1951 4-6 Funeral Services of Alfred Kunz

Funeral Service for Alfred Grein Kunz
April 6, 1951

Order of Services

Prayer at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brother James Walton

Prelude  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Freiss

Quartette  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Kerr
    “Abide With Me”                Mervin Christensen
                            Carmi Campbell
                            Grant Thompson

Prayer    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Radcliffe Henry

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Oyler
    “Beyond the Sunset”                Ann Freiss, Accompanist


Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President Clifton G. M. Kerr

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brother Isaac Knowles
    “Just a Wearyin’ For You”

Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Floyd Stohl

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Earl Bust
    “In the Garden”

Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irvin Garfield

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elmer Bailey
    “O My Father”

Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Horace Hunsaker

Postlude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Freiss

Dedication of Grave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clarence Knowles

Opening Remarks by Brother Ray Reader

    Brothers and sisters, we have met here this day to pay honor and respect to Brother Alfred G. Kunz.  Brother Kunz died Monday evening, April 2 at his home.  He was born on October 8, 1892 at Providence, a son of John and Magdalena Grein Kunz.  He was reared at Providence and moved to Tremonton shortly after.  He was married in 1913.  He married Rosa Knowles in the Logan Temple.  She died July 2, 1938, in Tremonton.  He married Sister Fern W. Baker June 19, 1946 in the Logan Temple.

    Brother Kunz has always been an active member of this church.  At the time of his death he was secretary of the seventy’s quorum, and he has been an outstanding ward teacher of this ward.

    He is survived by nine children, Mrs. Eveline Getz, Mrs. Vesta Flandro, Darrell Kunz, Eldon, Clenton, Norma, Elva, Floyd, and Lloyd Kunz.  He is also survived by ten stepchildren, Melvin Baker, Mrs. Elva Goodsell, Mrs. Mary Otta Reese, Mrs. Vaudis Miller, Mrs. Lilly Mae Thomas, Mrs. Josephine Bronson, Lowella, Lamar, Richard, and Ila Baker; six grandchildren; one brother, Ervin Kunz, and a half-sister, Mrs. Kate Pfeister.

    The program has been arranged at the request of the family.

Opening Prayer by Radcliffe Henry

    Our Father which art in Heaven, we have met here this afternoon in humility.  We bow our heads before Thee with thanksgiving in our hearts that we are permitted to meet here this day under such favorable circumstances.  We thank Thee for our homes and our loved ones and all the bounties of life we receive from day to day.  And in as much as we have met here this day, Father, to pay our respects to one of Thy valiant and noble sons who has departed from this life, we pray that Thy spirit and Thy holy influence will be here in these services to bless and sanctify everything that shall take place here this day.

    We prayer Thee, Father, in a special manner to bless the loved ones of this dear brother and those who have been called upon to mourn this day in the passing of our dear brother.  Bless them with Thy spirit that their hearts and minds will be turned to Thee.  In a special manner we pray Thee to bless his wife and those who are close and near and dear unto him, that they too may realize that this passing is due to the weaknesses that beset the mortality of man and that it is Thy will that all these things shall take place at a given time.

    We pray Thee to bless us here as individuals in this community that we may realize our true position here on the earth, that we may work together for the establishing of the brotherhood of man here.  We pray Thee to be with us as we further wait before Thee, and let Thy blessings be here in abundance, all of which we do in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by President Clifton G. M Kerr

    This is the third time in the last thirteen years that it has been my honor to render a small service to this family–in 1938 the passing of the mother of the Kunz children, Alfred’s first wife, and again in 1944 with the passing of Arlene.  And it is an honor and a privilege again today to make a few expressions in behalf of the people who know these remarkable families.  Now I say they are remarkable families, the Baker family and the Kunz family for various reasons.  First, it is a remarkable thing today for ten children to be in a family.  When you unite two families with ten children, it is all the more remarkable; and then when you find three sets of twins in one family, it is just one of those rare things.  So I say this is a rare opportunity to pay tribute to two rare families.

