It was a cold windy night in late December of 1975 . Bro. K and I had scheduled a shepherding call with Sister J. for that evening at seven. This was a true shepherding call in that it was to check on the welfare of a very elderly sister who had become unable to get to meetings. It had been brought to our attention by a sister in the congregation that no one had heard from her in over a week. She lived in a somewhat remote, rural area.
We drove into her driveway and could not detect any lights on in the house. I beeped the horn a couple of times and then we found our way to the front door of her delapidated old farmhouse. We knocked and a moment later there came a yellow candle light behind the curtain. The door was opened and there stood a very tiny old woman holding a candle up high. She said hello in a frail whisper. We reminded her of who we were and she invited us in. The house was cold and there was no fire going in the wood stove. She gestured toward an old, brocade sofa and we sat. She took her place in a tiny rocking chair after placing the candle on a shelf next to her old bookcase. Due to the shadowed light we could not see her books but assumed it was the usual collection of old Watchtower publications as Sister J had been associated with the local congregation for as long as anyone could remember. She had remained single and pioneered for many years until she could no longer go door to door
She had hot tea prepared which was a surprise. She must have had some means of boiling water in the kitchen of the old place. The tea was welcome in the cold parlor.
We discussed how close we were to the new order. She seemed very content and at peace. She said something about expecting the end in the fall of the year and we reminded her that "no man knew the day or the hour" and that Brother Franz had explained the fact that no one knew the period of time that passed between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve. This seemed to be of great interest to her and we explained to her how this could leave the actual end of the 7000 years somewhat vague.
We asked if she was in need of anything and told her we missed her at the Kingdom Hall. She said she was fine and thanked us for coming. She declined the offer of someone coming to pick her up for the special talk to be delivered two days later on Sunday.
We found our way to the car and when we looked back the house was completely dark.
That Sunday I told the concerned sister that we had paid a visit to Sister J and she seemed to be getting along OK.
She looked at me and her face went white. "When were you there?...she hung herself last Wednesday!"