By John Rieping | Given on Wednesday evening, July 26, 2023, in Jay's Chapel in Madera, California | My father would be happy to see you all here. He loved an audience; he also loved many of you as well as Saint Joachim Church. In his youth, he wanted a wife who was more devout than him so she could single-handedly raise their children as Christians and spare him the trouble. But he got more than he bargained for with my mother, and our faith would become central for our whole family when we were growing up. For most of our lives, my father’s faith, hope and love was shown more than spoken. My father quit smoking cigarettes as a Valentine’s Day gift for my mother, and he worked on taming his temper thanks to Catholic retreats. Instead of counting from 1 to 10 to calm himself down, he would sing his favorite hymn, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” aloud before reacting. There was a downside though. If he sang the hymn just because he was in a good mood, all of his children would quickly scatter and disappear anyway. We weren’t taking any chances. The Focolare Movement, led locally by the late Father Lupe Sanchez, taught my father ways to live out the gospel message of love. My family would go to monthly Word of Life meetings in the former St. Joachim School kindergarten building, and to week-long, summertime, family retreats called the Mariapolis in the states of Washington or New Mexico. Our vacations always involved road trips or camping, and were often religious. Our biggest adventure brought the family to Vancouver, Canada, for a Mass with Pope John Paul II in 1984. But most of our faith adventures were closer to home. Sometimes the homeless or those in need would approach my father as he cleaned the Saint Joachim Church building or cared for the grass, bushes, and trees around it. Some he referred to the church for help, and to others he also offered work, shelter, and meals himself. My mother welcomed these guests as she would Jesus, and my father would lend money, a bicycle, or other help that almost always would not be returned. But, on rare occasions, people’s lives were turned around. One such man, who had a wife and family, never forgot my dad’s aid, and would periodically deliver boxes of produce to my dad in the subsequent decades even until now. In 2006, my father prayed to God at church after Mass, afraid of an open heart surgery he would have to replace a failing valve. He felt peace when he heard in his thoughts a voice telling him, “He’s given you more time.” He wondered why, but four years later my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which would someday take his own life as well. Because he survived that surgery, he was able to care for my mother. Those extra years were a bittersweet gift. Before and after my mother’s death in 2016, my father suffered a dark night of the soul. Yet, simultaneously, he grew the most spiritually – through daily Mass, private prayer, and spiritual reading. He also gained a newfound devotion to the Franciscan saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Italy, one of his many siblings in Christ in Heaven, and he eventually fell in love with a fellow daily Mass-goer, Sharon Caruana, whom he married in 2021. Now he has finished his life's pilgrimage, and even Alzheimer's disease could not rob him of his sense of humor along the way. Four nights before he died, longtime friend Jim Bryan told him, “We love you, Opa.” My dad quipped in reply, “I love me too.” Thank you for coming to celebrate the gift of my father, who I trust is on his way – by God’s grace – to enjoying the company of his spiritual family in Heaven. May God bless you all.
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Josef “Joe” Rieping died in the presence of his beloved son Bernie and daughter-in-law Betty in Madera at 1:10 AM, July 18, 2023, after battling Alzheimer’s disease for more than two years. The eighth of 11 children, he was born in Klein Karlshoeh, Germany (now Poland), on August 30, 1936, to farmers Heinrich and Helene. In July and August of 1945, Helene and her remaining eight children fled to West Germany to escape imprisonment by Soviet authorities, who deported German civilians to the USSR for forced labor and had taken away his father earlier that year. He turned 9 during the escape across the heavily fortified and patrolled border, and his youngest sibling was only 3. He and his siblings were divided among relatives. He attended a minor seminary at age 12. His father died on September 21, 1955, soon after his release by the Soviets, and Josef immigrated to the United States on January 10, 1957, to help support his mother and sisters. He initially milked cows in New York and worked in the summer at the Rieping Lodge, a lakeside mountain resort in Roscoe, N.Y. He served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1961. He moved to Sanger, California, in January of 1962 to work at an uncle’s dairy. He first saw his future wife, Teresa Lozano, when she performed with her folkloric dance troupe for a charity dinner in Sanger, and they first talked at a young adult gathering at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno. They later married in St. Alphonsus Church in Fresno on January 18, 1964. Spurned by his uncle for marrying a Mexican, he worked as an agricultural pest control advisor. When their first child arrived in December, he asked for a raise and was denied due to being “unskilled labor.” So he quit and the company had to hire three “college