John M. Girard formerly from Florida went home to be with our Lord on November 26, 2017. John was born May 31, 1947, to Henry & Cressie Girard in Jacksonville, Florida. John was married to his loving wife Gena Moreno.
John is a Veteran with over 30 years of service in the United States Marine Corps. During his long and successful career he earned several medals; the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Gold Star, Good Conduct Medal with 4 Bronze Stars, Navy Unit Commendation Medal with 2 Bronze Stars, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal with 4 Bronze Stars, Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Navy Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon with 4 Bronze Stars, and the Marine Corps Recruiter Ribbon.
John was well read; some say that he was a walking encyclopedia of information especially when it came to history and politics.
John died peacefully, with Gena at his side, in their home on November 26, 2017.
He is survived by his wife Gena, 2 children; Charles (Chuck) Girard and Melissa Girard, 2 step-children; Ray Moreno and Jessica Moreno (Burke), 2 granddaughters, Kataleya and Neri Moreno, and his mother Cressie Girard, 3 brothers; Richard, Douglas and Jim Girard and 1 sister Barbara Girard (Nay).
“no flowers please, instead please consider making a donation to
St Jude at https://www.stjude.org/donate/thanks-and-giving.html?
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John Maxwell Girard Memorial Service (Monday 12/04/17)
May 31, 1947 - November 26, 2017
Good Morning, we’re here today to honor the memory of John Maxwell Girard. I’m Kevin Schmid. On behalf of Gena and the family, thank you all for coming. I’m going to open with a short prayer
Opening Prayer
Chuck Girard (Son)
Peter Davis (golfing buddy)
Richard Girard (Brother)
Gena Moreno (Wife)
Message/Eulogy by Kevin Schmid
Life often comes at us so fast sometimes that we don’t really even get a chance to slow down and live it but at times like this we should stop a moment and get our bearings. We have an opportunity this morning to spend a little time thinking about how John’s life left its impression on our lives. There are so many people here who knew him; if we slow down and linger a bit we can learn a little more about his life and be the richer for it.
Unlike most of you, I didn’t know John well, and I feel a great loss in that regard. I met John about 3 years ago at a party in their home but for me, it was just that one day. The more I have learned about John over the last week or so, the more I wish I would have taken the opportunity to know him better while he was here on this earth. The things that I have heard about him make me miss him, although I barely knew him.
I really don’t like leading a memorial service for a stranger, so I did what I could to get to know John over the last week or so. I spent some time with Gena and with Esther, reminiscing about John and his life.
I would like to take a little time to savor the sweetness of the aroma of John’s life.
One of the sweet-smelling aromas of John’s life that we can savor is his military service. John served this country admirably in the United States Marine Corps. He was active duty for 30 years and then served 5 more years on reserve duty. Freedom is not free; it comes at a great price and John was willing to pay that price on our behalf. Thank you, John.
In order to get to know John a little better I asked Gena if I could borrow John’s Bible for a few days. Sometimes you can really learn a lot about someone by looking at the passages that they have underlined or highlighted. She told me that I was welcome to borrow it but that it is as clean as a whistle – he didn’t believe in writing in a Bible! So, I didn’t learn too much from his Bible!
Gena told me about how loving John was – toward her and towards everybody. He was loving toward everybody but even more so toward his family – his children and step-children and especially his little granddaughters. He absolutely loved it when his granddaughters came to see him.
John was a very patient man; he never lost his temper – that’s a point that Gena made several times. And he was forgiving, remarkably forgiving.
John was generous and always willing to help someone out. His philosophy was, “You never know when you may be in a situation in which you need help.” That’s what he said but, from what I hear, he went way above and beyond that.
He was also very supportive of his wife, no matter what the situation. Gena told me of a time that she wanted to quit a well-paying job and take a different job with lower pay and much worse hours. John was nothing but supportive.
John was a voracious reader, and from what I hear, he remembered EVERYTHING. He was especially knowledgeable regarding history and politics.
