IN MEMORIAM OF PROTODEACON JOB AND HIS WIFE ANNA – by Anna Chemerov

IN MEMORIAM OF PROTODEACON JOB AND HIS WIFE ANNA – by Anna Chemerov

There was an early Orthodox Easter in 1969, on April 12. On the Easter Eve, two Russian fellow countrymen, whom they knew since the time when they lived in China, visited the Sertsev family: the widow Evdokia Maksimovna Chemerova and her son named Job.

The first impression I remember of him is that he was tall, handsome, with a military bearing (by that time he had already served in the army). We were six girls, of different ages. We were attending the Paschal Matins.

At about midnight from the altar area, we heard the quiet singing: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ Savior, do the Angels sing in the Heavens, and let us glorify it on the Earth with a pure heart.” Christ is Risen! Bells ringing and the procession around the church…

The spring was radiant, and love came to me with it. At the end of the Easter Service, the parents invited some guests to break the Fast. Around five in the morning, we sisters went with one guest into the park which was not far from us. We saw how the sun scattered its different rays. The young man glanced at the girl Anna, who was twenty years old, skinny, with a long braid and green eyes. It was hard not to notice their mutual love. Two weeks passed, and Job proposed to me – we began to prepare for the wedding. We were married by Protopriest Seraphim Slobodskoi.

Before we met

In 1966, Job volunteered for the US Army. He received his training at the military base of Fort Dix in New Jersey, and then was sent to Vietnam. He served as a helicopter machine gunner and took part in land operations in the Vietnamese jungle, was an interpreter (Job was fluent in three languages).

Once it happened that a fellow soldier was wounded next to Job. Job quickly put him on his back and carried him to a safe place. For saving a soldier in battle, he was awarded a medal. He had many awards for Vietnam. They will be cherished by his children and grandchildren.

Ordination to the rank of deacon

In 1986, on the day when the Venerable Herman of Alaska was commemorated, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Vitaly ordained Job to the rank of deacon at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. Father Job remained in the monastery for a month to learn how to serve as a deacon. Subsequently, he served for many years with Fr. Gregory Kotlaroff in the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh at the Tolstoy Foundation Center.

We had four sons: Theodore, Paul, Alexander, and John. Life followed its usual course: church services, work, household chores, raising children. Father Job was a professional stone mason and participated in the construction and restoration of many churches and monasteries. The Lord bestowed many talents upon him. And then it pleased the Lord for my husband, me and our children to go through the hardest trials, like the trials of the Holy Righteous Job of the Long-suffering.

Tragedy

In 2012, Fr. Job fell from a scaffold and suffered a fractured skull as well as other bodily injuries. I will not describe all the details of those hard days (infections, complications, etc.) that fell to our lot. My husband was in the hospital for more than two months, after which we arranged a place for him in a nursing home. Two years later, we transferred him from this institution to another nursing home, which operates under the auspices of the Tolstoy Foundation, where I worked.

I was daily beside my husband and tried to ease his burden as best I could. He sensed and understood that I was near, although he was deprived of any ability to speak. He would take my hand, squeeze and hold it for a long time, not letting go… He spoke to me with his eyes – I understood what he wanted to tell me…

Father Gregory visited the Father Protodeacon from the first day to the last one and served prayers for him. May God bless him and Matushka Olga. Father Job was also visited by His Eminence Archbishop Andronik, and His Eminence Archbishop Sofrony, other clergy, parishioners and relatives.

Thank you all for your Christian sympathy and compassion!

Eternal memory to Father Job!

We mourn and love him –

His wife, children and grandchildren