November 14, 2004 by Bruce D. Johnson It is my honor and privilege to bring Mrs. Fix’s eulogy today.  I am but one of the hundreds she “raised” through the years. Ethel Krager-Fix was born on May 8, 1935 and went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on November 7, 2004.  Mr. Fix had both of their daughters present when his dear bride peacefully passed away.  Ethel was the daughter of Charles Krager, 99 years young and living in Illinois, and his wife Elizabeth.  She was the faithful wife of Henry "Bud" Fix, to whom she was married for 47 years, the mother of Cheryl Fix-Besser and Cynthia Fix, mother-in-law of Ron Besser, Grandmother of the four Besser children: David, 14; Rachael,  12; John, 10; and Deborah, 6; Sister of Donald and Danny Krager of Illinois and Jean Ekblad of Wisconsin; Sister-in-Christ to many more than those who are here today, and Mentor/Teacher to hundreds of Christian educators and parents who have impacted and will continue to impact thousands of children.  She will be remembered for her kind heart and efforts on behalf of kids who needed someone in their corner when things appeared hopeless.  She worked in the education field for 45 years.  She was a longtime active member of Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley.   The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Redwood Christian Schools, 4200 James Avenue, Castro Valley, CA 94546.  Donation cards are available in the rear of the Sanctuary.  She will be laid to rest tomorrow at San Joaquin Valley National Seminary in Gustine, California. Before continuing, I want to make something very clear to you this afternoon.  There are certain people who come into your life whom you would no more call by their first name than you would call your mother by her first name.  Mrs. Fix was such a person, so do not misinterpret my calling her Mrs. Fix as being impersonal.  It is one of the highest honors I can give to her today.  I could never and would never call her Ethel before, but I will try to do so today. Mrs. Fix--Ethel-- was born and raised in Illinois, the daughter of a farmer, and received her early education in a one-room school house.  There is quite a story to this one-room school house.  It is now a museum, and when the Fixes visited this museum, there was a poem on display, one that she had written while a student there!  On the picture board outside, you can see her sitting at one of the desks in that school house/museum.  From that one-room school house, she went on to graduate from Princeton High School in Illinois, and then went to Wheaton College the year AFTER her older sister Jean graduated from Wheaton.  Jean had met an underclassman at Wheaton who was a nice young man.  His name was Henry. So when Jean's younger sister Ethel showed up on the Wheaton campus the following fall, Henry decided to make her feel welcome, really welcome.  Well, after dating for a while, she decided, as Bud tells it, that "she was not too fond of me."  And then, after an Evangelism meeting second semester, he knew he was in for it when she told him they had to talk.  Well, she simply informed him that "I love you and we can date."  After dating for almost 18 months, Bud gave her an engagement ring on . . . ready for this, Halloween!  Now is that a Trick or Treat or what?  They did not immediately marry, though, as Bud was on an ROTC scholarship and was commissioned an officer in the Army immediately after he graduated and was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas for schooling.  I asked Bud why they waited and did not simply get married, and he told me "Well, she had to graduate from college, and we were not going to get married and be apart!"  Wow . . . Their love story continued, and she earned her Bachelors degree from Wheaton College in June 1957 in (what else?) Christian education with a double minor in Bible and Psychology!  She also acquired a title much more important to her the same day she graduated from Wheaton--she became Mrs. Henry Fix.  Get this--on the same day, she graduated from college, got married, and attended two receptions, 100 miles apart.  After a brief honeymoon along Lake Michigan, they continued their honeymoon at their first duty assignment together in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, home of the Philadelphia Air Defense Headquarters.  Cheryl was born ten months later in Pennsylvania.  I found it truly amazing that during their 20-year (honeymoon) military career, which took them throughout the world, they were only separated for one year, the one year Bud was serving in Vietnam, and they only lived on a military base once, when they were in Germany!  Mrs. Fix followed him everywhere.  They served our Great Country as a team throughout the United States, Germany and in Ethiopia.  One of my favorite stories was that Bud graduated from school at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, and drove all Friday afternoon and night to be with his Bride who was in Lynchburg, Virginia, more than 600 miles away. Ethel gave birth to daughter #2, Cynthia, on Saturday; he drove to Washington D.C. on Sunday and reported to his new duty station on Monday.  We all knew that Mrs. Fix was a stickler for scheduling, but this truly was an extreme--but very, very efficient.   Mr. and Mrs. Fix celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary this past June.  