Presented at the Service for Della Whynot, 18 October 2025
1 Corinthians 4:16-5:4:
…do
not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being
renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for
us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what
is unseen is eternal.
5 For
we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building
from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we
groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when
we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we
groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be
clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling.
Della has
now moved from her tent that was this life to her eternal house build by our
Lord. While she was with us, Della was a faithful Salvation Army soldier. She
and her husband, Les, (until he went on ahead) served the Lord greatly through
the Army. She continued on for many years of service after his Promotion to Glory.
Della loved serving the Lord at the Army and the Bread of Life.
Della
met Les in 1965. They were married in 1966. Delbert was born in ’67 and Shelley
in ’68. They then moved to Nova Scotia for a bit where Della experienced the
joys of living with her mother-in-law for a while. Apparently, Della’s
mother-in-law had a washing machine when they were staying with her but Della
wasn’t allowed to use it. She had to use an old washboard instead. It didn’t
take too long for Della to tell Les that she and the kids were coming back to Port
Alberni with or without him. They returned as a family. Dave was born in 1970.
Some
of the memories shared by her family include Della’s vacations. She had a great
time on a number of different cruises – Alaska and Cuba. Her sons fondly
remember one trip their family took to California, seeing an Angels game, among
other things and seeing mom all decked out in an Angels jersey. On that trip,
she also got quite a sunburn, as bright as a lobster and it was quite a painful
and loud time, I understand, as vitamin E was placed on her wounds.
Della
used to do some cleaning in years gone past. The boys remember coming with her
when they were young.
Della
has a lot of friends and means a lot to a lot of people.
Dello
loved to play many games. Della was always competitive – I understand that she
was especially competitive at Cribbage!
Della loved
to shop – always. Whether at the dollar store or on-line shopping in more
recent days or in the past at Robinsons Department Store or with Blue Light Specials
at Kmart, $1.49 Day at Woodwards, or at the Bargain shop. Della loved to shop –
always.
Della
was a major part of our Salvation Army family. She was a good soldier. She made
an amazing impact over the 25 years she served here: at Church (offering,
coffee and more), women’s group, Christmas, kettles, events, in the food bank,
Wednesday morning coffee, the Bread of Life…
God
used her in amazing ways. God used Della in her ministry at the Bread of Life
Centre everyday. She and Sandi and their team were at their regular table
everyday. She will be missed. She is missed.
For
many years she would not only eat and socialize with our friends at the Bread
of Life; when I first came to town she was regularly volunteering at the Bread
of Life Soup Kitchen as well as at TSA food bank. At Redford she worked in the
food bank too. For my time here in Port Alberni, Della would host the Wednesday
coffee time in the front lobby of TSA. This was an important ministry. Della
was an important part of our Salvation Army. As I was looking through pictures,
even recent ones, of Della; I saw pictures of her with many friends and family
who have already gone on ahead. I know that she will look forward to seeing
them all when she is in Glory. There are many people whom she would like to
greet in Heaven. I am sure many people will be lining up to greet her and I am
sure that as one family member said about her arrival up yonder: “one thing we
all will agree about is the first person she will greet, the first thing Della will
do when she gets to heaven is to jump into the arms of…. Elvis”
Even
though Della is missed; as she is spending eternity now with - maybe Elvis, and
Leslie and Shelly and certainly our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now she can
enjoy eternity for now and forever more.
John 11:25,26: “Jesus said,
…‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live, even
though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’”
This
is true. In The Salvation Army we do have an expression for when our loved ones
pass on and that is that they receive and “promotion to Glory” and promotions
are good things and Della has now received her promotion; so though we miss her
we can all celebrate with her, her promotion to Glory.
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