Arthur Cleo Brisendine was born on February 26, 1923 at home near Stonington, Colorado to
Alva and Cordelia (Clark) Brisendine. He had 3 brothers and 3 sisters. Jesse Brisendine, Melvin
Brisendine, Everett Brisendine, Beulah (Gookin) Brisendine, Eulah (Palmer) Brisendine, Nina
(Sample) Brisendine.

Art and Velma (Newman) were married on January 17, 1945. They had five children: Cleo
Brisendine, Lois (Lake) Brisendine, Everett Brisendine, Elwin Brisendine and Linda (Griffin)
Brisendine. Cleo passed away in 1994. The other children are still living.

Around 1926 Alva and Cordelia moved the family to Elkhart, Kansas. When Art was about 12
years old there was a farmer named Willie Harr who had a herd of milk cows. Willie hired Art to
help him milk the cows. He earned $2.50 a week. He said, that was good money for a 12-year-
old.

In 1937 the family moved to Canon City, Colorado and Art took vocational classes. The
vocational classes were a few miles from the high school and Art drove the school bus between
schools to supplement the family income.

After graduation from high school in Canon City, Art's brother, Melvin, said, "I want you to
come back down here to Stonington and meet Clint Newman. He needs help and I think you can
get ajob with him." Art always said Clint taught me everything I know. Clint had three
daughters. Now you can see where this story is going. Art said, "Velma was a flip little thing.
She would cook the meals for the hired hands and then after she got the food put on the table, she
would sit across the table and make eyes at me. Then come Saturday night, she would go out
with another guy." Art said many a time he would hear Clint tell her, "if you aren't going to
marry the boy, just leave him alone." "But I got her" he said. When they got married, (now
remember it was January) Clint said "Art, can't you wait until we aren't so busy." That evening
Art and Velma were back at work.

As most young couples do, Art and Velma felt the need to spread their wings and fly. In the
summer of 1950 they moved to Leadville, CO. They had a cattle ranch and raised hay. They soon
discovered the weather was a little colder in Leadville and it was not the environment that they
wanted to raise their children in so around 1951 when Cleo was ready to start school they moved
to Howard, Colorado. While they lived there they attended church in the school house. Village
Missions offered to help them get a church established. So one of the ranchers donated a comer
of their ranch for a building and a group of ranchers got together and went up to Burly Burk's
sawmill to get some lumber and they built the Mountain Valley Church which is still active
today in Howard on the Arkansas River. They did not have a baptistry so they were baptized in
the Arkansas River.

Clint Newman kept calling him and saying, "I need you down here to help me farm". So in the
Spring of 1960 Art and Velma sold the ranch at Howard and moved back to Stonington where
they lived for the rest of their life.

Several years ago Art had a skin cancer on his nose. The doctor removed it but after several
months it came back. The doctor sent him to a specialist in Denver to have them remove it again.
This time the doctor had a lab where she could remove the spot and check it under the
microscope to see if she got all of the cancerous cells. After she removed it, she sent Art to the
waiting room while she looked at it. She decided she needed to take more skin so she took more
and then sent him to the waiting room again while she looked at it the second time and decided
she still needed to take more. When she called him back from the waiting room a third time, she
said, "I want you to be comfortable. Can we put on some music that would help you relax? What
kind of music do you like?" Art said I asked her if she had The Old Rugged Cross. She did not
have that in her collection. Later he said how am I supposed to relax when she is coming at me
with a needle?

In January 2017 Art spent some time in the Springfield hospital. He knew his time on this earth
was short and he wanted anyone who would listen to know he was headed for heaven and they
could know they are too. He often quoted from memory John 14:6, Let not your heart be
troubled: you believe in God, believe in me also. In my Father's house are many mansions: ifit
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if! go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be
also. And whither I go you know and the way you know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know
not whither thou goest and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

He also wanted us to take comfort in I Thessalonians 4:l3 from memory. Brothers, we do not
want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have
no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with
Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that
we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those
who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud shout,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise
first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort
each other with these words.

Art moved into that mansion that God has been preparing for him and what a beautiful mansion
it must be. It took 95 years to build it. Art loved a song titled "What A Day That Will Be." The
words to the song are; There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come. No more clouds in
the sky, no more tears to dim the eye. All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore. What
a day, glorious day that will be. There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear. No more
sickness, no pain, no more parting over there. And forever I will be with the One who died for
me. What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see.  And I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.  When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the Promised Land.  What a day, glorious day that will be.

Those are not only words to a beautiful song but when that day gets much closer the words become reality and Dad was looking forward to seeing our Lord, Jesus Christ and seeing Mom and Cleo again.  I am so grateful God has promised us a reunion day and we can know that we will see him again someday.