Cheryl relates a sensitive story of the loving grandmother Mrs. Fix was.   When Cheryl was pregnant with her three youngest children, each time she went into labor, Grandma took the other kids while she was in the hospital -- and Cheryl generally had to insist that she return them! Cyndi remembers that after she had grown up and was on her own, she stopped by the school one day to talk to her Mom about something.  She says, “Mom was out on the playground, so I yelled, ‘Mom! Mom!’  No response.  ‘Mrs. Fix!’  She turned around instantly . . .”  Cyndi's belief is that she came to recognize "Mrs. Fix" as another name for Mom.  Many, many people Cyndi has known through the years call her parents "Bud & Mrs. Fix".  In fact, on Garrison Avenue, neighborhood children grew up calling Mr. and Mrs. Fix, “Bud” and Mrs. Fix. Her Interests outside of education included Bud, Reading, Bud, gardening, Bud, caring for animals, Bud, her daughters, and the grandkids.  The Fix home become known as the "Pet Hostel" -- many times they took care of others' pets while they were on vacation.  But they not only took care of other folks' pets, Mrs. Fix also rescued and adopted some of them!  One was a kitten named Tigger, whom Mrs. Fix rescued from a sewer in Alexandria, Virginia! Tigger was loaded with fleas, so she bathed it, and it became part of the Fix family until Tigger died about 10 years later.  And there were many, many others . . . Mrs. Fix was in her 28th year of ministry at RCS, having served as teacher, assistant principal, elementary curriculum director, Director of Concept Help and, most recently, Assistant to the Superintendent.  In reviewing her April 7, 1977, application to teach at RCS, I noted many interesting things, but two jumped out at me: one was a hand-written comment by founding RCS Superintendent Gus Enderlin and the other was Mrs. Fix’s response to the request to list any special talents or abilities.  Mr. Enderlin’s hand-written comment was “emotional security to students” and her response to list any special talents or abilities was “I like reviewing texts.”  Mr. Enderlin’s note was 100% on target, and her comment I have never seen on another application.  I asked Mr. Enderlin if he remembered why he hired her to teach sixth grade at RCS “It may have been her definite yes and no answers.  She is very decisive and not easily swayed.  She had strong character traits which would be great for sixth graders.  Strong character coupled with strong discipline traits was a real winner.”  I also found two of Mrs. Fix’s responses on her RCS teacher application consistent with her ministry at RCS.  On her teacher application she responded that a teachers attitude toward pupils must be recognizing that “Each (child) is a precious creation of God with a purpose and plan.  Valuable beyond imagination to God.”  She responded that the most important goal of teacher for each of their pupil is for the pupil to “learn obedience to God as the only way to arrive at each child’s potential.  This obedience opens the door to unlimited usefulness to God.” During her ministry at RCS, few were more respected and none were more feared – by me – for all the right reasons.  In recent years, we have tried to reduce her workload by assigning tasks that she had done for years to others – the problem was, if she was not leading the task, she was still committed to it 100% so our efforts to help her back off were usually very, very unsuccessful.  With her passing, we are not nearly as concerned about what her job description said she did as we are about all the things she did that no one knew she was doing, and we will not know what they were until they are no longer being done.  After coming to RCS in 1977, she continued her education and completed her Masters degree in 1983 at Simpson College and held a Lifetime Professional Administrative Certificate from the Association of Christian Schools International.  In August 2003, she assumed her final position at RCS, Assistant to the Superintendent.  In my letter to her, I wrote:  “Coordination of your efforts will be handled between the two of us.  Your job will change to Assistant to the Superintendent, and your new job description will reflect the topics we have discussed previously, including assisting the PEACH Grade Level Co-ordinators (Mrs. Rhodes and Mrs. Banks), handling new-student testing, assisting with SAT coordination, supervising the Jump Start teacher, handling special assignments and other duties.”  (What this really meant was that she was to tell me what our decisions were prior to someone else telling me!)  Her work at RCS was consistent throughout her ministry.  For example, her evaluation by Principal Tim Ball in 1982 – five years after her arrival at RCS –  read: “Gets projects done - dependable; intense loyalty to school and workers; and continually self-sacrificing to help others.”  This was a teacher applicant hired by Mr. Enderlin in 1977 and the servant who went to Heaven last Sunday . . . consistent to the end.  Whenever I would lead an accreditation visit for the Association of Christian Schools International, I would always ask if she schedule would allow her to accompany me.  If it did not, we changed the date.  We were a team.  She kept everybody straight! Regardless of the position in which she was ministering, she was always an advocate for all children, regardless of the ages of the children and regardless of the program they were in!  