Donald L. Heck Memorial Eulogy
This message was delivered at a memorial service held for Donald Heck in Kadoka, South Dakota. Don was the father of Susan Thune, and the grandfather of Nick, Logan, and Jett Thune. Don died on February 23, 2024
Grieving with Hope
Saint Augustine once said, “Death is not to be deemed an evil when a good life precedes it; nor is death made an evil except by what follows death.” In the case of Donald L. Heck, certainly a good life preceded his death and a very good life will forever follow after his death—a life of joy in the presence of the Lord. And in this way, death loses some of its sting, and we who are gathered here today can remember my grandpa with faith, and with hope, and with love.
We do not grieve as those without hope, but as those who know [as Nick just read] that “the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him” (Ps. 103:17). We are those who know that God “does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10); instead, he is the one who “redeems [our lives] from the pit” (Ps. 103:4). We know this as surely as we know that Christ Jesus died and rose again—and on the basis of these things rest our hope today.
Grandpa Don professed these truths with his life. Yet, our confidence in the eternal outcome of his soul does not rest in the strength or the stability of his faith but in the steadfast love of the Lord and in the sinless sacrifice of Christ Jesus. What good news this is for anxious hearts, and weary souls, and doubting minds.
Remembering Donald Heck
Though Grandpa was not without his faults and failures, I remember him as a living, breathing, walking proverb—perhaps you do too. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, you listened. Maybe this is why some people wished that he would have said more while he was here with us.
As we consider the good life that Donald Heck lived, I would like to briefly highlight three words that aptly describe this man that we knew and loved.
First, he was a judicious man. Perhaps this goes without saying, but I think it describes more than just his vocation as a judge. Don knew right from wrong—if only we had more of those people in our world today. He was a man who knew that, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Pr. 18:17). He was slow to make judgments, but when a guilty verdict was reached, he knew how to render a just punishment. I know this firsthand from the many times that he and grandma would put soap in my mouth when I was unruly as a child, and from the time that my friends and I flipped and damaged one of his four-wheelers. Because Don was a judicious man, we learned how to take responsibility for our actions, and to make things right when we were in the wrong. I’m sure many of you could add stories like mine to the list. I loved talking to Grandpa about the world, and about politics, and about anything else because I trusted his judgment.
Second, Don was an industrious man. He was a man who used his hands to build things, and to beautify things, and to bless those around him—to bless us. We are all the recipients of his diligence and handiwork. How many memories have been made at the ranch and at the Kadoka house and at the cabin that he built with his hands? Way too many to count if you ask me. Grandpa never met a project that he didn’t like. He never faced an owner’s manual that was too intimidating for him to open and inspect. And he never seemed rushed for time. He would just stroll around—slowly—in the background and whistle while he worked. Things got done, and he did them.
Lastly, Don was a generous man. Psalm 112:5 says, “It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.” It was well with Grandpa. Not only did he love to help those in need around him, he also loved to spoil his family with a steak dinner at the Alpine Inn or the Outback Steakhouse, or to treat them to breakfast at his favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel. And not only was he generous with his finances, but he was also generous with his time. He loved being with his family, he shared his cabin freely, he spent countless hours watching his grandsons play baseball, and he never once complained about what it cost him. Perhaps, he did some of these things only because Freddie made him do them. But guess what, he was generous with her too. And today, we get to honor him for the way that he gave himself for those around him.
Grandpa’s judgment, his industry, and his generosity were reflections of the character of the God he served. In Donald Heck, we had a gift, an example of embodied wisdom that we did not deserve.
Gardening in the Graveyard
And today, we plant Grandpa in the ground. Graveyards are gardens, and like a seed, Donald Heck is planted. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). And just as Jesus died and was buried in the tomb. So too, he rose again from the grave and was resurrected as the firstfruits from the dead. And we are told in 1 Corinthians 15 that all who die in Christ shall also be made alive with him and will have their physical bodies resurrected and united to their souls on the last day. And when the Chief Farmer harvests this field, Grandpa Don will be among the crop.
But even now, while Don is absent from his flesh, he is at home with the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5:6-8). He is freed from the presence and power of remaining sin. He is freed from the frailness of his failing body. He is freed from all his doubts and his loneliness. And he is where he has always wanted to be—face to face with his Savior and fully satisfied in him. And if he could return to us now, I think he would tell us to believe in Christ, because it is all worth it.
And while he is now in heaven, we remain here on earth, somehow still surprised and saddened at death’s sudden arrival. But our lives will go on in the wake and memory of this man, and we praise God for his steadfast love and covenant faithfulness to us, for God let us live downstream from the grace that flowed from Donald Leon Heck.
May we continue to trust in Christ with our lives like he did, and one day be joined again with him in the resurrection when Christ returns for his own.