A person like that, you just have to stop for a moment and savor the sweetness of the aroma of his life.
I didn’t really know John well, but from all I’ve heard about him that was my loss. I wish I had known him better.
John’s life was a life well lived.
I’ve heard it said that you should, “Live your life in such a way that the preacher doesn’t have to lie at your funeral!” GOOD JOB JOHN!
The Bible teaches us that our bodies are mortal; our bodies are corruptible; our bodies will die and decay. But scripture also tells us that when we die it is like planting a seed. The seed that is planted is not what will come out of the ground. You sow a seed and up comes a tree or a vine or a bush; it doesn’t even resemble the seed that you planted. In the same way our bodies are sown corruptible but they are raised incorruptible. What is sown is our mortal body; the body that will be raised is immortal. All of us have an eternal soul that will live forever. Several places in scripture our body is referred to as a tent; it’s just a temporary dwelling for our soul.
In that sense, John hasn’t really died, he has just moved. He has left his mortal body behind. His body is in a casket but John isn’t in that casket. He now has an eternal, immortal body. He has left his temporary dwelling place here on earth and has moved on to his eternal abode. And according to Jesus, if he was born again, that eternal abode is heaven.
When believers in Jesus Christ die, it’s just a transition from this life on earth into the next life with Him in heaven.
In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul tells believers, “we … know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” But he says that, “We … would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8New International Version (NIV)
Our earthly bodies are just temporary dwellings - tents. The Bible says, “we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
2 Corinthians 5:1New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Christ died for our sins and then He rose from the dead. He proved that He has the power over sin and death. When a believer dies, we grieve over our loss, but our grief is also filled with hope. We have lost someone who is dear to us, but they have moved on to a glorious new home in a perfect new body.
In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church he writes,
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 New International Version (NIV)
John Maxwell Girard was born on May 31, 1947. Eight days ago, on November 26th, John got an upgrade! John believed that Jesus Christ died for his sins and then rose from the dead and John is now with Him for all eternity. And John is really enjoying his youthful new body without the slightest hint of any illness or infirmity.
This memorial service isn’t for John; John has moved on into eternity. This service has been for you. The rest of this day is for you. Take some time today to savor the sweetness of the aroma of John’s life
John Maxwell Girard (Graveside)
Revelation 21:1-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
21 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John,[a] saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,[b] “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done![c] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things,[d]and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
Committal
We are gathered here to commit to rest the body of John Maxwell Girard, our loved one and friend. Let us treasure the many great memories that come to us at this time – his love, his generosity, his kindness, his patience, his forgiveness…
In the name of Jesus Christ, whom he loved, we commit his body to rest, knowing that his spirit is with the Lord in His heavenly house.
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Chuck Girard's words about his father:
Hello. Thank you all for being here. My dad was a hard man and he wasn’t a fan of men who cried but I think he’ll forgive me if I don’t keep it together today. For those of you who don’t know, I’m Chuck, John’s oldest child. My sister Melissa is ill and unfortunately unable to travel to be here. I cannot presume to speak on her behalf, but I know she loved him and I hope my words here are sufficient for both of us.
I didn’t know my dad the way any of you knew him. As a husband, uncle or, brother. As a marine, a colleague or a friend. I only knew him as father and a dad to a son. This is the perspective I have and it will be different from yours, but I hope it will add new dimension to the way you remember him.
As most little boys do, I thought my dad was a god among men. Wise, strong, manly and at 5’8”, very tall. I don’t know how old I was, maybe 4 or 5, but I remember the evening before the day Dad planned to take me to his work for the first time. I wondered how hard it would be for me to climb the stairs. Surely, they would each be 3 feet high. Surely the only reason they’re so small in our house is because I was so small. I was both disappointed and relieved to find that the stairs to my Dad’s office were the same as those in the house. It meant I didn’t have to ask for his help. Even at that age, he had already instilled in me the importance of self-reliance. He made sure I knew I could always ask him for help, but that I’d rarely want to.