She was known for her wit and ability to get right to the point in very few words.  She was always someone whose opinion you did not ask for unless you really wanted to know . . . and many times, she did not have to be asked!  But it was always on behalf of someone else, never for herself.  She had the ability to handle multiple tasks and was one of the most avid readers I have ever known.  I always appreciated her copying and highlighting parts of articles and books that she wanted me to read.  She was an encourager whose words had meaning as they were always well-chosen and delivered at just the right time.  Mrs. Fix was especially noticeable during our school Jog-a-thon each year with her fancy hats and outfits . . . always encouraging everyone . . . She used to send me many written memos, the most important ones she called “Asbestos Letters.”  If it was really something that had her upset, she would write on the outside of a sealed envelope, “Asbestos Gloves Required.”  Her Asbestos letters were always proactive for our students, our community or our great country, and never self-serving – and usually resulted in her making more work for herself.   Her Asbestos Letters would never be called politically correct either . . . they were direct, honest and sincere.  (Hold up most recent one) This was the last memo that Mrs. Fix left in my box three days before she went to Heaven: (read it . . .) Teacher Orientation topics, curriculum studies, school programs often came from her "asbestos letters" to me . . .  I told this story at her bedside last weekend and asked the question, “Who is going to write me her Asbestos Letters now?”  In her hospital room alone there were many volunteers – including many who are not serving at RCS!!   Mrs. Fix’s reputation and character were consistent with everyone who crossed her path.  Three who responded after being notified of her Homegoing last Sunday were Bill Seronello, Tamila Long and Marlene Grunow. Bill Seronello, former RCS Principal 1974-1986, currently serving as principal of the Lower School at Whitefield Academy, Mableton, GA, wrote "I remember fondly the years working with Ethel at my side. I don't know what would have transpired without her able and Godly help. She was a true servant. Not a single task was beneath her to accomplish. It doesn't mean she didn't speak her mind, but she would complete the task even if she didn't agree. You couldn't ask for better servant leadership. Her love for the Lord was not a secret to anybody who met her on the way."   Mrs. Tamla Long, current RCS Parent wrote "Mrs. Fix represented the impeccable excellence demanded from teachers in my Lutheran school years. I recall having a brief conversation with her before Elliott was accepted to Redwood Christian School.  She told me that there must be cleanliness and order in a child's school work. I have spread that creed to every area of my life. I always look forward to her commentaries in the News mailers. Women like her do not enter this world too often." Mrs. Marlene S. Grunow, current RCS staff member, wrote “The word that comes to my mind when I think of my dearest friend and co-worker is ADVOCATE.  She was always in the corner to help the ones who needed help and were unsure of how to go about getting it.  When I first came to Redwood Elementary 17 years ago, my son Michael was beginning Kindergarten.  He would love to go visit her office and look at books. When my other son, Peter was born later that year, the stuffed Dumbo in her office would always be hugged. In fact  that Dumbo was sent home with me for Peter when he was ill with pneumonia.  She was a friend and helper to my sons.  She was also a mentor and co-worker to me.  I cannot begin to list what I learned from her and even now I will ask myself, "What would Mrs. Fix have done or said."  We had our crabby share times, but she always came back with what God said in His Word.  She showed me how she would study a Bible verse and then turn it into a prayer.  She loved her husband and daughters and grandchildren.  She would be the first to help when I was caring for my mother.  When my mother had a severe stroke, Mrs. Fix baked cookies for Peter to share with his fifth grade class. In little ways and big things she gave witness to the life of a godly woman, mentor and most of all my friend, and sister in the Lord.” Posted next to Mrs. Fix’s desk in Room N-14 is the following: Grains of Sand: Work that lasts If we work upon marble, it will perish; if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, and imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow men, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity. Mrs. Fix was one of the most precious, godly women I have ever known.  She will be remembered for her kind heart and efforts on behalf of kids and adults of all ages who needed someone in their corner when things appeared hopeless.  Please continue to pray for this precious family, and for each other, as I know Mrs. Fix was instrumental in many of our lives.  Mrs. Fix was one of those individuals who did not rust out, she burned out. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of our 32nd President, once said, “Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints on your heart.”  Mrs. Fix left footprints on the hearts of everyone here today and thousands of others just like us who will miss her dearly.