    It has been an interesting thing to see the experiment, if I may call it that, of the uniting of two such rare families.  I have been in their home many times, and I am impressed with the immense amount of good will and good felling that existed there.  Certainly it is a tribute to the character and good dispositions and the sweetness of the leaders of these two families, Alfred and Sister Baker, that they could weld them into the harmonious unit that they were.  This speaks louder than anything else we can say.

Now Alfred and Sister Baker were married about five years ago, and I know that in that time that union has brought them much happiness; and the regrettable thing is that it couldn’t continue a few more years, at least till all the children were reared and probably on their own.  Of course, we cannot always decide those things or supply a reason for them.  But there are circumstances that could occur and do occur that make even this thing that I refer to as being regrettable, the best thing.  There is an ancient legend that bears on this thought.  The people of the earth, so the legend goes, became angered with the dark angel of death because this angel of death seemed to be unjust and untimely in his actions.  He took the young and the innocent and good and seemed to pass over the evil and aged and those who were helpless, so they prayed that the dark angel of death should be taken from the earth.  And the so-called dark angle of death, offended, closed his books and left the earth.  But a few years later a huge wail came up.  Folks with incurable disease had to suffer unendurably.  Aged by the millions saw no end to their infirmities.  Well, the people again united in prayer and pleaded for the dark angle to return and assume his benign ministry.
    Now death is regrettable, a thing of sorrow and yet in the scheme of things in this life it has its place.  It is good in the scheme of things.  Anything that is so universal as death is, and anything that can relieve human suffering such as death does, in so many cases, cannot be entirely bad, though at times our understanding of the causes cannot be had.  But it is a part of the great plan of eternal salvation.  It is a part of that plan that we accepted before we came into this life.  Brother Alfred understood that plan well and lived by it, and if he were to speak today I believe that Alfred would want to say something to his children and to the Baker children.  I believe that I could say in my own words what I think Alfred would like to say.  I think they would be the things I would want to say to my children, to those I loved; but I am going to read a note a mother left her son after she took her own life.  She had grieved over the divorce that had occurred between her and her husband.  She took her own life, but she left a note for her only son; and what she said to him any father would like to say to his son or daughter.  She said;

    These are the things I want you to do always:
    When there is a job to do, do a good job.  Never a sloppy one.
    Work hard when you work, but play hard, too.
        Be active with your hands and mind; but find plenty of time to observe how beautiful and strange the world is.
        Never live too far away from outdoors.  From trees and birds, animals and plants, and insects, mountains and blue water.
    Never, never start a fight.  But if someone else does, given ‘em back what they asked for.

    And she summed it up by saying, “And above all, be a man among men.”  Then she said, “I’ll love you till the end of time.  Mother.”

    She expressed there a philosophy of life that could fit all of us.  It is good and fine, and I believe if Alf could speak now, he would want to include those thoughts in his legacy to his children, along with a good name that he has left them.  It is interesting as we contemplate the fact that here today, and tomorrow, we will see two individuals laid away who are of widely varying dispositions, make-up and background.  I refer to the burial tomorrow of George Albert Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the man who has held the highest position, that it is within the power of you and I to sustain him in and who is recognized by the Lord as the head of His church.  Now Alf hasn’t traveled very far.  His calling has been humble, and yet when the day of judgement comes, Alfred has just as good a chance; and you and I have just as good a chance to achieve as those who activities may have been more widely heralded.  It isn’t how big a position have I filled, but how well have I filled the position that was mine to fill.

    Now as I view this family of ten children and know the service that Alf has rendered to the Baker children, who of us can imagine a calling, a responsibility of great import?  I have no fear for the future of the soul of Alfred Kunz.  He lived well, one of the humble, common men of the earth, a man who lived consistently.  In the thirty years I have known him, he has not gone to the right or the left from the philosophy he has held; and part of it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that has been part of his life.  And now as we bid adieu to his earthly remains, we should be thoughtful of the fact that every hour, every minute the time schedule of our own lives is moving onward.

        A little more tired at close of day,
        A little less anxious to have our way,
        A little less ready to scold and blame,
        A little more care for another’s name,
        And so we are nearing the journey’s end,
        Where time and eternity meet and blend.
        A little less care for bonds and gold,
        A little less zest than in days of old,
        A broader view and a saner mind,
        And a little more love for all mankind,
        A little more careful of what we say;
        And so we are faring adown the way.
        A little more love for the friends of youth,
        A little more zeal for established truth,
        A little more charity in our views,
        A little less thirst for the daily news,
        And so we are folding our tents away,
        And passing in silence at close of day.