When I was a little older and I wanted to start earning money, he put me to work mowing neighborhood lawns at a flat fee of $5 each. When one neighbor with a particularly overgrown lawn declined my offer to mow, dad told me they’re probably tight on cash and I should do it for free; he said it would make me feel good to do something nice for them. I thought he was nuts… But I took his advice and he was right, I did feel good. 2 weeks later that neighbor asked me to put him into my rotation at $10/mow.
One of my fondest memories of dad was helping him work on our family cars over the years. From the Pontiac Phoenix that literally burst into flames while at a stop light. To the Buick Regal that left us stranded at a Motel 6 in New Mexico for 3 days while we tried to find a water pump. And then once we got one, had to wait until 2am for the ground temperature to drop enough so we could install it.
I was one of the first kids in my school, maybe one of the first anywhere to have a home computer… Home PC’s weren’t cheap in the early 80s but my dad was, and he was an early technology adopter. He built our first computer (with minimal help from me), a Heathkit H88 from Radio Shack. Kids, (That’s anyone under 35), you may think you know what I mean when I say he “built” the computer but you have no idea. It started out as a big green circuit board with about 5000 tiny little holes in it. He and I (but mostly he) hand soldered every bus, ram, capacitor, resistor, transistor, diode and switch onto that big green circuit board and by some miracle when we were done 3 weeks later, the damn thing actually worked. I was proud of myself, thoroughly impressed with my dad, and absolutely mesmerized by the magic of MS-DOS.
They say that young boys want to grow up to be their fathers and that young men want to grow up to be anything but their fathers. Actually; I don’t know if that’s something they say or something I just made up, but it was certainly true for me. My dad and I started growing apart when I was about 12 and it only got worse when I was a teenager. I couldn’t really tell you why. We fought mostly about stupid stuff. My hair, my music, my grades, my homework, my sudden and complete interest in the opposite sex at the expense of all other ambitions in life… He and my mom grew apart during this time as well and they eventually separated. If you asked me how I felt at the time, I would have told you I felt relief and validation that I wasn’t the only one exhausted from battling this stubborn hardass who just didn’t get me. But If you asked me many years later I’d tell you that he was more right about me than not. That I probably knew it at the time and just didn’t want to admit it. I wish I knew where I got that stubbornness.
When I was about 23, dad asked me to be the best man at his wedding to Gena. I didn’t know Gena that well but I liked her, I also wanted my dad to be happy, but to be honest, I didn’t really want to do it. I was pretty wrapped up in my own world and I didn’t feel close enough to him to play the best man role with sincerity. But I agreed because I knew my dad loved me and it was what he wanted. Deep down, despite our differences, I still wanted him to be proud of me. I didn’t realize until years later, the honor he was bestowing upon me. But being the best man at their wedding planted a seed. A seed that would take a few more years to mature. I knew then I wanted to get past our differences and somehow form an adult father-son relationship before it was too late. I just wasn’t sure how to do it.
It didn’t happen overnight but I got my wish. Dad and I started speaking and seeing each other more. Over the last 10 years we talked at length about common interests: work, computers, sports, golf, solar panels, drones, cars, and we especially argued about politics. There was still a lot we disagreed about, but we had a respect for each other that would always transcend any disagreement. He never had too much to say about anyone I was in a relationship with until Daisie. He loved her like a daughter and made sure to remind me every chance he got, how lucky I was to have her, and that I’d better not screw it up.
In my dad’s mind, there was only ever one response to the cancer; fight it, and carry on. He never wanted to talk about bucket list items or last wishes or any of that. It would have meant giving up and he was never going to give up. When he first told me about the diagnosis, of course I was shocked and saddened… but then I was also a bit relieved, that we hadn’t waited any longer to re-start our relationship. I was fortunate to have the time we had to that point, and I was fortunate to have the time we had until he passed.
My dad wasn’t perfect but he was a good man and he always lead by example. I wouldn’t be who I am today without him. I wish we had more time but I am grateful for the time we had. I could tell he was proud of me, and I am proud to be his son.
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