Funeral, Eulogy, and Memorial Talks
EULOGY FOR NATALIE JARMAN
[Talk given by John E. Enslen at the Wetumpka Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 22, 2012.]
I have never forgotten for a moment the first time I ever saw Natalie Jarman. It was late in the fall of 1976. Frank was a client who had hired my legal services. At the time he had received some missionary lessons, but he was still over two years from becoming a baptized member of the Church.
Frank had parked his pickup truck outside my law office, walked inside and asked me to come meet his girlfriend. I walked outside with him, and he introduced me through the passenger side window to a 28-year-old young woman who was seated in the middle of his front seat.
I must confess I was totally awestruck by her beauty and quite surprised that she was seated in the middle. She was knock-out gorgeous. Her pleasant, captivating smile and perfectly clear, softly textured complexion dazzled me. A question immediately consumed my mind, which I certainly did not reveal to Frank or Natalie. It was a question for which I have never acquired a fully satisfactory answer: “How in the world did Frank Jarman ever talk such a beautiful woman into dating him?”
Despite how the passage of time and the relentless ravages of life’s struggles will impact all of us, Natalie’s sweet smile and clear complexion never faded from our view.
Frank and Natalie first met one another, get this, at the Montgomery Zoo. Throughout their marriage, if a slight disagreement erupted, the tension was immediately dispelled by one or the other saying: “I am going to take you back where I found you.”
Frank had taken his two young sons by a previous marriage, Mark age 14 and Michael age 3, to the zoo, and Natalie had taken her two young girls by previous marriage, April age 9 and Cindy age 6, to the zoo. It is not good for man to be alone, and there at the Montgomery Zoo, divine destiny answered the prayers of both of these shy and reserved single parents.
On May 21, 1977, about seven months after meeting at the zoo, Natalie and Frank were married by the preacher at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in rural Elmore County. About two years later, on March 28, 1979, they were both baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two years after that, on March 25, 1981, Frank and Natalie were joined together as husband and wife for all eternity in a solemn and sacred ceremony conducted in the Washington D. C. Temple.
Natalie and Frank became the parents of Adriane, Richard, and Reid, the grandparents of 13 grandchildren, and the great-grandparents of 2 great-grandchildren.
Natalie Joyce Johnson was born in Dallas, Texas, on December 4, 1947, the daughter of Willard Vince Johnson and Joyce Richardson Johnson. She was one of six children. Being the oldest child living in the household, and having a mother who was sick and a father who worked away from home, Natalie was the major care-giver to her younger siblings, especially her two younger sisters.
One of those sisters, Jeannie Weaver, told me yesterday that it was not until after Jeannie was a mature adult that she began to realize and appreciate all that Natalie had done to raise and care for her. Jeannie confesses that Natalie’s patient, surrogate mothering had been continuously challenged and made more difficult by Jeannie’s youthful rebellious ways.
There has been a common theme of praise amongst those in Natalie’s family to whom I have talked. Natalie’s sister Wanda, who left her Tampa, Florida, home to provide extended, tender-loving care to her dying sister, echoed the sentiments of all: “Natalie was full of unconditional love for everyone. She was non-judgmental. We never had an argument. I hold her on a pedestal.”
The words by which Natalie’s daughters told me they will remember their mother are “forgiving, understanding, loving, a beautiful and precious soul.”
Cindy and April and Adrian shared how their mother would not dwell on their mistakes, but would rather encourage them in a positive way, focusing on her confidence in them, telling the girls that she knew they were capable of achieving and accomplishing.
I do not believe that amongst those here, even amongst those who knew her best, would we be able to prove a single incident of gossiping. Natalie strengthened others with her quiet conversation. We saw and heard her emphasize the good in all the people that she knew.
Frank said there was only one notable exception. The only person she ever talked bad about was him, and that was to his face. He did not reveal to me whether it was deserved or not.
Natalie’s cousin Shirley, with whom Natalie once lived for four years, said; “I never saw Natalie lose her temper. She was soft-spoken by nature, and her sweet smile would brighten the gloomiest day.”
From my own personal observations through the years, Natalie impressed me as a person who never sought to draw attention to herself. She neither boasted nor complained. She indeed had inner strength, but she did not choose to exercise it in the limelight. She chose to influence others for good on a one-on-one basis.
Natalie Jarman had a superb work ethic. She was quietly passionate about her work. That was one of her strong compatibilities with Frank. They have shared a love for physical labor, especially out of doors, whether in the garden or expertly operating side by side heavy-duty commercial lawnmowers.
Numerous were the times that Natalie and Frank would unload two mowers from their trailer that they had parked on our homestead’s three acres of grass. Going full speed, and in less than an hour, and with a quality job completed, they were loading the mowers back onto their trailer. Natalie enjoyed making the world in which she lived a more beautiful place, and she was outstanding at doing so.
Natalie was an avid family history researcher and enjoyed tracing her genealogy and learning more about her ancestors for whom she had a special love and appreciation. As a result she was better prepared to meet a throng of welcoming ancestors in the early morning hours of Sunday, February 19, 2012.
Natalie has always been a worker, whether as a wife, mother, and homemaker, or as a primary worker or a relief society worker, or doing publication layouts at Brown Printing Company, serving as a receptionist, or performing the accounting duties, or trimming shrubbery for her and Frank’s landscaping business.
She was working at Walmart when she began experiencing an ever-increasing degree of dementia and memory loss. There is a great deal of personal fear and loss of confidence that begins to overtake a person when he or she becomes the victim of a serious memory deletion.
One day in early January of 2006, Natalie called Frank from her job at Walmart and asked him to come and get her. Thereafter, her life-threatening condition steadily and progressively deteriorated over the next six years. When Natalie reached a point to where she could make but one sentence, she would raise her hand and point a finger at Frank, and say, “I love that man.” Until the complete and total loss of consciousness overtook her, there was one word that remained in Natalie’s otherwise erased memory. That word was “Frank.”
Natalie’s days of earthy toil and struggle have ceased, and she now enjoys a closer walk with her Savior.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.