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Kindred Connections, LLC, provides loved ones with much more than a resume of someone’s life, but a personally written recollection of who they were, what mattered to them, and how they want to be remembered.
Each professionally written “Kindred Connection” captures their essence, beyond a traditional obituary. Beyond a funeral or memorial service. Beyond a cemetery or cremation urn. The best use of your life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.
Meet the writer
Our lives, from womb to tomb, come down to much more than a name, two dates, and a few generic details. Most obituaries are written by family members who are under the duress of grief, sadness and vulnerability.
We offer an optional slide show presentation of a Kindred Connections homage, created with photos provided to us from a family with a customized voiceover for their personalized tribute. View this video for an example of this additional service.
If you’re having trouble writing a eulogy for a loved one, we can help, offering families one less task to perform amid their emotional turmoil. Here are a few excerpts from Kindred Connections’ tributes and eulogies:
Kindred Connections also offers an online component for clients to contribute to their own legacy – for future generations to read, to remember, and to share.
Most people go their entire life, literally, without their life story being written. An obituary is the place where we inscribe their memory into the book of forever.
The cost difference between a generic obituary versus a Kindred Connections personalized tribute can be the cost between your current grief and your loved one’s forever legacy. It’s not only about remembering a loved one. It’s about never forgetting them. Peace of mind can be priceless for families.
Obituaries shouldn’t only tell us how someone died, but how they lived. Their passions, their quirks, their triumphs, their legacies. Their existence is meaningful to others even after they’re gone.
His name was Samuel Archie Nye. His loved ones called him “Peepa.” His Lord called him to heaven on Nov. 10, 2019.
Sam was a prankster. He made others laugh, sometimes without even trying. When asked, “How do you feel?” his reply was the same: “I feel more like I do right now than I did a while ago.” Such country wisdom reflected his parents, Willard Henry Nye and Myrtle Elizabeth Rodgers Nye, and his birthplace, Blackton, Arkansas, a tiny dot on a map.
Once upon a time, Sam started writing a book about his struggles as a dirt poor boy raised in the Deep South. He also began a book about his courtship and marriage to Lillie Mae Leonard Nye After 70 years together, the love of his life passed on Aug. 9, 2016. She’s been waiting for him since then.
Also waiting are his brothers, Lloyd Arthur Nye and Buehl Ardell “Buddy” Nye, and his sisters, Alma Irene Nye Fryer and Susie Irilla Nye Edgin. He’s once again reunited with them, as well as with his son, Samuel Archie Nye Jr., and his great-grandson, Nathanael James Edward Green.
Sam loved to fish, play games, put together jigsaw puzzles, and build homemade birdhouses. At one point, he had as many as 50 at his home. He sold many of them to bird lovers. He gave away more. He sang tenor in gospel groups. He helped put into play the Dolton Church of God Kings softball team. In his 50s, he became its pitcher. In a family of diehard Cubs fans, he was the lone White Sox fan.
“He was truly one of a kind,” recalled his daughter, Valinda Nye Green, at her father’s wake at White Funeral Home in Griffith, Indiana.
The service reflected his life, not his death. His light blue fishing hat adorned a photo collage at his favorite fishing holes. His pinstriped “Peepa” baseball jersey hung next to his open casket. His old cap and badge from the University of Chicago Police rested on a table. After 20 years of dutiful service, Sam retired from the force in 1988. A plaque he received states, “Best wishes for a retirement filled with happiness and good health for years to come.”
His entire life was filled with happiness and good health. And memories. Countless memories. Photo albums filled with them were shared at his funeral. Several old photos of Sam and his young bride reminded guests of their love affair – “Together Forever” as one note states. As well as reminders of their Christian faith. “Your testimony of faithfulness is a blessing to all those who are blessed to know you! Thank you for inspiring us!” a note from a pastor states.
Unlike the two books that Sam started, he completed a best-seller life. He knew it before his family could accept it
“Pop is ready. We’re not Even if he is 95,” Valinda said. “We’ll make it. Our faith is key. This is all we know. This is my father’s legacy. His legacy of family and faith.”
Sam’s final days were spent at his daughter’s home. His final moments of life weren’t pretty. They were beautiful.
He was surrounded by family. A morphine drip eased his pain. His labored breathing weakened. His body calmed. Sam’s granddaughter, Jill Ramirez, held his hand at the end. She gently placed her head on his chest to listen to his final, faint heartbeat.
His heart would be, literally, the last thing to go. It would be poetic and profound. The same heart that shared so much life, so much love, so much warmth.
Serenity took over Sam’s tired body. His family softly wept Seconds passed by. His time had finally come. Or so everyone thought.
Suddenly, Sam gasped one last breath. It rippled through his body. It scared his family. They smiled through their grief. They giggled through their pain. They will forever remember that tragic moment with a tender laugh. Just as Peepa would have wanted. He got them again, one last time.
Samuel Archie Nye, age 95, was a prankster until the end.
Created by Kindred Connections