Michael Sveen, Elders Quorum President in the Preston Branch, died of cancer on January 6, 2008. Prior to his passing, he requested that John McKenzie, Kirt Melton, and I (Brent Spencer) dress his body in his temple clothes in preparation for his funeral and burial.
On a typical January morning, John, Kirt, and I assembled at the funeral home in Preston to fulfill Michael’s request. Julie (Michael’s wife) delivered the clothing packet and we began our task. We proceeded without incident until we reached the point of adding the dress shirt on Michael’s body. The dress shirt provided by Julie was made of 100% cotton, clean, but in desperate need of an iron. As we pulled the wrinkled white shirt from the clothing packet, silence filled the room. Not a word was spoken. Several seconds passed. Kirt broke the silence, “Is it OK if the neck is a little too large?” Kirt’s shirt size is noticeably larger than Michael’s. Kirt continued, “I felt impressed to put on a new white shirt this morning…now I know why.” Kirt removed his new shirt and we carefully placed it on Michael, taking care to gently pull the collar from behind to ensure a nice fit in front. The remainder of the process continued without incident.
Kirt drove home that day from Preston to St. Charles wearing only his underwear beneath his winter coat.