Friday, October 16, 2009

Debbie Hillick




It is with great sadness that I write to tell you that Debbie Hillick, who worked in the diocesan database services as a continuing education associate, died unexpectedly this morning just after arriving at work. Debbie worked with many people throughout the diocese while she maintained the more than 30,000 names on our Texas Episcopalian mailing list, helped those who needed to obtain lay licenses, coordinated background checks for laity and kept up with continuing education hours for our clergy. Debbie was a steady person in every storm and managed all her multiple duties with grace, kindness and dedication.

Debbie prayed before coming into the office every day. She enjoyed singing hymns to the Lord. She loved Jesus and she loved us. She was a light, and we love her.  I was blessed to be invited to be with the family this morning at the hospital, to witness their love and friendship and care for each other and for Debbie.  I believe they would each tell you that she inspired this love within the family.  Debbie's death affects both Christ Church Cathedral and St. Mark's, Houston as her brother in law (John) and sister (Laura) work in these congregations.

I ask your prayers for Debbie and her family as well as the Diocesan Staff who all miss her already. She leaves behind two married sons, one daughter and two grandchildren. They are a great family.  Debbie was a good and kind person.  We give thanks to God for her life and her work in our community.
 
Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Debbie. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming.  Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.  Amen.
 
May her soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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Quotes

  • "Christianity is not a theory or speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process." Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • "Most people are willing to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under, but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer." Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • "Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others." Kathleen Norris
  • "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." John Wesley
  • "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." G. K. Chesterton
  • "One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans." C. S. Lewis
  • "When we say, 'I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,' we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the church seldom asks us for forgiveness." Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
  • "Christians are hard to tolerate; I don't know how Jesus does it." Bono
  • "It's too easy to get caught in our little church subcultures, and the result is that the only younger people we might know are Christians who are already inside the church." Dan Kimball