By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — In nine years of local ministry, Rev. F. Diane Eurig touched the lives of a lot of people, within the Davidson United Church congregation and beyond.
As Ian McCreary put it, “You got introduced to Diane as a minister . . . She very quickly became a friend for many.”
These friends filled the church’s basement hall on June 14 for a retirement social held in Eurig’s honour, featuring music, memories and plenty of laughs.
Eurig, who began serving the Davidson-Girvin pastoral charge in July 2006, preached her farewell sermon on Sunday, followed by a potluck meal and the social, which attracted a crowd of around 75 people. Cake and ice cream were served after the program.
McCreary and others spoke of her community outreach and how she provided effective leadership while remaining in the background much of the time.
“The key to great leadership was humility, and not needing to be the centre of attention,” said McCreary, who served as chair of the church’s ministry and personnel committee during Eurig’s tenure.
He likened her to the grinders on a hockey team and told her, “It’s your failure to need to be great that makes you great.”
The program began with a performance by the “kitchen band,” a group that leads regular singing with residents at the Davidson Health Centre.
Led by Sandra Zoerb and accompanied by pianist Norma McNabb, the group sang several old-time favourites. Eurig joined them on stage for their final song, a rousing performance of “Beer Barrel Polka.”
The Riecken sisters — Cheryl Riecken, Karen Edom, Donna Russell and Gloria Morrison — took the stage to perform two songs, including Mac Davis’s “I Believe in Music” and a rewrite of Paul Anka’s “Diana,” which became “Diane.”
Sharon Riecken read two selected poems about friendship, while Sylvia McConnell offered her own tribute poem, with adjectives describing Eurig written on brightly-coloured pieces of Bristol board.
Gord McRae expressed thanks on behalf of the local Royal Canadian Legion branch, presenting the gift of a red sweater. He explained that Eurig and others from the Davidson Inter-Church Association (DICA) were instrumental in keeping Remembrance Day services going as the Legion’s membership has declined.
McCreary read a letter from Pamela Thomas, personnel minister for the Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church, recalling the circumstances around Eurig’s arrival in Davidson.
The church’s pulpit was vacant after the departure of Rev. Nobuko Iwai, who had served as president of the Saskatchewan Conference, and Thomas said she had been worried about finding someone to fill her shoes.
None of the available interim ministers seemed like the right fit, but when Eurig appeared as a candidate, she displayed many of the gifts the church had sought in its next minister, including a passion for justice and pastoral care, and a heart for the community.
On behalf of the church, Gwen Allan presented Eurig with a painting by Anita Storey, depicting a prairie scene at sunset with a road leading into the distance.
Eurig spoke to the crowd at the program’s close, thanking them for the time she spent in Davidson.
“It certainly has been a joy,” she said, adding, “I’m not going far, and that’s the nice part of it.”
Eurig moved to Saskatoon last week, where she now resides with Adele and Beth Smillie, who are the mother and sister, respectively, of Davidson parishioner Mary Smillie.
Raised near Mount Forest, Ont., Eurig spent her earlier years farming but later returned to school, earning her B.A. in women’s studies at the University of Guelph, then completing a master’s degree of divinity at the Vancouver School of Theology in 2000.
She told the Leader in a previous interview that she had learned much through volunteering with Vancouver’s First United Church, helping sex trade workers in the East Hastings community.
After her ordination, she served the United Church congregation in Cabri for six years, then accepted the call in Davidson. Eurig turned 70 in December; her daughter Shelley and son-in-law Darek live in Calgary.
She said that Davidson has been “a wonderful home” where she has felt encouraged, respected and supported, and where she was conscious of the love of the congregation and community.
“There are many gifts and talents in this community,” she said. “They all work together to make this a vibrant church. . . It has been an honour to be here.”
Rev. Mathias Ross, currently serving the Grasslands pastoral charge in southwestern Saskatchewan, has accepted the call in Davidson and will begin his ministry here around July 15.