boys” to replace him. A job offer from Noble’s Independent Meat Company, a meat packing and processing plant in Madera, led the growing family to move from Sanger to Madera. Eventually his arm muscles grew so strong they separated from the bone, which forced him to change careers to landscaping in and around Madera. For years this included gardening and custodial work for St. Joachim Church (and at first its school as well). But he later quit his job with the church to open a vacancy so a particular man in need could fill the job. His wife Teresa died on Feb. 23, 2016, but he was blessed to find love again with a fellow daily Mass attendee and married Sharon Caruana at St. Joachim Church in Madera on January 23, 2021. He loved horses and mules. His wagon and buggy won awards in area parades, and carried Monroe School children for carnivals and history projects. He served as Grand Knight for the St. Joseph Marello Council of the Knights of Columbus in Madera, and attained the charitable organization’s highest degree, serving in the Our Lady of Mercy Assembly in Merced. He embraced the spirituality of the gospel-centered Focolare Movement, and repeatedly welcomed the homeless into his home. He is survived by his wife, Sharon, his son Anthony and his wife Noel, his son Bernard “Bernie” and his wife Betty, his son Eugene “Gino” and his wife Angelica, his daughter Maria-Helena Uribe and husband Hector, his son John and his wife Viviana, 18 grandchildren, and six great grandchildren, one of whom is in the womb. Visitation will be Wednesday, July 26, from 3 to 6 PM at Jay Chapel, 1121 Roberts Ave. The rosary will be prayed July 26, at 6 PM at Jay Chapel. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday, July 27, at 9:30 AM in St. Joachim Church, 401 W. 5th St., with a reception afterwards at Holy Spouses Hall, 320 N. I St. Ana Maria Rieping died amid loved ones at her Madera, California, home at 10:59 p.m., Jan. 16, 2017, after a two-year fight with cancer. The eldest of three children, she was born at Madera County Hospital on Oct. 1, 1966, to Mary Angelina Grahiola, and baptized Jan. 22, 1967, at St. Joachim Catholic Church. She first met her future husband, Bernard Rieping, when his mother taught summer school at Sierra Vista Elementary School and introduced a seemingly shy boy to her class. After she introduced him, a classmate exclaimed how cute he was, which spurred him to hide behind his mom. She graduated from Madera High School in 1984 and spent two years as an engineering student at University of California, Berkeley. But didn’t meet “Bernie” again until a church canoe and camping retreat during her years at California State University, Fresno, for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. They became friends, dated, and married Jan. 18, 1997, the same day his parents had married. She first worked as a supervisor for Madera County’s Migrant Head Start. As a teacher, she moved on to Ripperdan Elementary School in 1996 and Madison Elementary School in 1997. At Madison, she became a teacher on special assignment in 2004 and an academic coach in 2009. She became a districtwide academic coach for Madera Unified School District in 2013. She completed the Bridges Program for her administrative credential a few months ago. She loved children, teaching, singing, music, the color purple, and her dogs and cats. She sang and played the flute in the St. Joachim Youth Choir for many years when it was led by her guitar-playing husband. Ana had a strong determination in life and wanted wholeheartedly to live. But she repeatedly said she hoped God would use her cancer to bring someone closer to him, whether or not she was healed. She believed the cancer could not defeat her, even if it took her life, so long as she didn’t lose heart or her faith in God. The last words she told her husband were “I love you.” She is survived by her husband of 20 years, Bernard; her sister Michele Elizabeth Irving; her children of the heart Michael James Valverde and Bernadette Marie Rodarte; her sons Jeremy, Alexander, Benjamin, Timothy, and Zachary; and two grandchildren, Kiara and Sebastian. She is preceded in death by her mother and her younger brother, Joseph Rodriguez, whose anniversary of death is Friday, Jan. 27. The rosary will be prayed Friday, Jan. 27, at 5 p.m. in St. Joachim Church, 401 W. 5th St. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. in the same church with a reception afterwards at Holy Spouses Hall, 320 N. I St. Internment will be for immediate family at a later date. Below is a 2013 Christian music video in which Ana Rieping, her husband, and some of her children played key roles. By John Rieping | Given on Monday morning, March 7, 2016, in St. Joachim Church in Madera, California |