    Now may our Father in Heaven be merciful unto these two families that this day may be a sacred memory to them, that in the years to come as they visit his grave they shall have fondest and happiest memories of the worthy father whose name they bear.  This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by Floyd Stohl

    My dear brothers and sisters and friends, I feel very anxious and very humble in occupying this position and I do ask an interest in your faith and prayers that I might be able to say something here that will bring comfort and hop to those families who are suffering a loss of a father and husband here today.  I do feel that it is an honor to be asked to say a few words at this time.  My first recollections of my early life are associated with the Kunz families.  When we first lived out at the ranch, we hade Brother Emil Kunz as a neighbor, and north of us lived Brother Alf.  Brother Emil had his boys and girls, and we associated with them.  These people were fine neighbors.  At that time, we had no automobiles, so our associations were much more than we have today.

    When I became ten years of age, Brother Emil and his family moved to Idaho, and then Alf Kunz was our nearest neighbor.  I remember all of his children as they grew up, and as the years went on we worked together.  He would help us harvest, and we would help him.  Alfred had a gift to repair things, and I can recall innumerable occasions when he came to our place to help us move a building or to help us remodel.  He was always willing to do this, and it seemed he received much joy and satisfaction to see something that would be more convenient for those who had to use it.  He built a home–a nice home, and he had in it all the conveniences it was possible to have for his family.  On one occasion the Savior was approached by a lawyer, and he was asked:

        Which is the first commandment of all?
        And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord;
        And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, and with all they soul, and with all they mind, and with all they strength: This is the first commandment.
        And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.

    This commandment was literally accepted by Brother Kunz.  He did love his God, and he did all in his power to serve him, and he did love his neighbor as himself.

    I had the good fortune to work in the Elder’s Quorum with Alfred, and I can remember many different times when he would go to help someone less fortunate than himself, and he would spend days and sometimes weeks in helping them.  He did not do this for honor but because he loved the Lord and loved his neighbor.  I recall when they built this chapel and were finishing the canning room in the basement.  The electric stoves and sinks were installed by Brother Alfred.  That was the spirit Brother Kunz had.

    As Brother Kerr has stated, Alfred had a large family, and he did love this family.  He wasn’t the man to preach to them.  In fact, I can’t remember a single time when he spoke from the pulpit.  He taught by example.  He taught them to be honest, industrious, to pay their tithing and he taught them to attend their meetings and to do that which they should do and all because of his love for the Lord and his love for the Lord’s work and love for his family.  I think that we can all of us, for the most part, remember this family as they came up.  I can recall when the boys were deacons and how faithful they were at the sacrament table.  The girls taught Sunday School and were very active in their mutual and other work that the church might call upon them to do.  I am not so well acquainted with Norma and Elva, but I am sure that through the teachings they receive from their mother and father, they have been valiant in working in the church.

    Alfred’s first wife worked with him in harmony in teaching these children.  She did everything in her power that they might teach them the correct and true way of life.  Another virtue Brother Kunz had was the fact that he didn’t complain.  He had to bear more than his lot of sorrow in his life–first in the loss of his wife, then in the loss of his daughter, Arlene, who had filled her mother’s shoes.  He did have to suffer a lot, but he never did complain or lose faith in God.  I remember quite well when Arlene was so sick and Alf was trying to take care of his family and the love that he had for his family and especially for Arlene.  At the ranch he would stop at the house and call to see how she was feeling.  If she wasn’t feeling better, he would return to take care of her.  He believed in service to humanity, and through all this he never would complain or feel that he was mistreated.  I was happy when I learned that he had taken this good woman, Sister Baker, into his home to help raise his family; and I am sure he appreciated all she had done for him.  And I am sure his family appreciates all she has done for him.  I know that she did as much as possible to bring him comfort and cheer in his last sickness.  I am sure he did thank them all for it.

