An Influenza Death

Esther and Pastor
Horace A. Kauffman

A young minister was busy visiting the many in his congregation who had been struck by the influenza.  The flu had been spreading rapidly throughout the community and his congregation had been hit hard.  Many were very ill and some had even died, so there were funerals to be conducted.  The minister traveled from house to house praying for the sick and comforting families.  That was his calling from God.  Then he, too, became ill with the flu and unexpectedly he died.  He left behind a son who was only a year and a half old and his wife who was pregnant with their second child, a daughter who would be born months later.  Because of the spreading flu his body was displayed behind a large window so friends and members of his congregation could view it one more time.  The young minister had not had a flu shot to protect himself, because none were available at that time. The year was 1918 and it was part of history's  most lethal influenza that killed as many as 100 million people worldwide.  The young minister was Pastor Horace Abraham Kauffman, my grandfather.  The superintendent of the denomination insisted that his widow needed to be remarried very quickly.  After all, she was pregnant and had no way to support her family.  He chose two men as possible husbands.  The first refused but the second agreed.  He was a very close personal friend of Pastor Horace Kauffman. They had even served together. And so Norman H. Wolf married my grandmother. They were quickly  reassigned to the same church in Spring City where Pastor Kauffman had been serving and they were given the same parsonage where Pastor Kauffman had been living when he died.  Pastor Wolf became the only father my dad would really remember.  And we called him Pop Pop.  He was the most godly man that I have ever known.  Later he was our pastor for several years. He performed our wedding ceremony 50 years ago.  Both men have been major influences in my life in so many different ways. I thank God for both of them. And so, when I think of flu epidemics, I always recall the devastating flu epidemic of 1918 and the impact it really had on my family and even on me.  This year we have faced another epidemic.  Many around us have been ill, some have been hospitalized.  At the time I am writing this blog we have been able so far to escape it.  Of course, both of us have gotten our annual flu shots.  And while this doesn't provide 100% protection, experts claim about 60% of those who get the shots will escape the flu and those who don't escape it will generally have a less severe case.  Now I like those odds.  But we have many friends and relatives who won't get a shot, for various reasons.  There are some who are allergic to them.  There are others who don't trust the medical authorities.  There are others who just think they are a waste of time.  And that is their right unless they have a job that requires them.  Some of these folks have been hit hard this year while others have so far escaped.  All that I ask is that if you don't get one, please don't have close contact with me for I don't want to catch it from you.  I have rights, too, and I don't want to be infected by one who chooses not to get the protection.  Hopefully this flu season will pass quickly.  Hopefully we'll never see another influenza epidemic like the world experienced in 1918.   But the flu can change your life, as it did for me.