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Compassionate Friends candle lighting service held at Epworth

Loved ones remembered at worldwide event
Friends and families raise candles they lit to remember loved ones who have gone too soon as part of the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting Service. DAN COOK PHOTOS
Dan Cook
December 11, 2024

The 28th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting Service of the Lighthouse Chapter of the Compassionate Friends was held at Epworth United Methodist Church Dec. 8.

The event provided a time and place for families and friends who have lost children, of any age, to remember them in a service that circles the world.

The candle lighting began in New Zealand and then moved westward through each time zone as tens of thousands of bereaved parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives and friends joined to light remembrance candles to honor their children who died but will never be forgotten.

This service at Epworth included music, inspirational readings, poems and the lighting of the remembrance candles.

A video montage created by Kathy Keuski displayed pictures of the loved ones who have been lost.

Guest speaker Dr. Judith Pierson spoke about the healing process and how people should not run from grief.

“Facing it and feeling it are the only healthy ways to deal with it,” she said.

Jill Hicks performed the song “When She Loved Me” from “Toy Story 2” that she adapted for her daughter Jamie.

The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or daughter, a brother or sister, or grandchild. The Lighthouse Chapter of the Compassionate Friends, serving eastern Sussex County, meets regularly the second Thursday of each month, at 7 p.m., at Epworth Church.

For more information about The Lighthouse Chapter of the Compassionate Friends, call Jill Hicks at 610-368-0236.

 

Bill Hicks of Compassionate Friends welcomes friends and families who have lost children.
Diane Liebeskind reads the responsive reading “We Remember Them.”
Jill Hicks of Compassionate Friends performs the lighting of the candles. Shown reading are (l-r) Fred Taddeo, Robert Kennedy, Al Liebeskind, Cathy Robinson and Skipp Robinson.
Marge LaFond reads the poem “Someone is Missing Today.” She then read the names of children who have died. The bell tolled in their memory.
Samantha Shockley raises a candle to remember Ricardo Burgos.
Bill and Jill Hicks’ daughter Jamie Lynn appeared in the video montage.
A couple comforts each other at the service.
Pat Taddeo reads the poem “I’m There Inside Your Heart.”
Stacy Robinson reads a poem about healing.
Diane Liebeskind reads the Compassionate Friends credo.
Tina Wright takes her sister’s ornament while Donald Lawson takes his son Duane’s ornament.
Alfred Taddeo passes the flame to light an attendee’s candle.
Carrie Rebecca Robinson appeared in the video montage.
John Lehne was remembered in the video montage.
Mona Casey’s family honors her with the raising of a candle. Shown are (l-r) sister Susan, mother Loretta Molk and Craig Maull.
Kathy Robinson lights a friend’s candle.
Mona Casey was honored on the video montage.

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Dan has worked for the Cape Gazette for more than 30 years as a photographer and reporter, covering high school sports and happenings around eastern Sussex County. He won a photography award from the National Newspaper Association, and numerous awards from the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Association. A Delaware native, Dan graduated from Cape in 1972 and returned as a teacher and coach in the 1980s. He retired from the classroom in 2016. He was inducted into Cape High’s Legends Stadium in 2016. In his spare time, Dan enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, grandchildren and dogs. 

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