c. 2007 Religion News Service

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ Raymond J. Gress was 6,500 miles away in Baghdad during his father’s recent funeral at Rockford United Methodist Church. And he hardly missed a thing.

The entire service _ from the moment Raymond A. Gress’ flag-draped coffin was ushered into the church until the 21-gun salute _ was broadcast live via the Internet. Afterward, Ray even had the opportunity to “attend” the dinner where friends and family shared their sentiments with him via a Webcam and microphone.

“I’ve been doing this for 47 years,” David Pederson, owner of Pederson Funeral Home, said of handling final services, “and I never imagined being able to communicate like this.”

Gress’ father, 87, was recalled fondly during the service with tender tributes offered in memory of the retired Air Force major and decorated combat veteran of two wars.

They remembered him fishing in a rowboat, always in a straw hat. How he once drove to Detroit to present a bullfrog in a pickle jar to a then-5-year-old grandson who broke his arm. His love of cards, bonfires, the Bible.

Following his retirement from the Air Force, he earned a degree in teaching and taught for 26 years. They remembered his uncanny ability to impart knowledge in the most spontaneous of ways. How he had built his own home and cottage. That he could hold his own on the piano, organ, guitar.

Half a world away, a son hung on every word, listening and watching in solemn awe as his father’s life unfolded again in song, prayer, praise.

Gress, 48, is on leave for one year from his regular job as a sheriff’s deputy. He is stationed in Baghdad, working for a State Department subcontractor to help train Iraqi troops.

He was home over the holidays, and able to spend some quality time with his father, including the better part of four days with him while he was hospitalized, said Gress’ wife, Jennifer.

His father was on the mend when Ray returned overseas on Jan. 17, but relapsed and died not long after. Ray was able to speak to his father by phone one last time, just hours before he passed.

“Ray told him that he loved him, and that he’d see him again (in heaven),” Jennifer related. She added that her husband “agonized” over whether to try arranging for a quick return here, but decided against it based on logistics and safety factors. For one, his position doesn’t afford him the same travel benefits granted members of the military.

Enter Larry Visser, one of the deputy’s longtime friends, who monitored a Webcam paired with an Internet connection at the church. In Baghdad, Ray was set up with similar equipment, at times allowing both parties _ depending on the strength of the connection _ to hear and see one another.

At its best, Visser likened it to “hearing and seeing like he was in the next room,” rejoicing in how Ray was able to witness the full service, and then some. That’s because after the honor guard paid its tribute, Visser took the Webcam into the fellowship hall and invited those who stayed to eat to talk with Ray in Iraq.

The technology used to broadcast the funeral isn’t new or especially expensive. You need a computer, a Webcam (models start at around $30) and a software program, which can be downloaded free. A strong signal, and you’re in business.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” said Sheldon Lennox, a self-employed technology consultant to small- and medium-sized businesses in West Michigan. “As long as you’re using compatible systems and have connectivity on either end, it’s a simple thing to put together. The technology has been around for some years, but now it’s getting a lot more popular.”

Visser, for instance, communicates by camera and audio with Gress in Iraq almost daily. So does Gress’ wife. But for the funeral, the system provided so much more than small talk and catching up on affairs of daily living.

“We had this during the visitation as well,” said Pederson, of the funeral home, which allowed those visiting his funeral home to see and converse with Ray. “But think of the other possibilities, especially if someone can’t attend a funeral because they’re ill and homebound, or just can’t make it to the service.”

(Tom Rademacher writes for The Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids, Mich.)

KRE/RB END RADEMACHER