St. John’s Lutheran Church
Walhalla, South Carolina
February 2, 1996
The words of the following eulogy are from Stephen Massey’s wife Ann. At the end of her
comments the family’s close friend Luther Gaillard shares his thoughts:
Steve Massey has fought a war with his body since March 19, 1985 when he was
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Two years before that time we knew something
was wrong within his body. Even though his mind was clear and quick, his body did not have
the same strength. Steve loved walking in the woods, campfires and hunting deer and
bear. He was the comic of the Commercial Marketing Department in Greenville. He
was a dedicated employee who, at one point, came in first on the Duke Power system
in a competitive marketing campaign.
Steve loved his family and was his parents’ strongest advocate during their ailing
years. If you knew him well he gave you many nicknames. It was his way of saying, “I
Love You.” His compassion was great for the animal kingdom. He and Stephanie
rescued an injured baby chick and nursed “Cora” until she became part of our family
in Easley.
Steve was fiercely patriotic having missed going to Vietnam by a few weeks. He was
ranked superior in his artillery unit in the Army Reserve. He appreciated many kinds
of music. He loved B.B. King and most 60’s tunes. When we lived in Easley he gave his
heart to God and when we moved to Walhalla, he rededicated himself to Christ.
He tried many inventions of his own to win the war with his body. I can still hear him
say “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” He made me strong enough to
stand on my own two feet without other people as crutches. Though disease
weakened his body, his thought was welded in iron.
Steve has left a legacy of a fighting spirit to Michael and Stephanie. We can all look at
his suffering and feel awestruck that he could still fight on. Steve told me many times,
“don’t grieve for me, I’ll have my resurrection body.” We will grieve for our own loss,
but joy will come in the morning of our own new life with Jesus, we will see Steve
then!
Thank God for all of you in this church. He loved you all and he loved his family
fiercely. His brother, Don, can look back on happy, funny memories. His sister, Tissie,
can recall childhood pranks that they schemed together. Stephanie can recall long
talks and playing her violin for him. Michael can recall wrestling and being “wooled”
by Dad’s beard. I can recall walking Myrtle Beach and looking for oyster and crab
shells with Steve.
Outside of the family, a variety of friends, loved ones and volunteers put countless
hours into Steve’s care. These people came from various churches and the Keowee
Key area. One friend in particular was Luther Gaillard. Luther helped Steve fill many
an empty hour with conversation and guitar pickin’. Steve kept his mind alive with
ways to pick at “Coach” Bob Bell. He loved to challenge Pastor Petry with a
vocabulary word of the week.
The following words are Luther’s way of saying good-bye:
“Steve was a man of simple needs. He didn’t need a Cadillac to get around. He didn’t
need to impress anybody. He knew who he was. He took care of his people, his
family, his friends. The zany and not-so-zany figures that were part of his professional
and private life could have filled a book. Some of them belonged in a cartoon book,
but Steve was comfortable with people, and he could handle people on any level.
If Steve has a legacy that counts, it is that he could be counted on whenever a need
for help arose, from anybody, a stranger, a friend, it didn’t matter.
We think in terms of miracles as the ones we read and study about in the Bible: Jesus
turning water into wine, the Sermon on the Mount, healing the blind, the truly
miraculous things that Jesus wrought during his ministry on earth. Steve was a
miracle. He lived far beyond the expectations of the numerous doctors who took their
turn at attempting to slow down, to dare to even try to stop the spread of Steve’s MS.
Through the deterioration of Steve’s body, his mind remained whole. It, in fact, grew
sharper, for he used it during his waking hours to help fend off the misery, the hell of
being bedridden, the loss of his limbs, the degradation of having to have someone
else scratch the itches on his body, for in the final years, he couldn’t even do that. I
can’t say that he was perfect, or that we didn’t want to pull our hair out from time to
time, but Steve was as courageous in putting his MS in place as anyone could be.
He never blamed anyone. He didn’t curse God for having developed the disease. On
the contrary, Steve said more than once that he was so stubborn that God had to get
his attention some way or the other, and that had he not contracted MS, God may
have never been able to get his attention.
We mourn his death, but we know, after the years of suffering, of fighting a losing
battle, that Steve is safe in the arms of Jesus. He is at peace. We’ll meet him one day.
I only hope that we have the courage to live the rest of our lives the way that he lived
the last few years of his. He’s gone, but his influence will have a profound effect on
the lives of the people closest to him.
God bless you. Luther Gaillard
Stephen Massey
December 9, 1940-January 31, 1996
“I lift up my eyes to the hills–from where will my help come. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
Our thanks to the many friends, strangers, and family members who shared their time and treasure with us. The Steve Massey Family