Something Virgil once said about his marriage has always stuck with us: “Joan and I don’t have a 50-50 marriage. We each give 100%!” That perspective has impacted our own marriage (and other relationships, too) . . . it’s not about slicing the pie so we each get our fair share. It’s about sacrificial love for one another, 100%.
We believe that is true of what Virgil has given to the Reba community and church as well: 100% of himself for the past 50+ years. Even as he "retired," we realized that the root of his decision was sacrificial love for this church community. We only wish that we had all learned how to honor our pastors and leaders more along the way.
Virgil “pastored” us into Reba Place Fellowship w-a-y back in 1973, supported us as we moved into and developed the “congregational cluster” in 1981, and was there for us, always with an open door and an open heart, all along the way. We knew we could disagree, wrestle with issues, and spark ideas, because the love was there. Joan, too, always managed to give us words of affirmation that encouraged us and lifted our hearts. (You still do, Joan!) When we left Reba in 1998, the hardest part was leaving behind a pastoral couple we loved and wanted to honor.
But even after we left Reba, Virgil was available whenever we needed wisdom or perspective or encouragement--including wisdom we needed regarding our recent (2020) move to Champaign and challenges we've faced while we've been here.
When we got the word that Virgil had gone to Glory, Dave said, "No man has influenced my adult life more than Virgil Vogt."

With love for eternity,
Brother Dave and Sister Neta Jackson