Sewell, Eula Louise Edwards (Mrs. John)
3/18/2001
| Louise Sewell was born December 3, 1917, in Post, Texas where she grew up with her brothers and sisters: Jack, Sam, Lura, Mildred and Mary. She met the Rev. John Henry Sewell and they were married December 5, 1936. She served the Lord alongside her husband in many locations throughout Louisiana: Jeanerette, Ferriday, Noley Memorial in Jena, Franklinton, Baker, Pharr Chapel in Morgan City, Arcadia, North Highland in Shreveport, McGuire in West Monroe, and Morningside in Shreveport. Upon retiring in 1997, they moved to Houma where their daughter Kaye Rink lives. Louise died in Houma on March 18, 2001. She leaves for us some special gifts: her husband, John; her daughter, Katheryn (Kaye) and son-in-law, Warren Rink, Houma, La; her son, the Rev. John Howard Sewell and daughter-in-law Sally, Opelika, Alabama; her sister, Lura, Tennessee; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren and one on the way. The funeral service was held March 21, 2001 at First United Methodist Church in Baker and a memorial service was held on March 22 at Bayou Blue United Methodist Church in Houma. Pursuing her education late in life, she graduated, with honors, from Louisiana State University in 1960 and went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Education from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in 1969. She taught in the public schools at Morgan City and Arcadia, and was a retired representative for the Welfare Department and Social Security Administration. A grace filled, Christ centered, Holy Spirit breathed woman, Louise brought God’s love to everyone she met. Her theme verse was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” NKJV. She taught Sunday School and the youth in every church they served. She served as John’s secretary at many of their appointments. She was active in the Women’s Society, now the United Methodist Women. She also was a leader in the Girl Scouts. Louise was an avid reader and poet who loved her Lord. She used her gifts to witness to others. At many worship services, Louise would stand up in her pew, or in the aisle, and the love of God would flow from her lips and she would tell us what Jesus had done for her that week. She never tired of talking with or about the Lord. We at Bayou Blue miss this strong witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was a blessing to me, her pastor—even to the moment she went to be with the Lord. You see, that day, she’d come to church, sat in the pew, and sang every hymn by memory. That afternoon she went to be with her husband, Rev. John, in the Nursing Home. Her daughter Kaye, who was at choir practice, asked me to pick her up. When I walked into the room, there she and Rev. John were—holding hands. That night, Louise went home to the Father’s House of Many Mansions. But her love for God lives on in the many ways she served Him and the poetry she wrote. I’d like to share one of them with you. Unmerited Grace -by Louise Sewell Grace is not giving us what we deserve, Like the nursery rhyme that we all have heard, It seemed to them a very strange thing, It isn’t our goodness that draws God to us. |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference 2001, p. 264 By Curtiss D. Eden | |
