From the Memorial Service

Below is the text of the sermon delivered by Pastor Holley at the memorial service for Carroll at St. Luke's and conducted by Pastor Stephen Troisi and Pastor Bob Holley:

At the Memorial Service for Carroll T. Smith
June 27, 2009 – John 14:1-6

We gather today to remember, to give thanks and to seek a sure and certain hope in the midst of our grief. We gather to remember, to give thanks and to hope together.

Let's begin with remembering. Carroll Smith was a Georgia gentleman. That is, a gentleman in the best sense of the word. He welcomed you, befriended you, and presented the best of what a loving family and the wonderful state of Georgia could make him.

Carroll had the unusual hobby of homing pigeons. Visit Carroll and he would point out the pigeon coop and talk about his pigeons. It was a life-long hobby until just recently when his health would no longer allow it. You could say he was for the birds, and he would agree. His birds were so very important to him.

There is a lot more about Carroll. He was a great lover of baseball and so many other sports; or, you could say, he simply loved sports. He loved to play when he could and always to talk sports. A baseball player, a pitcher at that, he let his duty to country lead him away from a promising career that probably would have seen him play professional ball. Instead, he joined the Air Force, though he did play a great deal of baseball in Europe during his time of service.

You could say of Carroll that he was definitely a fanatic. After all, that is the word we shorten to “fan” when speaking of folks who are die hard followers of Georgia football and the Atlanta Braves baseball. He was a fan in the true meaning of the word. I am not sure about God's wisdom to allow Carroll to die during the Braves season as Carroll himself told me they were not doing too well. The Braves could use all the fans they can find, and now they have one that will have to watch with St. Peter from the gates of heaven.

Professionally, Carroll worked in what might be called these days, 'human resources.' Employment was his thing and he served as Employment Superintendent and Deputy Director of Industrial Relations at the shipyard. He was good at his job and always tried to find work for those who sought his help.

“The Dawg,” as he was affectionately called, was considered by some to the unofficial mayor of Summerville. I am sure they said that because Carroll was loved by everybody. A loyal son, brother, father, husband, grandfather, co-worker and friend, Carroll was loved by all of us. He will be missed. He will be missed, not because he was somehow perfect or because he was a baseball fan or because he was good at his job. He will be missed because he was a great friend, the kind loved by all.

And Carroll loved all of you. Whether it was a friend to share a good cigar and a mellow drink with, or family he so appreciated, he loved in return. He made you feel comfortable in best of the Georgia way.

It is little wonder that folks say Carroll was loyal to family and friends. You could feel it in his words, his steady and kind focus on you as you spoke. And with all this remembering, we need to add that he was loyal to our loving God who redeemed him in the cross of Jesus Christ. Loyal Carroll was and especially to God who loves him unconditionally.

Thanks be to God for the amazing grace that saves as the old hymn says. It is in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that God not only forgives all our sin, but graciously gives us life in the kingdom as well. Carroll trusted that truth and as death drew near he loyally kept faith that God gifts us all with life at the kingdom table of Jesus forever.

I remember reading the novel, “Doctor Zhivago.” There is a scene in it where the young doctor, who has just finished his training, has a conversation with his grandmother who is a devout believer in the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ. Zhivago asks his grandmother how she can believe in the resurrection, in the new life given in the cross. Her answer? Wisely, the grandmother tells her doctor grandson that through death we are born into a new life. Let me paraphrase what she says, “I did not know what was happening when my mother gave birth and I entered this life we have now. God can and will give us birth into a new life that we cannot yet even imagine. If God did it before, God can do it again.”

Indeed, we thank God today for the life we have in the cross, the new life at the kingdom table of Jesus. This life began for Carroll at his baptism. It continues now at his death. Thanks be to God for the new life Carroll and all of us have. Jesus is indeed the way, the truth and life as he says in the gospel reading today. Carroll loyally walked that way. Thanks be to God!

And it is precisely this loyalty, this faith, that gives us comfort and hope as we mourn. Our hope is the same as it was for Carroll, in the cross of Jesus. Our hope is in the cross where God is reconciling all through the unconditional love God has for us. How blessed we are that we do not grieve without hope. The gift of God is the comfort and hope of the cross.

Perhaps the final verse of the hymn we sang earlier says it better than I can:

He lives, all glory to his name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same;
what joy this blest assurance gives;
I know that my Redeemer lives!

As we give thanks to God and commend Carroll to God's eternal care, may these words give us comfort and hope: “I know that my Redeemer lives!” Amen.

· Pastor Robert F. Holley

Out of the Dawg House

The Dawg was out of the "dawg-house" on Friday for a while. Here he is at O'Lacy's with friends Chuck Krusey (left) and Danny Seay (right.) Do you any idea what Carroll is looking at when these pictures were taken?


