Irene A. Bildat

Memorial Service for Irene Bildat Conducted at Routsong’s Funeral Home in Centerville by Rev. William Youngkin and Rev. Rebecca Erb Strang February 15, 2002 Psalm 121I will lift up my eyes to the hills Opening Words We gather as that circle of love which Irene Bildat gathered about herself in her lifetime. Opening Prayer and Lord’s Prayer Psalm 23The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 121O Lord, you have searched me and known me. Proverbs 31:10-31A capable wife who can find? Meditation by Pastor Youngkin John 14Let not your heart be troubled. Pastoral Prayer Words of Ralph Waldo EmersonTo appreciate beauty . . . BenedictionThe light of God surrounds us. Meditation Given by Rev. William Youngkin If you were a pastor and found a handkerchief doll in a convention exhibit hall that you thought would make an excellent gift for baptisms and wanted to save the hassle and cost of purchasing them, who would you turn to for help? If you are the pastor of David’s Church, you turn to Irene Bildat. For Irene making this doll was a cinch and an act of love. Irene loved her church. Until she entered a nursing facility three years ago, Irene brought flowers to decorate the lunch table of Keenagers and Women’s Guild at church, and she quietly turned every piece of pie at the Pilgrim’s Feast, so it pointed toward the hungry eye that was selecting it. It’s the way her grandmother had taught her a piece of pie was supposed to be presented, and she was determined that pies be turned out right. Typically few, if any, ever knew that Irene considered the pointing of pies to be her mission. She could complain all right about things that were not perfect, but she never made a scene at church as others have been known to do. She was a discreet, well-mannered, gentle woman whom you could count on to do her part and support you at doing yours. “I loved her deep voice,” Ruth Widman said to me last night. It was a distinctive voice, quiet yet clear, that gently influenced those around toward what was good and beautiful. You see here a beautiful quilt which Irene made when she was still in her twenties. It was made with patterns that were published in the paper. Each week the pattern for another basket of fruit would appear, and Irene would send out for just the right amount of material to make the basket. Irene didn’t drive back then. She didn’t learn to drive until she was in her forties. After that she was always on the go. Ever since I have known Irene, she was taxi driver for several women, bringing them to church on Sundays and to other church functions. In addition to the times of fellowship, there were times for sewing lap-top robes for the residents at Trinity Home and the preparation of church mailings. Back to the quilt. It should be hung backwards. That would show off the precision of Irene’s handiwork. That’s the view from which Irene evaluated another’s work, and it was the view from which she expected her own work to be judged. On a table in the back of the room is a yellow scouring pad. It is made of netting similar to, but stiffer than, the netting of a bride’s veil. Irene crocheted hundreds of them for sale at sister Dorothy’s church. It took 9 yards of material, cut into a narrow strip, to make one of them. It wasn’t easy to stretch, measure, and cut the material, but we can all imagine Irene on her hands and knees down on the floor, getting it just right. And then think of the ardor of crocheting with material so stiff. Mother, which is what daughter Janet called Irene, made all the costumes for Janet’s dance class recital one year. Irene, Janet, and granddaughter Marsha were a team. They painted china together, and they traveled together. As I said, Janet called her mother, son Ted called her Mom, and Marsha called her Grandmother, thus the triple designation in the flowers above her coffin: Mother - Mom -Grandmother. Irene and Ted were thick, too. There was the Tuesday to-do list for Ted, and together Irene and Ted maintained the home on Constantia in the tradition of Irene’s first husband Warren. I haven’t yet mentioned Irene’s cooking and baking. It was good, especially the things she made with apples, and especially her apple sauce, which she couldn’t make enough of to give away. Cooking she shared with her good friend Gladys Immerman. She and Gladys were devoted to each other. When I came to town, Gladys was already failing physically and mentally. Irene saw to it that all Gladys’ needs were met, including the cleaning of her house. In earlier days, however, gathering raspberries in Gladys’ back yard and making jam was a favorite sharing between them. For the me the word that sums Irene’s life up is beauty. Irene was a beautiful woman. She looked beautiful in blue, her color of choice. She radiated beauty, and she cultivated beauty. At one point she raised orchids & hibiscuses like the ones that appear in a video about her which we are about to view. At another point in her life, she was nurturing 75 pots of African violets by one of the famous large plate glass windows in the Constantia home, which Warren had built for them before they got married. Irene radiated beauty, and she cultivated beauty. In our Ash Wednesday service the other night we said these words as part of our confession: Beauty is all around us, how blind we are to see only surfaces. Beauty is within all; how heartless we must be to take little pleasure in people. Beauty is our calling; how hopeless we are when we count the cost of being instead of living life as it is given to us. Irene tried her best to see beauty in life and in people. She responded enthusiastically to the innate beauty of her grandchildren, Trent, Brooke, and Becca, Those who accept life as it is given them, and cultivate its beauty enjoy the blessings of Spirit. And we can thank God for Irene’s cultivation of beauty, the beauty of faith, and the beautiful memories which will always nourish our spirit.

Funeral Home:
Centerville Routsong Funeral Home
81 N. Main St.
Centerville, OH
US 45459