I am writing this in memory of my beloved wife, Susan Rech, whom I called Angel most of the time. Her maiden name was Barrett. Sometime when she was between 8 and 10 years old, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Personal Saviour. Angel never smoked, drank alcohol, and never said any swear words. The Bible tells us we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I know Angel had sinned, but her life of sin was minute; she never lived a sinful life. She never knew what it was like to have lived a sinful life, or a life full of sin.
Sue started to learn how to play the organ at age 8, and at 11 years old she was the church organist. When people saw her at the organ in church, they would say, "That’s just a girl up there," but at the end of the service they were very impressed with how good she could play. Angel had a good ear for music. Then learned how to play the piano. She loved playing the piano in church services. Angel could listen to someone sing a song, and no matter what type of song it was, she could tell you when and how many times the singer would change keys while singing the song.
Angel learned how to play twenty-one different instruments. She went to Anderson University for two years in Anderson, Indiana. After two years, Angel and I could not handle the separation anymore and got married in our home church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was 20, and I was 20 days short of being 24 years young. We had our arguments, ups and downs, good times and bad times, but we never fought about money. No marriage ever runs smoothly. Both of you must work at making your marriage work. We were married for over 51 and a half years. Most people think the number one cause of divorce is money; it’s not; it's marriage, Ha, Ha!
Angel loved animals, and the animals she loved the most were horses. Angel loved horses so much, she learned what each type of horse looked like. Angel could tell you the type of horse you were looking at. Did you know that the horse on the back of a quarter is a quarter horse? Ha, Ha! After I told Angel that, she told me there is a horse that is called a quarter horse. I guess I got it right.
We did a lot of things together. We were lovers and best friends. We never let a day go by without telling each other I love you. Angel had to put up with a lot of my purposely taking things the wrong way. When I would tell people we had three boys, Angel would say I had four. At times I’d wonder why, Ha, Ha! When we were with lady friends, and after I commented on what they would say, they would ask Angel, saying, "Can I hit your husband?" and without hesitation she would say, "Yes, go right ahead." Why, what did I do? Ha, Ha! After we celebrated our 50th Anniversary, I said, “Dear, I served over 50 years of not being killed by the look. Then Angel gave me ‘the’ look.
Angel had a stroke in January 2026. She never physically recovered because she was in a lot of pain. She had back pain before she had her stroke, and it got worse when she had her stroke. The more she would try to move, the worse the pain would get. Angel also had kidney problems. Angel could not talk well, and it was hard for her to swallow. They had to put a tube in her stomach to feed her. (This is so hard to write). Because of the stroke, Angel started to have a lot of fear. I had to keep telling her that God did not give her a spirit of fear but a spirit of peace of mind.
Angel was in the hospital, then at a care center, back to the hospital, then a care center again and last back in the hospital. I'd sing a Christian song to her repeatedly and read Bible verses to her, and she found comfort in that. We both continued to tell each other, “I love you.” It was hard for her to talk; she had to talk very slowly.
Some days Angel would say she wanted to live, and other days, because of the pain she was in, she would say she wanted to die. Angel would say to me I’m dying or I’m dead. The pain was too much for her to bear most of the time, and she would go to sleep after they would give her the pain medication. Angel would ask me if she could go to sleep, and I would say yes, you can go to sleep. Sometimes, ten minutes later she’d open her eyes, and we’d say the same thing again. A lot of the time she would be sleeping while I would be with her. I was with her 8 to 12 hours every day. I watched her physically go downhill.
I did everything I could to encourage her. I would pray to God all the time for her to get completely well. Every day I wanted her to be well again and for her to be able to come home with me, but it did not happen. In April, a couple of times Angel told me that I was a good husband. She was starting to say I’m dead a lot. I asked her if she wanted to go home to be with the Lord, and she said yes. As hard as it was for me, knowing all the pain she was in, and knowing she was not going to get better, I told Angel if she wanted to die that it was OK with me. After we talked all about hospice, what would happen and that she would die, I asked her if she wanted to be put in hospice, and she said yes.
I told Angel the doctor had to hear it from her. When he came into the room, her eyes were closed. I said the doctor is here, she said I want to die. In hospice, she was given morphine. Angel was sleeping and was not in pain anymore and died on April 27, 2026. I was with her when she died. June 29, 2026, we would have been married 52 years. I love Angel with all my heart. Overall, we had a beautiful, loving, happy marriage. I thank God for the years we had together.