A Plan for Graduating to Heaven

The intention for this document is to serve as an advance guide to family members who survive me to be helped with information useful in the conclusion of my life.

A pleasingly full and blessed life has been the loving experience for Suzanne and me to share together in a most excellence venue for living life. We share with you the joy and blessing we feel for God’s Providence in our lives and with the family members He has permitted us to have a part in shaping and enjoying.

With both of us cruising along in our upper 70s, age-wise, it has seemed appropriate to develop known plans for when each of us graduates to Heaven! In addition, a purpose of this document is to enable our family members or friends who want to know what these expectations are, and what each of you reading this might learn.

The north Texas DFW area has been the focus of our living and of our Christian experiences, continuously since 1982. For me, it included my high school years in the 1950s as well. Being a fifth-generation Texan, my sense of well-being here is comforting and Suzanne, my Georgia-born, Mississippi-raised beautiful bride of my life has adapted very well as a fellow Texan! It is for these reasons that our graduation plans, to the extent such are feasible, are established here.

We expect to complete our earthly lives here while living on our 10 acres of homeland in Aurora, Wise County, Texas, a place called home since 1999! We expect our friends and loved ones to celebrate our home-goings at worship services at our home church, Eagle Mountain International Church, outside of Newark, Texas. Whoever in our family is making service arrangements needs to contact the pastoral staff at our church (817-252-2900) to see about what is available in the way of schedule, location on the campus, and pastoral availability to conduct the service.

Our son, Taylor (214-522-5525) will have access to my database to generate information about the graduation, the service, etc. Categories of relatives and friends on our personal databases are identified in advance to whom Taylor can communicate digitally. That will give options to make travel arrangements, if desired.

Our plan is to have cremated remains interred at the

Greenwood Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas. It is on the 200 acres of the northwest quadrant of the intersection of University Boulevard and White Settlement Road. The address is 3100 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth, TX 76107. The office telephone: (817) 336-0584. Arrangements have been made and paid for those services. The cemetery space is #3 in the Benediction Lot #39.

The decision for this location was partly influenced by the fact that my great grandfather, James Alfred Simons, along with 11 other of his family members and relatives, resides in the Lot #39 as well, so it is with a sense of being with family that we like this selection.

For the benefit and information of our immediate family

members, this document includes photo images of each of these relatives’ gravestones, along with a description of each of their relationship to me.

As many of you know, my interests have included pursuing genealogical information about my ancestors, and doing much to tie together how our family has interfaced with and among people of historical, governmental and spiritual roles in the cultures of the world. In keeping with that interest, it is the plan to have my obituary in our local newspapers, The Wise

County Messenger, The Bridgeport Index, and The Chico Texan to include those parts of my historical experiences that may be helpful to some inquiring researchers, years after my living here among you. Prepayment has been made to allow about 25 columnar newspaper inches for this!

It also will include a URL citation of the Autobiography being created to display most of the family, historical and genealogical data that my research has gathered. It is free for the public to access.

http://www.dasharpe.com/Autobiography.html

A benefit of cremation for graduations is that one’s memorial services at the church may be scheduled to be a time that is later than for a traditional burial, thus giving more friends and family the option of deciding to attend, if travel is an element. This is our way to encourage loved ones to gather, as it seems that weddings and funerals are frequent occasions that draw family together. After all, it’s the last way to make an ash of one’s self!

Another family connection exists in the area on Suzanne’s side of the family. Her great grandfather, Dr. John Thomas Taylor, 1864 – 1935, was a dentist who practiced in a downtown Fort Worth office, and who resided immediately south of the Tarrant County Courthouse in the business district. He’d married Ida Capatola Hicks Taylor in 1886. Suzanne’s great grandmother lived out her last years at her daughter’s farm in Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi, ending in 1970. She was Mary Taylor Boggess. Dr. Taylor is interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, a sister property owned by the Greenwood Cemetery organization. It is located just to the east of I-35W.

It is hoped that those interested in reading this document will feel informed about the graduation services all of us approach in life. Should you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to inquire of me. I will do my best to provide a reply.

Yours in Christ,

Dwight Albert (D. A.) Sharpe

805 Derting Road East

Aurora, TX 76078-3712

817-504-6508

da@dasharpe.com