    I have worked with his boys, and I have found them to have many characteristics of Alf.  They are honest and good workers.  I have found in this family the same unselfish spirit that Alf had.  In talking with them, they have all expressed their love for him and how much they will miss him, but they would rather he go to his reward than to stay and suffer.

    That is a test of their love for their neighbor and for their loved ones.  I know, and they know that they are going to miss his counsel, his love, and his guidance; but I am sure they are going to carry on as he would want them to.
    I would like to say that their father and mother and Arlene are reunited in the spirit world and are just as interested in your welfare as if they were here.

    In the passing of Brother Kunz, I have lost a neighbor, a friend, and a man that loved me as he loved himself; and I do want to say that I know through this gospel we have that we will all have the opportunity of seeing him again.  I ask the Lord’s blessings upon you so that he will comfort you during your hour of trial.  I do it in Jesus’ name, Amen.
                               

Remarks by Irvin Garfield

    My dear brothers and sisters, it is with mixed emotions that I stand before you this beautiful afternoon.  It is with a prayer in my heart that I might say something that will help in a small way to compensate this family for the sorrow that they are experiencing at this time because of the loss of their dear father and husband.  We are met here this afternoon as is usually the case from time to time to pay tribute to one of God’s chosen children who has passed from this earthly existence.  WE are here for the purpose of honoring the memory of a good man, and I am sure that there are none here in this congregation or none who are unable to be here and who are acquainted with Brother Kunz that would not say that this explanation is befitting to his character and that of his family.

    Brother Kunz was a good man.  All of us would do well if we could emulate his life and be able to look forward to our passing knowing that we had lived as he has lived–humbly before the Lord, and that we have rendered service to mankind.  I want at this time to express my sympathy and that of the bishopric to the family, to Sister Kunz, the sons and daughters, and stepchildren of Brother Kunz.  We know that in his passing they are going to sustain a great loss.  I also want to express the hope and the fact that the Lord will comfort them and that his blessings will attend them.  I know that Sister Kunz and the family expected this to take place, and that they realized sooner or later that they would have to be separated from the sweet association of their loved one who has been so faithful to them.

    As has been mentioned by President Kerr and by Brother Stohl, it is very unusual; it is seldom that two families such as the Kunz and the Bakers have been united by a second marriage of both mother and father where the spirit of unity and devotion and love has so prevailed.  It is a spirit of love and unity that can be fully understood by one who fully understands the principles of the gospel, and I know that this family understands these principles.  I think that the love that existed between Brother and Sister Kunz and these families is best illustrated by the immortal word of Sir Walter Scott in his work, “The Lady of the Lake” where he says that love is a gift given from God to mankind upon the earth.  Now that is something that in my estimation separates the children of God from all other creations.  It is the spark of divinity that you and I have.  This is the love that God gives us, and there is a love that was given to Brother and Sister Kunz for one another and to these families.  He goes on to say that it is the silver tie and the golden tread that binds two souls and two hearts into one.  That is the love that Brother and Sister Kunz have exhibited for one another and these families.  They have united as one by this spirit that is given from heaven above.

    There are many times in one’s life, and I am sure that it has presented itself in the last few months in the life of Sister Kunz and these boys and fine daughters, that we wonder why it is that mankind is called upon so many times to suffer so much, that a devoted father or a loving mother or a brother and sister whom we dearly love must lie and linger on in suffering or pain.  And those who have experienced this, those who have watched so hopelessly and felt themselves so helpless when a dear one was going by inches could fully realize that in pain and sorrow there is a mellowing thought.  It does have a purpose, my brothers and sisters.  It is a good disciplinarian.  It is one of the things that teaches us above all else obedience.  It was the pain and the sorrow and the suffering that our Saviour had to go through that taught him obedience to the things that God wanted him to do.  And we have been given this commandment that Brother Stohl read: “Love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart, might, mind, and strength.”  This would be impossible unless we could experience some of the things that he experienced.  That brings us closer to one another.  It is the suffering that brings us much closer to our Father in Heaven.  There is no other way that we can be brought close to him so that we can appreciate the things that he really did for us.  The suffering that our Saviour experienced was intense, and I think that for a few minutes we could contemplate on that.  I would like to read from the Doctrine and Covenants what the Lord himself said in a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  He said: (D & C 19:16-18)

        For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent,
        But if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I,
        Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink.

