A Tribute to Ethel T. Wead Mick
by James E. Bednar

prepared by Tomilynn E. Willits McManus, Curator
International Center for Job’s Daughters

Mrs. Mick died on February 21, 1957.  At the 1957 Supreme Guardian Council meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. James E. Bednar, who served as Associate Supreme Guardian with Mrs. Mick during 1921 and 1922, offered a tribute to her memory.  There is no indication in the Proceedings if any portion of this collection of prose and poetry was the original work of Mr. Bednar, but it is a lovely tribute from someone who knew her very well during the formation of our organization.  The tribute is reprinted here in its entirety though I have corrected typographical errors.

TRIBUTE TO ETHEL T. WEAD MICK, FOUNDER OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ORDER of JOB’S DAUGHTERS
Given by James E. Bednar

THE MEMORY OF SOMEONE DEAR
HOWEVER LONG APART
IS LIKE A SOOTHING MELODY
THAT LINGERS IN THE HEART

Life seems a perpetual succession of events, to which man submits…The wheels of Fate turn sometimes so rapidly that we can scarcely distinguish the interval between one revolution and another, or the link between yesterday and today.

Great things have small beginnings; a tiny seed became a Tree and drops of water made the Sea…Tis the great souls that serve us and today we have monuments erected, to perpetuate the memory of those who have gone before…but the costliest monument, the most beautiful memorials, cannot surpass in grandeur, the memory of a life, patterned after Divine teachings.

The first and strongest impressions are borrowed from the mighty scene, that is opened to the pioneers of any project…Any project requires work…which should be a joy, particularly when regarded in the light of its being a labor of love.

Nothing great is lightly won
Nothing won is lost
Every good deed, nobly done
Will repay the cost.

It has been said, that a woman who created and sustains a home and under whose guidance, children grow up to be strong and true men and women…is a creator, second only to God.

In the early 1920s such a woman creator among us, envisioned and directed the motivation of an organization of teen-age girls related to Master Masons…Truly, this highly esteemed woman of great spiritual force, spent the following thirty-seven years of her life, giving countless time and services toward its enhancement.

There is no greater nor-more honorable career, in all the world than that of training the YOUTH…thus, Ethel T. Wead Mick, Founder of the International Order of Job’s Daughters, through her loyalty of purpose and devotion to her buds of promise, has influenced the lives of all who knew and loved her, and although she has left these earthly pursuits she has left with us, the memory of a beautiful life, dedicated to YOUTH, Country and GOD.

And so…as we journey on our way, from day to day

Let our deeds be pure and noble
May our lives be not in vain
So that when the links are welded
Complete again will be the chain

 

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