Remembrance of John Boyle
Offered during the Service of Witness to the Resurrection
in Celebration of the Life of John H. Boyle
June 12, 2013

Jennifer Tozer
Member, Fourth Presbyterian Church

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My husband and I had the privilege of talking with Dr. Boyle once a week for over a year after our young daughter died.

He saved our lives.

We are just one example. Dr. Boyle saved hundreds, probably thousands of others.

With a man as wise and loving as Dr. Boyle, it is best to eulogize him with his own words.

When my husband and I would dwell on past events he cautioned, “You can go there, but you can’t put up a tent and stay there.”

When we feared we would never overcome our tragedy, he asserted, “You’ll never get over this, but you’ll get out from under this.”

When we worried that our loss might destroy us, he reminded, “Maybe part of you died and you too are proof of the resurrection.”

And in the midst of our darkest suffering, he urged, “Try to find the hidden treasure of goodness in the rubble of your tragic event.”

Dr. Boyle considered our sessions long prayers. We considered our time with him a gift from God that left us with words by which we live.

As my husband and I grappled with the passing of our young child Dr. Boyle often pointed out that there was a rightness to an older person dying. I agree. There is a rightness and a peace that accompanies the passing of a man who was so crystal clear on his life’s mission and so brilliant in its execution.

John Boyle spent his life quietly leading people from despair to hope and then nudging us gently, patiently, from hope to love.