    Now what should be our attitude when these things come upon us?  I think that the example was set for us by the Saviour when he was in the garden of Gethsemene, and I know that this is the attitude and spirit that has permeated these fine families.  In visiting with them I have never heard them once complain or express sorrow or ill feelings to our Father in Heaven because this came upon them.  We know that in the garden of Gethsemene our Saviour was suffering so much that he was bleeding from the pores, and he was also conscious of the fact that more anguish was to come.  Yet he cried out to his Father in Heaven, “If it is possible, let this pass from me; but if not, not my will be done but Thy will.”  And this has been the spirit and the feeling of Brother and Sister Kunz and their dear and beloved family during the illness of their father.  I would like to also say unto them, and I am certain that in the future they will carry on as they have done in the past as their dear father so nobly expressed shortly before his death.

    Another thing I would like to mention and a thought that I would like to leave and that is that I believe like the late president, Joseph Fielding Smith once stated that we as the children of God do live in the presence of heavenly beings and messengers and that the veil that separates us from them is very thin and that where we cannot see beyond the veil we are quite certain that the loved ones that have passed beyond can look down at their handiwork and that since they have been advanced as we are to advance, they are much more concerned about the things we do after their passing than before.  Their knowledge has been expanded.  They can see the temptations and the pitfalls that beset mankind, and because of that love for us, even after death their desire for our well-being is much greater than that which we have for ourselves.  And with this thought I would like to say to the sons and the daughters and the stepchildren who are left, this thing that I know Brother Kunz would say, and I have heard him express it in my presence several times.  He said that those who are active in church should continue doing good in the future as you have in the past, and that you will receive joy and happiness and blessings that cannot be received in any other way under the sun.

    It is through our own efforts that we work out the degree of salvation that is coming to us, and that is the reason that we are here upon the earth.  We are not here for any other purpose.  It was the plan that was devised and worked out before the creation of this earth that we should come down here as children of the Lord and that our spirit should have a tabernacle of flesh and bones and blood and that we should during this period of probation work out the degree of salvation to which we shall attain.  And after we have done this, the spirit is again called home to that God that gave it to the body to rest in peace.  It is free from the torment of the flesh.  Satan has no more power over it.  This is part of the plan of salvation and exaltation.

    I know that this family will again meet with their father.  They will partake of his association, his advice and fine spirit that he has given to this family.  I think that the family is to be commended greatly for their achievements, for the work that they have done here in this community, the service they have rendered to the ward, not only the family of Brother Kunz, but the family of Sister Baker.  My brothers and sisters, it should be an inspiration to you and to me and to everyone here that people can come into a community and render the service that this family of Sister Baker’s has.  That is a testimony to me.  Now may God grant His choice blessings to this family that they may revere the memory of their father.  I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Closing Prayer by Horace Hunsaker

    Our Father who dwells in the Heavens, in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, we come before Thee in the close of these beautiful services for Brother Kunz; and we wish to thank Thee for the many blessings that we have received from Thee at this time.  We thank Thee, our Heavenly Father, for this spirit that has been here in our midst that we have felt.  We thank Thee for the beautiful words of truth and consolation that have been spoken.  We thank Thee our Heavenly Father, for the life of Brother Kunz, for the privilege we have had of knowing him, of being a neighbor to him and for the influence for good that he has had in our lives.  We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for the many blessings that we received.  We ask Thee to bless Sister Kunz with Thy spirit to buoy her up at this time of sorrow, that her testimony of the gospel may be strengthened at this time, and that Thy spirit may be with her to comfort her and to help her understand They will be done.

    Bless the Kunz family, these fine boys and girls, we pray humbly, Heavenly Father, that Thy spirit may remain with them always that they may walk uprightly before Thee that they may remember their father and mother and the fine example they set.  We ask Thee to go with us, Father, to the cemetery, that no accident may befall us, that peace may be with us and to be with us at all times.  Dismiss us with They blessing, we humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.