Jack Moore Redfearn – A Reverent Tribute

I first met Jack Redfearn when we both entered our sophomore year at Longview High School in September of 1962.  We had grown up in different neighborhoods, attended different elementary and junior high schools and were active members in different churches.  We had some classes together at LHS, but were pretty much what I would call “casual acquaintances” throughout high school and well later into our lives.  Our only encounters after graduating from LHS continued to revolve around our high school class -- and they were brief -- short visits at class reunions.  But during these past 4 years, I was privileged to have encounters with Jack which were far more substantive and revealing about his nature. Though I may have missed out on ‘really knowing’ Jack for a substantial part of his life, in just these past few years, I think I learned what was at the very core of his being — a deep, authentic, passionate faith which he unfailingly trusted for guidance in the daily living of his life through all of its circumstances.

Jack possessed a “Helper’s Heart” — we might call it a “Servant’s Heart”!   He was always ready to plunge into an activity to do his part and more, whether through civic involvement, church ministries or just ‘helping out a friend’ — or for that matter, a stranger!  My close-up encounter with Jack came when, being the servant heart that he was, he had taken on as one of his myriad volunteer projects the responsibility for locating and communicating with members of the LHS Class of ’65.  Hardly a ‘plum’ job, Jack added his own ‘touch’ to these otherwise purely logistic responsibilities.  His caring heart led him to dig a little deeper so he could keep us connected and informed about each other.  However he might  learn about something of significance that occurred relating to one of our classmates, he would put out an email to everyone on his class address file, enabling those who desired to do so the opportunity to make timely contact with that classmate.  I received numerous such notifications over time, including one in mid-February of 2012 regarding a classmate who had just lost an older sibling.  The very next day, another of our classmates who still resided in Longview experienced a catastrophic medical event while visiting in Dallas and was in critical condition in a coma after being rushed into emergency surgery overnight.  His wife is a life-long personal friend with whom I had grown up in the youth program of the First Baptist Church.  Her Dad had been my Sunday School teacher while I was in the 8th grade. So she is a FaceBook friend with my wife.   After seeing a post from her requesting prayers the morning following surgery, I rushed to Baylor Medical Center to find her and see if there was anything I could do.  She had notified her church back in Longview and many of their friends, so there were a number of persons praying for her husband already.  She had housing covered by her son who lived in Dallas and family was with her at the hospital.  She suggested that I join with others who were praying and to invite any of my friends who might be willing to pray for her husband to join as well.

Given the ‘seed’ that Jack had planted with his email about our classmate’s loss of her sibling two days earlier, I was led to contact Jack to see if he would be willing to send out to the entire Class of ’65 a call to prayer for our critically ill classmate. Without any equivocation or hesitation, the alert calling for prayers from our classmates was sent out by Jack.  Over the ensuing 4+ weeks, updates calling for prayers about the specific medical and emotional needs for our classmate were prepared and forwarded by Jack and Patsy to the Class of ’65 roster they had compiled.  Scores of our classmates joined in a prayer chain and over 50 replied via email either to Jack or to me with specific confirmation of their prayer activity.  The experience opened my eyes anew to the power of God’s love, the reach of God’s Kingdom and, for the most emphatic time throughout my encounters with Jack, to the depth of Jack Redfearn’s faith in and personal conviction to his Lord and Savior!  Our classmate for whom we prayed over those 4+ weeks recovered fully and lives today as a “Miracle Man”!

When Jack was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer in September of 2014, the prayer requests and updates were re-started with classmates who had previously indicated their willingness to engage in frequent, on-going intercessory prayer -- this time for Jack himself and for Patsy.  Throughout the ordeal, Jack repeatedly demonstrated the depth and conviction of his faith.  In word and deed, he continuously sought to glorify God.  He provided us with constant reminders — both in person and in writing — of God’s loving care for us all, and that He is always in control.  Jack’s most frequent quotation was “God is good, all the time”!  Despite the struggle which threatened his life, Jack found numerous ways to express his encouragement for those who sought to help him rather than yield to even the slightest scintilla of temptation to indulge in self-pity!

