I am quite sure Deanne wouldn’t remember me, but I remember her. When I first had the pleasure of meeting Deanne I had been a missionary in Ghana for about a year. I was 30 pounds lighter than when I had come to Ghana a year earlier, my white shirts were now a not so pleasant grey, my face was most likely dripping with sweat and I was sporting the Obrunni buzz cut that most white missionaries ended up embracing after their first or second experience with a local barber or a companion cut. To put it frankly, I looked like a twenty year old boy that only a mother could love! Luckily for me and all who had the pleasure of ever meeting Deanne, she was a mother in every sense of the word and she constantly radiated love in her actions. It is hard to describe the feelings I felt when she shook my hand and introduced herself. For over a year I had been missing the eyes of my mother that poured out love unconditionally on you when you looked at them. In that moment, without knowing it, Deanne took the place of my mother and poured out her love on me through her eyes just as my mother would have it she were there. There are few things that comfort more than feeling that kind of love and I still remember it to this day. I am sure that during her time in Ghana, Mexico and everywhere else she ran into missionaries they felt a similar feeling. What a wonderful service! What a wonderful woman! Thank you for the help when I needed it most, Deanne. The world is a better place because of her.

Sincerely,

Stephen Y