Gary Held passed away on 3 January 2020. Gary will be interred this Thursday (9 Jan), at 1 pm at Eagle Point National Cemetery, 2763 Riley Rd, Eagle Point, Oregon, northeast of Medford, Oregon. In lieu of flowers, Kathy said Gary would want donations made to The Wounded Warriors Project. Here is how to make it in memory of Gary:

- Go to Wounded Warriors website.
- Select “one time” or “monthly” and amount.
- Check the box to “Make this a gift in honor or memory of an individual.”
- Fill in your name and payment information.
- Scroll down to “Honor / Memory Acknowledgement Information.”
- Change “Tribute Type” to “In Memory Of” and fill in “Gary Held” as Tribute’s Name.
- Optional:  You can mail an acknowledgement and/or send a card to:

Kathy Held
407 Clarke St.
Grants Pass, OR 97526

As Gary, Kathy and I spent time on the phone the other day, I was overcome with both grief and joyful expectation at the same time. I heard a classmate and brother who was tired and worn down by a failing body, yet he is at peace and awaiting death’s final blow. How can that be? By his decision to decline any further medical intervention, Gary has totally surrendered his future into the hands of Jesus. His faith in that name is now sufficient to assure an immediate transition from a broken body to an incorruptible one, resting in the arms of Jesus for all eternity. There is nothing that Gary has done to earn this guarantee, except that he depends on the completed act of Jesus on the cross, followed by his resurrection from the dead. Gary and Kathy know what it means to confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead. At the very moment that Gary’s failing kidneys and heart take his earthly life, he will be immediately present in the arms of Jesus. Anne and I share their assurance of salvation, and for that reason only, our tears are wiped away by a glorious expectation that we will be reunited with Gary soon!

You might like a few of my pictorial memories from our wedding 45 years ago. It was fun to see all of us as young 22-year-olds.

– Al Krukowski