On December 31, 2015, at 1:00 PM, God reached down to pluck an angel from our midst.  At that precise moment, Jack Redfearn was called into the presence of his Lord in Heaven, free at last from the struggle with the cancer that ravaged his body and the intense pain that had recently accompanied it.  Jack's earthly battle with cancer had taken numerous 'turns' over the past 15+ months, but he resolved to wage a furious battle throughout. With great courage and determination, he lived the final chapters of his life on this earth transparently without flinching or yielding to his life-threatening diagnosis. He continued doing what he enjoyed and what mattered the most -- spending whatever time remained robustly and joyfully with his beloved wife, Patsy, family members, close friends, fellow churchmen and, yes, caring for his goats and other pets -- while still finding time to 'lend a hand' when needed by others, serving them with his typical Christ-like spirit.  Significantly, as one who was accustomed to being in the "Helper" role, he was always gracious in receiving help from those extending offers of assistance to him during this time of special need, for which he both frequently and ably expressed his gratitude to all who reached out to him and to Patsy.  And, ooooh, there were sooooo many who offered such help!!  The Heavenly Father marshaled a veritable 'army' of supporters to provide needed assistance, which even included friends assuming the ‘proxy’ for an angel here and there when appropriate!!

Despite routinely experiencing 'ups and downs' physically from the ravages of his cancer, Jack's 'anchor' always, always held firm!  His 'anchor' was his profound personal faith in and relationship with Jesus Christ - a faith relationship that served not only as a compass for his daily endeavors, but which he was always ready and willing to share with others!  With Jack, faith was 'natural', not artificial -- and it was deep, not superficial!  His faith did not need to be put on ‘public display’ or have special attention called to it - it was ever-present and equally apparent to all who knew him!  He was ever ready to share his faith in Jesus using whatever means might be available.  Thus, we know for certain that Jack is in his Eternal Home.  He’s probably been hanging out since last Thursday with his Mom and Dad, busy learning more about what is in store for the eternity ahead and ‘rounding up’ other family and friends he has missed seeing for a number of years!  He is already getting ‘caught up’ with the biological father whose untimely death left Jack’s Mom a widow before Jack was born.  And, he will be there waiting patiently for the rest of us to come join him in God's providential time!

Among Jack's many legacies, and, by far the most important for us all, is faith, a faith that is built on the Rock, which is put into daily action for the Glory of God, and which endures to the end of our time on this earth!  Praise God for the example which Jack provided us through the window of the life he lived!  Offer gratitude to God that He allowed us to be among those witnesses who encountered Jack, and pray that the witness in faithfulness which Jack provided will continue influencing the daily life choices we make well into the future!  Last Thursday afternoon, the Heavenly Father must have said as Jack passed before the gates of Heaven, "Well done, good and faithful servant"!  To those of us Jack leaves behind, the Heavenly Father is saying, "Let not your hearts be troubled"!

Jack would reprimand me as being remiss should I fail to acknowledge and thank those among you who were such special care givers in so many different ways to Jack and Patsy as they have confronted this ordeal.  Through the prayers and deeds of many, Jack and Patsy were able to draw substantial strength and renewal during this troubling time — in a real-life example of how we are all blessed, recipient and giver alike, through this interaction with each other when selflessly sharing our time, offering our assistance and engaging in acts of caring!  We go through much of our life wanting and seeking to be loved.  One of the mysteries in life is that it is in the giving away of our love first that we are most likely to receive love!  Jack knew this!  This was Jack!!  While he might have been  reluctant about telling us to “go and do likewise” because he generally refrained from drawing attention to his own deeds, his encouraging, caring, and yes, loving heart most assuredly would be busy showing us to “go and do likewise” - for the Glory of God in Christ Jesus!!

Finally, Jack would exhort us to continue lifting up Patsy and Jack's family during the inevitable season of grief which looms ahead.  Let’s honor Jack’s legacy by remembering that our work is not complete.

Larry McLendon