Did you guess he was looking a pretty woman?
That's not it. See? He's looking up.

It's an Atlanta Braves game, of course!

Unfortunately, Saturday was his worst day. Sunday was just a tiny bit better. Monday was a little better but still not good. It's the shortness of breath that is a problem; he is quite weak because of the shortness of breath.

Monday night, Courtney brought down some spaghetti Edie made. It was delicious! We also received one humongous chicken pot pie which Jane Hartwig left in the refrigerator at St. Luke's for us.

Flowers, Food and More

Yesterday, The Dawg said he was "taking care of some business" on the phone. Could "business" be translated to mean some other woman??? Better not be!! (Don't worry; I know better.)



While he was on the phone, I went outside in his yard and took pictures of some of the magnificent flowers there. These gardenias are at the driveway. Such a fabulous fragrance!

There has some beautiful hydrangeas at the front porch.

According to one on-line reference, hydrangeas may be white, pink or blue. That source left out my very favorite color - purple. There are also some deep purple ones.

Yesterday Carroll received a beautiful floral arrangement from our church, St. Luke's Lutheran. These were altar flowers from Sunday's service and included hydrangeas. We also received food from our Casserole Ministry.

He has a follow-up appointment with a new doctor this afternoon. Well, no, not a new doctor but one who is new to us.

Oh, yes, the Braves won last night, or maybe it was actually this morning by the time the game was over. It went to 15 innings!!!!

Sunday Update

The Dawg is still quite weak, especially if he moves around.

Loads of folks asked about him at St. Luke's today.

Vic called him today and reminded him to use his home breathing treatment. He feels better after each one, at least for a while.

Yes, the Braves won again today -- that's three in a row against Toronto -- so he's in a good mood.

The Dawg played baseball -- and basketball, by the way - in his younger years. In fact, he played baseball in Europe for the Air Force.

He has mentioned a certain movie he wants to see, but we're not certain he has the strength to even go to a movie.

Lisa, Jake and Ben visited him tonight and brought boiled peanuts.

Since Monday is a holiday, we don't expect to find out the results of the tests done on Friday but we certainly are anxious about them.

Day 7 in the Hospital Part 3

Earlier this week, we posted a picture of the flowers from St. Luke's. Now there are more; his room is beginning to look quite floral!

These arrived today from Elke and Pete. Aren't they gorgeous?


These are the ones Starla and her daughter, Tora, brought by on Monday night. Beautiful yellow roses in this arrangement.

Mom sent something to Carroll today; she said it was to take the place of flowers. We'd better not show the picture, though! You'll just have to wonder about this one!

Day 7 in the Hospital Part 1

Today the Dawg had a CAT scan which took about 30 minutes. This wasn't until late afternoon, so we won't know the results until sometime tomorrow probably. A bronchoscopy might be done on Friday.

Carroll has still been somewhat nauseated today. He's still doing the breathing treatments, getting three antibiotics through IV and taking other medicines.

But, he seems to be feeling better today than he did yesterday - and a lot better than he did on Monday. Whether this is because of time and medication or because the Braves won last night is anyone's guess!

And, then again, it might be because Mary Meynardie from St. Luke's came in earlier and had devotions with him.

Day 5 in the Hospital Part I

These beautiful flowers were one of the arrangements at St. Luke's yesterday. How nice that Carroll was the recipient of one of the vases!

Carroll has been nauseated today and he had a headache. He finally asked for medicine for both - instead of trying to "grin and bear it." Well, actually, he wasn't doing a whole lot of grinning.

It seems there's a new infection in his mouth because all of the antibiotics they've been giving him have been so strong that they've also killed off the "good" bacteria.

Tuesday morning, The Dawg will have a transesophageal echocardiogram. Here's the info I found on the Internet from the Cleveland Clinic:

During the transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) test, an ultrasound transducer (which produces high frequency sound waves) provides pictures of the heart's valves and chambers and helps the physician evaluate the pumping action of the heart.
The ultrasound transducer is positioned on an endoscope (a long, thin, flexible instrument about 1/2 inch in diameter). The endoscope is placed into your mouth and passed into your esophagus (the "food pipe" leading from your mouth into your stomach) to provide a close look at your heart's valves and chambers without interference from the ribs or lungs.
TEE is often combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler to evaluate blood flow across the heart’s valves. TEE is often used when the results from standard echo studies were not sufficient or when your doctor wants a closer look at your heart.

Dr. Coker says this will take about 15 minutes. It is not for treatment but rather for evaluation purposes. There's a chance there is something wrong with another valve (the aortic valve is the one that he's to have replaced during open heart surgery once he gets well.)