My mother (Theresa Lozano Rieping) would be pleased, I think, to see you all here. For she loved her family, friends, and the church very much. Today brings all of you together. My mom embraced her faith deeply. She and my dad were traveling one cold day and came to an ice-covered bridge. My dad slowed his car down but the car ahead of him did not and began to spin wildly, out of control. As it headed for them, my dad reacted with colorful language while my mom instead started praying immediately. The car missed them somehow and they went on their way. My mother’s faith led her to put her hope in God and his grace. In the 1970s, Father Gus Severin, OSJ, asked her to direct the parish’s CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) program and offered her the same pay she received as a teacher’s aide at Sierra Vista Elementary School. She accepted and guided the teaching of this church’s children for 20 years — without ever seeking a pay raise. That wasn’t why she did it anyway. One day my dad learned she had long prayed for God to keep our family poor and humble. At the time, this upset him, but my mother’s ambitions were for God and Heaven, and she did not want distractions for us. My mother loved God above all others. She made it clear to my dad that he was number two in her life, for God was number one. But her love of God enabled her to love her family, friends, and strangers more and fearlessly. She would welcome the homeless to our home for food and shelter, and serve her best. After one stew dinner for us and a homeless guest, my dad looked in the freezer and found his filet mignon missing. Once an older brother of mine told all the kids in the neighborhood to come to his birthday party. Not only did he not tell my mom about this party but his birthday was half a year away. Yet her response when the children arrived was to start baking a birthday cake. My aunt Concepcion, a missionary sister and teacher, complimented my mom’s dress during a visit and said it would work well for her in Japan, where she wasn’t allowed to wear a habit. So my mom went to her bedroom, changed her clothes, and gave the dress to her sister. That dress had been a gift from my dad and the only time he had splurged on nice clothing for her. There are more stories I could share, and many of you have stories of your own, some of which I have never heard. But there is no time for them all. Thank you for coming here today to celebrate the gift of my mother, Theresa. Let us also be a gift to others. May God help us all to put our faith, hope, and love in him. If we do so, I trust, hope, and pray we will one day be reunited with my mom again. May God bless you all. Teresa “Terri” Rieping died in the presence of her beloved husband at their Madera, California, farm home around 7:25 p.m., Feb. 23, 2016, after battling Alzheimer’s disease for more than six years. Fourth oldest of 11 children, she was born in Los Angeles on March 26, 1935, to Higinio and Carmen Lozano, and baptized May 9 in San Fernando. In Fresno, she attended St. Alphonsus Elementary School. At her confirmation, she chose Mary Magdalen as her patron saint May 9, 1947. She graduated from San Joaquin Memorial High School in 1953. She worked as a histology technician for pathologist Dr. Parisi and as a legal receptionist for attorney Gilbert Lopez. She performed in a Mexican folkloric dancing troupe. She sewed her own ornate dance attire and wedding dress. She first met German immigrant Josef “Joe” Rieping at a Catholic young adult gathering across from St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno around November 1962. He recalled her from a charity she’d danced at in Sanger, though she was skeptical when he said, “Didn’t I see you? We met before?” But Joe persevered, drawn by her reserve and strong Christian values. They dated and would marry Jan. 18, 1964. They raised their family in the San Joaquin Valley. She worked as a bilingual teacher’s aide at Sierra Vista Elementary School, but may be best known for decades helping with the children’s bilingual faith instruction at St. Joachim Catholic Church. She led as its director of religious education for 20 years, impacting the spiritual formation of thousands. She often visited the Juvenile Detention Facility in Madera after work as a volunteer to minister to young people. She served as a spiritual director for members of her church and embraced the international organization Focolare, which promotes ideals of unity and universal brotherhood as well as regular meditation on the Christian gospels. She repeatedly welcomed the homeless into her home, viewing them as Jesus coming to visit. Under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican awarded her the Benemerenti Medal for long and exceptional service to the church on May 22, 1996. She loved oil painting, portrait drawing, playing guitar, reading, praying, teaching, dancing, flowers, the color blue, and singing. She sang as a soprano in several choirs, most recently in the St. Joachim Senior Choir. She would advise her children and grandchildren to “offer it up” to God when distressed, and to “remember Jesus forsaken” during trials. Her greatest hope for her loved ones was God’s grace. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Joseph Rieping, her son Anthony and his wife Noel, her son Bernard “Bernie” and his wife Ana, her son Eugene “Gino” and his wife Angelica, her daughter Maria-Helena Uribe with husband Hector, her son John, 16 grandchildren, and two great grandchildren — all of Madera. The rosary will be prayed Monday, March 7, at 10 a.m. in St. Joachim Church, 401 W. 5th St. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11 a.m. with a reception afterwards at Holy Spouses Hall, 320 N. I St. Internment will be for immediate family only. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the nonprofit soup kitchen The Holy Family Table at 401 W. 5th St., Madera, CA 93637. My mom Theresa, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, has been unable to swallow food or liquid properly and so has been unable to eat. She last ate and drank Tuesday and has been in Madera Community Hospital since Wednesday. Her longtime physician, Dr. Zafar Sheikh, is unsure she'll make it through the weekend.
