The history of Vital Signs Ministries has been a long, challenging, and eventful one yet, by the grace of Almighty God, we have experienced remarkable victories and blessings along the way. And in almost all of the adventurous years of VSM’s Christ-centered pro-life ministry, Quint and Carol Coppi performed the most steadfast, winsome, and absolutely invaluable service. Carol has been enjoying her heavenly reward for 4 years now but Quint only joined her in the presence of Jesus last week. With his death, an important chapter of Vital Signs’ story has closed, but the effects of his and Carol’s influence (and prayers) will continue until the Lord’s upward call comes to the rest of us who so eagerly await it.
Claire and I join the Coppi family (and scores of other believers who are Quint’s and Carol’s friends and colleagues) in mourning their passing, in cherishing memories of their purposeful lives, and because the Coppi’s eternal salvation is quite secure in that they had trusted Christ’s death on the cross as payment for their sins, we join also in the celebration of their new adventures with the Triune God, the angels, and all the redeemed saints who have gone before.
I first met Quint and Carol when I was asked to speak at the church they were then attending, Prince of Peace. That was sometime, I believe, way back in 1984. They both took the Lord’s call to pro-life activities very seriously -- and very quick. They joined us in peaceful protests of abortion, in sidewalk counseling as we attempted to minister to young men and women with abortion appointments, in various educational outreaches such as the VSM information booth at the the Nebraska State Fair, a whole lot of prayer meetings, the founding of the AAA Crisis Pregnancy Center (now Assure Women’s Center), letter writing parties, field trips to such places as the National March for Life in Washington D.C., and more. In fact, Quint became a member of the Vital Signs Ministries Governing Board very early in our history where his tender-hearted encouragement, his wise counsel, and his willingness to be of whatever service was needed, proved his character as a genuine man of God who had embraced the mission.
And he served in all of these ways for many, many years. Wow.
Even in his old age when he moved to Florida to be with family, Quint continued to be a treasured member of our sidewalk counseling team by joining us in real-time prayer via telephone. Oh my, but everyone loved and admired and was grateful for Quint’s ongoing loyalty and fellowship.
But, in addition to our ministry partnership, Claire and I will forever cherish the Coppi’s joyful, thoughtful presence in the book club we formed. They were in fact present at the very first meeting of the Notting Hill Napoleons, a group of pro-life colleagues who gathered one evening every month to discuss classic literature. It was a unique fellowship that lasted over 30 years! And some of my most beloved memories of Quint come from the Napoleons’ weekend retreats we took every autumn at out-of-town B&Bs. He and I would get up very early on those mornings to have the most engaging and serious talks, encouraging one another spiritually and then praying over the Scriptures that had come up in our conversation.
Now Claire and I engage in a lot of social activities and we do an awful lot of home entertaining, but there were very few social affairs that Claire and I hosted over these last four decades in which Quint and Carol were not “star participants.” For instance, in kicking off the Christmas season where we host many dinner parties, the first invites always went to Quint and Carol. And I can’t remember an Epiphany evening in all those years they were not delighting us with their presence. Oh yes; one of the most wonderful of our parties was when we hosted Carol’s art show and sale -- what an exciting and delightful afternoon! Perhaps here is where Claire and I proudly boast that we have the largest collection of Carol Coppi art outside of Florida!
Goodness, I mustn’t omit the truly outstanding trip that we took with Quint and Carol to London and its surrounding areas. It was fabulous fun planning it, fabulous fun experiencing it, and fabulous fun reminiscing about it for years afterward!
My, my; Quint and Carol are both sorely missed because we loved them so. And our lives were enriched beyond measure by their love and loyalty to us. It is in knowing, however, that they are both enjoying -- right this very moment -- the wholeness, the holiness, the happiness, and the harmony of being present with the Lord Jesus that brings comfort and excitement. We look forward with great anticipation to the day we will greet them on the streets of the New Jerusalem and re-boot the friendship.
Thank you, dear Father, for the gifts which were Quint and Carol Coppi.
One more item -- As an added tribute to Quint Coppi, my dear brother in Christ, my friend, and my fellow-soldier in Christ’s service, I offer a link to a story I wrote years ago as a birthday present for him. It is a very short story whereby I took details from Quint’s childhood and turned them into the kind of adventure tale he had so loved as a kid. It is entitled “The Secret of Sagamore: A Christmas Mystery (A Quint Coppi Adventure written by Denny Hartford)” and will be posted for awhile on the Vital Signs Ministries website right here.
