Earlie Yvonne Ward's entrance into the world was dramatic. Due in April, she arrived in December weighing just one pound. A country doctor flew out, landed in a field, and delivered her. He gave instructions to put her in a rocking chair with a hot water bottle and feather pillows. "If she makes it, she makes it," was all the hope he could provide.

Those of us who loved Vonnie understand that it was not due to luck that she survived. Vonnie was a wellspring of courage, tenacity and wisdom. She lived and loved with a fierceness and compassion seldom bestowed on the human soul. She was a devoted partner and mother, protecting her brood like a mother bear while opening their hearts and minds to the world - all of it - humanity and nature alike.

She was a dedicated educator, sharing her passion for learning with countless generations over her 44 year teaching career. When her husband's work took the family to Isfahan, Iran, Vonnie immediately found employment teaching 5th grade to a host of international students. Her appetite for teaching surpassed only by her love of learning, she quickly grew to appreciate new and exotic cultures, teaching her family to celebrate diversity and learn from every opportunity both in school and in life.

Vonnie showed her love through acceptance and respect. Not just a beacon of strength and courage, she was thoughtful and accepting. She taught us to think deeply rather than make snap decisions. She took nothing at face value, always striving to see the bigger picture. More than anything, she was tireless in her desire to care for those she loved, often overlooking her own needs to care for those of us within her sphere of family and friends.

Vonnie was the rock so many of us came to rely on. She will leave a gaping hole in the hearts and lives of loved ones. She will be remembered as a beacon of hope and strength. She was and will be forever loved.

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"

And that is dying.

Henry Van Dyke