A Tribute to the late Stephen Grumach

  12 June 1951 – 12 June 2014

 
Bro.Stephen Grumach passed away peacefully on 11 June 2014.His demise is a great loss not only to his family but to all who knew him as well.

Mr Stephen Grumach was a 63 year old retired Health Officer. Over the last year or so he has been inflicted with a serious and crippling lung condition called Idiopathic Primary Pulmonary Fibrosis. This has left him confined to the house and dependent continuously on an oxygen concentrator machine. He used to be very active church goer and was involved in many church ministries. He lived lived with his wife Margaret and their 2 children, Desmond and Veronica.

Despite his serious debility, he was very active on social media, sharing his prayers and thoughts, the    church and about life in general. It is through this sharing I came to know this peasant gentleman. He was a good lesson for us on what fighting a battle against a crippling illness was all about – never give up as God is always there at all times.

Yes, he was a lesson on Faith, which many claim to have but only to be shattered when some illness or tragedy strikes them. Stephen had so much trust and faith in God which puts many of us to shame. He continued to pray for his family and friends who were in distress and continued to have an unshakable faith that God will continue to help him, even performing a miracle to cure him.

He impressed me with his sense of forgiveness saying that although many of his even close friends had left him but harboured no grudge against them but continued to pray for them. He understood that everyone had his own problems to cope with and whatever you do you are answerable to God and that he was not in a position to judge as God was the ultimate judge.

Despite his illness that left him incapacitated over last few months before his death, Stephen was a man of God who stood the trials that came his way with great courage and resilience. He never for once wavered in his faith and trust in God.

In the short period I knew him I had come to appreciate his deep sense of forgiveness for those, especially friends, who ‘deserted’ him after he was taken ill and was of no use to them. I admired his strength in facing death which he was fully aware was imminent, leaving everything in the hands of God in whom he had full trust. I was inspired by his wife, Margaret, who was there day and night with him in the house and in the over-crowded hospital during the difficult final days of his life.                                                                                                                                                                                 We extend our deepest condolence to his wife and his children, Edmund and Veronica. May the Lord give them the strength to continue their life with faith and dedication in the path of their beloved husband and father. May the Lord bless them and console them in this difficult time in the lives.

May his soul rest in peace.