Day 4 with The Dawg

Well, there was a minor problem today, or perhaps it was major, depending on one's perspective. The Atlanta Braves' games don't always come on the same channel. Up until today, their games had been on channels that we couldn't get in the hospital room. Finally - today - the game between Atlanta and Arizona was scheduled on a channel available at Summerville Medical Center.

There was a rain delay. Actually, it was delayed so long that it was finally postponed! No Braves game today.

Most of Sunday, The Dawg was tired, sleepy and not feeling well, although he was breathing a bit better. By the evening, he had improved a little.

For a while his arm was hurting a lot where the IV entered his right arm. The nurse said he probably bent the tube a little and it was likely pressing against a vein or something. It hurt, but he also didn't want it taken out, having to reinsert it. Laura said she had to take it out. After it was done, Carroll was glad it had been done.


In this picture, he and Sonia are both smiling. I guess she hadn't stuck him with a needle or done anything to bother him at that point! The truth is that she never did anything to bother him. I'm not so sure how she got that big smile out of him, though.



Sandra is another of the Summerville Medical Center personnel taking care of him today. Like Sonia and all of the others, Sandra is very nice.



Here's Betty, so friendly and so polite -- and always smiling.


The Dawg had several visitors today. Before I got to the hospital, Edie, Jeffrey and Laura came to visit. Jeffrey and Laura are busy planning a wedding, but they were nice enough to take time to come by. Edie made some boiled peanuts for Carroll. He LOVES boiled peanuts!!


Sunday afternoon, "the twins" - Mary and Helen - came to visit. They are always lots of fun.

John and Deb came by for a while and brought a book for Carroll to read. Wasn't that nice? John is one of Carroll's best friends.

Another of Carroll's closest friends is Chuck. You should have seen the umbrella he was carrying! Carroll and I play a card game called "Fan Tan" with Chuck and his wife, their son and daughter-in-law. We also play Fan Tan with other folks from time to time, especially Mom.

Pastor Sue Briner from St. Luke's took time out of her very busy schedule to come by, chat and have a prayer with us. She's getting ready to go to a "Preaching Festival" in Atlanta for five days. She's looking forward to it, but it doesn't sound like much fun to me. However, Desmond Tutu is the opening speaker for the festival, so it must be a pretty big deal.

Sunday night Lisa came by with Jake, Ben and Kelly. Those boys are growing!

Carroll got a call from his son, Vic, tonight and he was glad to hear from him. Loads of people have called or e-mailed. Some of their messages are in the comments below this post and also below previous posts. He even received a call from Hazel in Scotland.

Mandy and Lorri called to check on Carroll; Wendy and Susan sent messages.

Day Three

Well, Day Three wasn't so good, but that's primarily because the Braves didn't win tonight. In fact, they didn't win by a whole lot.

The Dawg was still tired today, wheezing and short of breath, but he's certainly better than he was on Thursday.

Now, let's talk about the personnel at Summerville Medical Center. Have you ever seen people who seem so delighted to bring the needles to stick the patients?

Laura, Jenny, Lori, Bobbie and Pam certainly seem to enjoy their jobs! They've been wonderful!

In fact, I almost hate to leave at night. They seem to enjoy The Dawg too much!






Here, I think Bobbie is having the same problem with Carroll that Mindy had yesterday. He's not supposed to talk when he's taking the breathing treatment (i.e. "smoking the peace pipe.")

He had some nice visitors today, including Vic & Edie, Lisa, Pete & Mary, and Pastor Holley from St. Luke's. Pastor Holley, who had just arrived (two hours earlier) back in the area from his daughter's graduation in Chicago, had devotions with Carroll.

It's Day Two at the Hospital

It's Day Two for this hospital stay, and there are still likes and dislikes.

The Dawg is better today. This is a great big like. Of course, he's not well, but better than yesterday. Apparently the antibiotics, breathing treatments, rest, sleep, oxygen, etc. are all helping. He even sat up in a chair for a while today.

Here he is shown smoking a peace pipe. That's what he calls it but actually he's taking a breathing treatment. The Dawg wasn't supposed to be talking while taking the treatment, but he kept trying to talk anyway. Imagine that!

The respiratory therapist kept turning it off each time he talked. He's looking at her, just waiting to talk again.

Below, Mindy, the respiratory therapist, has a great big smile. Maybe it's because he FINALLY quit talking and finished the breathing treatment.

And, yes, he's still tired of wearing "this dress." The dress is a dislike.

Unfortunately, the TV in his hospital room doesn't have enough channels for him to get to see the Atlanta Braves play tonight, so that might cause a temporary setback. Being unable to see the Braves game is one of his dislikes.

Jane Hartwig from church (St. Luke's) came by today and prayed with him. When she left, he said he thought he felt better already! Now, that's a real big like!