She received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick by Rev. Gustavo Lopez, OSJ, around 3 p.m. today (Friday) and should be returning home tomorrow (Saturday) with in-home comfort (hospice) care by St. Agnes Hospital. (Pictured beside her is her husband Joseph, my dad.) Your prayers and stories are welcome, especially as I know so little of my mother's life before my birth and I will have to write of it for her obituary when the time comes. It is hard to lose a mother, even to Heaven, but it has always been her greatest heart's desire. She may soon be with her eternal Valentine. Thank you and may God bless you and your loved ones always. ADDENDUM Theresa Rieping died in the Lord around 7:25 p.m. Feb. 23, 2016 By John Rieping | 27 December 2015 | 'That special time of the year has arrived when people gather around and pass on fantastic tales about Christmas. I refer, of course, to the modern myth that the 12 days of Christmas are just a continuation of pagan Nordic "Yule" time. Dangerously, I was asked to research it myself. So I did, and I do like to share with others, especially around the holidays. A modern pagan Yule would be Dec. 20th to Jan. 1st. Those aren't the same dates as the traditional "12 days of Christmas" (evening Dec. 24 to evening Jan. 5), a period that actually adds up to 12 or 13 days, depending on how you count it up. That time for Christmas was defined by a council of Christian bishops in the city of Tours in A.D. 567, though originally the middle three of those days were for fasting -- not feasting. (The Christian holy day of Christmas itself began at least two centuries earlier. According to 4th century Patriarch John Chrysostom of Constantinople, Dec. 25 was believed to be the birthday of the messiah based on Roman records and tradition.) In comparison, the ancient nordic Yule lasted only three days or less. The length was for as long as the alcohol they were drinking didn't run out. It began on a slaughter night of ritual animal sacrifice. The medieval and modern version of Yule became 12 days in imitation of the traditional Christmas celebration, arguably beginning with King Haakon of Norway (920-961). The king converted to Christianity and made a law that from henceforth his pagan subjects would have to celebrate their Yule at the same time as the Christians celebrated their Christmas “and at that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines." (I guess he didn't approve of drinking on an empty stomach.) Though Orthodox Christians and some Protestants still observe the traditional 12 days, Roman Catholics no longer officially do so. Since 1969, their Christmas season ends on a Sunday celebrating the baptism of Jesus, which is a few Sundays after Christmas. Because of that, the length of their Christmas differs each year. This year (2015), their Christmas season is 17 days long. Meanwhile some Catholic countries in western Europe and Latin America celebrate Christmas for 40 days, a practice that began in the middle ages. So why did Catholics change the official ending of their Christmas season? Ancient tradition long carried on by our Orthodox Christian siblings in faith. For Orthodox Christians, Christmas falls on Jan. 7 on western calendars but Dec. 25 on their own, and it isn’t traditionally the biggest holiday of this time of year. More important is the day that Yeshua (Jesus) was revealed as divine during his baptism in the Jordan River, a day of Theophany. A holy day in January celebrating that event ends the Christmas season for Orthodox Christians, as well as now for Catholics. Christians have been celebrating that baptismal feast day since before the Christmas holiday itself existed. I thought all of this might be interesting to others, whether your Christmas lasts one day, 12 days, many more, or none at all. Either way, may love find a home in your heart, and may that home have an open door for others to enter in as well. |
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