Raymond Kelcy was a wonderful man. He was the Chairman of the Bible Department at OC for many years. He was also the pulpit minister at the Wilshire Church of Christ in OKC where Paula and I were members. I loved too listen to Raymond, whether in one of his classes at OC when I was a student at OC, before most of you were born (Yes, I know I look very youthful, but I am, in fact, in my 60's :), in a Bible class at Wilshire, or in the auditorium at Wilshire. I learned a lot of wonderful things about the Scriptures and about God, from Raymond Kelcy. I also learned a lot about everyday life, again, from Raymond Kelcy. Dr. Kelcy -- Raymond -- was not puffed up and full of himself. He was down to earth -- normal -- practical -- and one of my heroes. Raymond had a great sense of humor. While he was not a big 'laugher', and did not walk around with a grin on his face, he had a dry wit, and always looked for the humor in life. Without cracking a smile on HIS face, he could convulse an audience with laughter with that slow, dry wit that was his trademark.
One of the things I liked about Raymond (and there were MANY), was his willingness to admit that he had been wrong or that he had, over time, changed his mind about his understanding of this or that. He was an humble man. No 'stuffed and puffed shirt' was Raymond Kelcy. He did not worry about people thinking less of him because of a shift in position about some thought or idea in Scripture. I admired Raymond for this, and for his intelligence and his humanity. Raymond let people know that he was not perfect, and he freely admitted his shortcomings. Raymond was an intellectual giant, and a man among men.
I videotaped Raymond, as he spoke at a going-away party for Kerry and Becky Holton, who had served for years at Wilshire. Kerry had become our pulpit minister at Wilshire, after Raymond had stepped down from that position but had continued his and Hester's fellowship with the Wilshire congregation. As it turns out, I have the only video of Raymond that exists -- anywhere! I have shared that video with OC, so that a ideo record of Raymond is not lost. I also gave a copy to Lynn McMillon and to Roger Kelcy (one of Raymond's sons) and Hester, Raymond's wife. In this video, Raymond told a humorous story that is THE funniest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Raymond had a sense of timing only matched by the great Jack Benny or Bob Hope. I have watched it maybe twenty times, and each time, I hurt from laughing.
I think of Raymond often, and my life has been forever changed by having known him and from having listened to many hundreds of hours of sermons and classes at OC and at the Wilshire congregation. They say that one never dies, as long as one is remembered. If this is indeed true, then Raymond Kelcy will live forever in the hearts of men.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
So I'm curious to hear the train of thought that led you away from chinese food to Raymond Kelcy.....
You crack me up, Dad. I will leave all of the puns to you. There seems to be no end........
Now I remember why I used to duck down in the front seat of the car when you would take me to school. ;) It's all coming back to me now.
Gena, here's the train of thought: Daughter's Chinese food and Federal investigation of Asian mailbox shenannigans -->Chinese food memories, circa 1975 at 'New China' on Britton Rd. w/ Bob Forrester --> nostalgic memories of 1970's and 'leisure suits' like I wore back then --> other places I wore leisure suits back then was to church, (I used to dress up to 'go to church')--> memories of Raymond ---> tribute to Raymond. I call these 'disjointed, but not totally random thoughts.' At age 64 1/2, my thoughts are quite possibly random due to the gradual disintegration of my gray matter, and not the young, fresh, free-wheeling randomness of YOUR thoughts! Now let's change the subject. Here's one for you-- Do you know how the insufferable bore gets the conversation off of him/herself, after talking about him/herself without end for hours? With this: "...But enough about little old me.....SO--- what do YOU think about ME?" The first time I heard this, I thought I'd die. See there...another 'random' thought in the middle of Chinese and Raymond.....moving on now---I love your blog -- you've put a fun spin on many a day for me with your crisp, ingenious ways of expression. I sure do love you, sweet girl! I'm so proud of you --who you are and what you are. You make my heart sing!
Lara,
Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I knew that Raymond and Hester had a son named Gary, but I never knew anything about Gary -- or his family. Just so you know, I also never heard anything disparaging about Gary from his parents, or any of their friends. The Kelcy's always seemed like very private people.
(By the way, the Memorial Rd. church of Christ has had Roger and Hester in the bulletin, for health concerns).
The sad experience that you have had is common amont families. We have had some of that in our family as well, and so has my wife's family. It's difficult to understand, isn't it?
You seem like a wonderful young woman, Lara. I hope to meet you someday.
Incidentally, if you would ever like to have a copy of that video recording I have of Raymond, I would be delighted to burn a disc for you!
Gene
P.S. I love your name. It's one of my all time favorites....sort of conjures up memories of Dr.
Zhivago!
Lara,
Tell me how to get the video dvd to you and I will do it immediately. It makes me happy to get to share something I hold as a treasure!
By the way, my wife, Paula, told me that she remembered Gary. She said that he was always so full of life and so much fun! She has good memories of him, and asked me to tell you so.
After I responded to your first comment, I realized that there is a little box that I can check and it shows the photos of people who have responded (I don't have one...I don't know how to do that. My daughter says I'm sort of a technological 'duck'...I wake up in a new technological world every day, she says). Anyway, I checked that box and your photo came up and then I realized that you not only SEEM to be a lovely young woman...you are pretty as well...pretty nice, I'd say, to be have both a lovely heart and a beautiful countenance!
If you have time, sometime soon, I'd love to have a cup of coffee with you, maybe at Panera, give you the dvd and get to know you. Paula might even be able to join us. That would be very special to us. If you do not have time, or for any other reason, would prefer not to do that, I still want to get the dvd in your hands.
Thank YOU for responding, Lara!
Gene 229-9649 cell 478-1490 hm
gshoemake@cox.net
Only just now read this wonderful post, Gene. Your tribute to Raymond was excellent and spot on. Thank you for reminding me again of how blessed I have been for having known Raymond Kelcy. And for having known you!
Raymond was my mother's oldest brother and my uncle. We loved him dearly. To us he was just an ordinary guy but as I see from this is was not ordinary. I know he was well respected in the "church"community and I feel very lucky and proud to have been a part of the Kelcy family.
Post a Comment