A dear friend and supporter of Menno Clinic, Dr. Darrell Thompson, passed away in December 2019. He was the donor of the equipment in the eye and the dental clinics among other things at Menno Clinic. He was 92 years old. He and Subbarao were friends for decades. He farmed near Granger, IN.
One time Dr. Thompson called Subbarao to get his opinion on one of his farms that wasn’t producing as good as it should. Doc went there and gave Darrell his opinion. As Subbarao was getting into the car, Darrell asked him, “DOC how much do I owe you?” Subbarao said, nothing. He wouldn’t take a no. He and Subbarao haggled for a while and Doc wouldn’t let him pay. Subbarao thought he had won the fight. The next thing you knew, Dr. Thompson found out that Subbarao had a mission project in India and he sent a generous check to the mission project. They became such good friends since then.
Last October, Dr. Thompson asked Subbarao if he would share his eulogy at his funeral. The following is what Subbarao shared, that we share with you as a memorial to this generous man whose life and philanthropy will be impacting thousands of clients in Chiluvuru.
Doc Thompson Eulogy (December 30, 2019)
यह मैं नहीं बोल रहा हूँ, यह हमारा भगवान यीशु मसीह है।
“It’s not I that speaketh, it’s our Lord Jesus Christ that speaks through me.”
Darrell J Thompson
Touched by his kindness,
Overwhelmed by his generosity,
Gratified by his friendship,
Inspired and humbled by his simple lifestyle,
With tears of emotion in my eyes,
I stand here with my folded hands.
जाने वाले कभी नहीं आते
जाने वाले की याद आती है
“Those that pass away, they never come back.
But their memories keep coming back forever.”
My wife and I visited him many times over the last several years.
Whenever we visited him, he told me that he misses his wife Mary Ann very much. He talked about his grandchildren all the time. One of his grandchild had a high SAT score and I never heard the last of it. He would go on and on how good his Grandchildren are. He loved his son and his family. He was so proud of Jon and what a great farmer he became. Jon raised 250 bu corn 80 bu beans and he is a Beck Seeds salesman. That’s all I would here. Doc Thompson and I would get in his pick up and we would drive around Jon’s farms. Doc Thompson would make me stop the truck at one of Jon’s fields. He would say go and get me one of those ears. He could see me from the pickup. I will start picking an ear. Not that one. The other one. He would point me to the biggest ear. Then I will bring it in. Of course it’s big. This is the outside row. Doesn’t matter. He will make me count the rows and the number of Kernels just to show how good a farmer Jon became. He just loved his son and his family.
“Glory of the farmer is that in the division of labors, it’s his part to create.” Emerson
Here is a farmer more than anything.
Where he stood, the ground he plowed was level. “There was no Indian, no African, no Hispanic, no white, no black” in his world. All are equal and one in God Almighty. At the foot of the cross the ground was level just like the ground he plowed.
“వున్నాళ్లు పొయినోళ్ల తీపి గురుతులు”
The English translation of this is done by Cicero several centuries back.
“The life of the dead is in the memories of the living”.
Kindness was his legacy
Generosity was his legacy
Giving was his legacy.
Treating others better than himself was his legacy.
Son Jon, as long you carry his legacy in you, as long as you carry his memories in you, he lives in you and your family. In that, he never died.
My wife Olga and I were there with him last October when he was in the Westminster village. He whispered something and I couldn’t quite catch it. My wife told me what he said. He said “ Doc, can you do my Eulogy?”
I said “I already wrote your eulogy”
He got emotional with tears in his eyes.
I saw my rewritten, reworded, completely new eulogy in his tears of emotion and affection. I saw victory over death in his tears of emotion.
This is how I feel about Darrell Thompson
खुदा की दर से हम तुम्हे खुदा तो नहीं कह सकते
लेकिन लुफ़्ती खुदा, शाने खुदा , वाकया खुदा हो आप
Darrell Thompson
You are (one of) the best men I ever met and I love you so much that I would like to call you God. But I cannot do that, since calling someone God is blasphemous. So I won’t call you God. But I say this. The way you talked to others was like God. The way you treated others with so much respect was like God. The way you conducted your life was like God. Your humility was like God. You are not God, but you are so much and so many ways God like. You certainly are like Him and today you are with Him.
Some lives are a glory to God in the highest. This is one such life
Some deaths never end they are born again in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is one such death.
Otherwise this whole Bible is for naught.
DOC Thompson once told me that I was his best friend.
Darrell, you are one of my best friends too brother.
Here rests my best friend.
Here rests my inspiration.
Here rests honest of life lived in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, here we send your favorite son.
Lord, here we send your faithful servant.
Lord, here we send you a peace, equality, and justice warrior.
Lord, here we send an honest of goodness.
Lord, here we send you one of the best you have received in the recent past.
Receive him with open arms, and comfort him my Lord and my God.
Written by Subbarao Yarlagadda
Menno-Clinic, India 