blessing to so many as long as you didn’t interfere with any of the above; that’s a trait I’ll only mention as a side note, but still one that is noteworthy. She would’ve also fought and died at any time for any of us. However, she was a true woman of compassion; if wronged and even though some things may not have been forgotten, with an I’m sorry or not, she gave forgiveness. She was also known for being seen at and cheering on many youth and high school athletics, rooting for all of the boy’s and girl’s that she loved so much but mainly her children and grandchildren, those of which she was extremely proud of. She was proud of each of her children, this includes those that were titled in-laws and grandchildren’s accomplishments; spiritually, academically, athletically and career but never put us down for our faults and or failures. Failures to her were just lessons. Lessons that we learned from, but were also to get up from and keep fighting, so that we have all tried to do. Those that knew her, absolutely knows that she was one of the biggest UVA fans around and has tailgated and went to many football and basketball games, always decked out in her Orange and Blue! Win or lose, it didn’t matter and she took pride in her not being what some are considered a bandwagon fan! She was even a true and faithful fan to them. Overall, she just had a spirit that was undeniable and unwavering in all aspects of her life. She was also one of the hardest working women that we’ve ever known, even if everything seemed already complete, she’d find more to do; all of which had to be done in a timely manner. She loved gardening, working in her fish ponds and her flowers. She loved her harmonica, sewing, decorating, yes cleaning, and had a deep love and passion for her country; a true American Patriot. Strongly enriched with God’s love and compassion, faith and a heart of gold, are only a few words that could help sum her up. A woman for whom will be remembered by what was written above and for so many other extremely fond memories and attributes. Those that had the honor of truly knowing her, have been touched and blessed for the rest of their lives. There wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t at least try to contact her children to learn of their well-being and just to say “I Love You”. We will undoubtedly miss this extraordinary woman with every part of our being until we meet her again. In addition to her mother, she is survived by five children; Betty G. Worsham and husband, Scott of Lugoff, SC, Robert E. Garner, Jr. and wife, Kaye of Madison Heights, Debbie G. Schmitt and husband Kevin of Evington, Roger D. “Porky” Garner and wife Linda and Angela G. Forslund and husband Mike, all of Lynchburg, and 13 grandchildren; Curtis Worsham, Cary Shields and Donna Worley, Jeff and Melissa Garner, David Garner and Crystal G. Cox, Chris and Jamie Floyd, Blake, Brandon and Brooke Forslund, and nine great grandchildren; Jared, Amber, and Trey Worley, Meredith and Natalie Garner, Avery and Annsley Cox, Kali Floyd and Megan Johns and sisters; Dora Lee Cabell and Lorraine Roche, both of Richmond, Shirley Stevens of Lovingston and Brothers; Shelton H. Stevens, Jr and Wayne Stevens both of Waynesboro. The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 p.m., Friday, February 17 at Whitten’s Timberlake Chapel, Timberlake RD, Lynchburg, VA and other times at the home of Roger & Linda, 504 Shady Tree Lane, Lynchburg, 24504. A service celebrating her life will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 18 at Eastbrook Baptist Church with the Rev. Curtis Walkup and the Rev. Larry Fitzgerald officiating. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Those wishing to make memorial contributions are asked to consider Eastbrook Baptist Church, 3050 Eastbrook RD, Lynchburg, VA 24501