Jack & Rita Underwood
Jack and Rita Underwood have been with us from the early years as well putting their hands to the task with all perseverance, joy, and dedication. They truly exemplify the verses in Colossians 3:23–24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Memories of their service flood my mind: Night Camps at our house serving food or doing crafts, helping with yard sales, Christmas stores, and general stores, and serving pizza at our countless roller-skating parties. They were people whom we could always count on.
They loved to help in any way they could support the mission of reaching children for the good news of the Gospel. Jack served on our Board of Directors from 2008-2015 and has served faithfully on our facilities committee in past years. Jack and Rita helped out at Kids’ Club by doing the crafts. One could not count how many Easter eggs over the years they worked with; they helped the children dye and blow dry each one so they could take them home that day. Jack and Rita braved the enormous task of shopping and loading the items from Walmart to bring back to Urban Vision for our Christmas store.
When our van broke down, Jack would come out to give us a hand. For her part, Rita never let the amount of shopping deter her from completing the task. One time after we packed up all the items that we purchased at Walmart, the system shut down and we had to stay and take everything out of our 3 vans and re-scan every item again. Jack and Rita never quit and never gave up no matter the challenge.
Jack and Rita were often the first volunteers for events, no matter how early in the morning it would be. For many years, Jack and Rita came on Christmas Store morning at 5:30am ready to serve over 150 plus volunteers even after being there late at night pricing and setting up the store in the week prior. Jack would go to pick up 20-plus boxes of donuts, and Rita would prepare fruit along with the coffee and tea to provide a warm inviting presence for all to enjoy. I remember the time I was carrying a coffee urn with water up the steep stairs, and I tripped and poured the water down the steps. Although I was a bit rattled, Rita with her calming influence was ready to help me clean up the mess.
I think one of the fondest memories I have of Jack and Rita was decorating the sanctuary and Urban Vision for Christmas every year. Jack would be on the lookout for outlets and cords and always handled the trees with meticulous care while Rita helped me with draping the banisters and putting up the wreaths that really transformed the sanctuary into a place of holy Christmas atmosphere. In fact, since my mom died, I have not done the Christmas decorations until this past year. I could not help but miss both Jack and Rita as I was trying to remember all they helped me to.
Jack’s committed and generous heart and Rita’s kind and beautiful spirit made them both a joy to be with. I learned from them as they worked together as a team serving God together. What a beautiful example of two people loving God loving each other in marriage and then loving others around them! We love Jack and Rita and we are humbled that they chose us to come work alongside to see God’s work grow in the North Hill community, we thank them both for their loving service here at Urban Vision.