By Deborah Laverty / The Hammond Times, February 10, 2001
HAMMOND -- The Rev. Jack Hyles built a ministry with more than 100,000 followers during his 41 years at First Baptist Church of Hammond.
Yet members, including Daniel Pina, who came to pay their last respects to Hyles at his funeral on Saturday, recalled the way the charismatic, loving man singled them out as if they were each the most important person in the world.
Hyles, 74, died Tuesday morning at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
"He treated us like we were his family. He led such a great number of people in his church, yet he treated each person like an individual. He loved each person," recalled Pina.
Pina, along with his father and mother, Domingo Pina Jr. and Yolanda Pina, sat in balcony seats enabling them to look down at the service below.
"What I remember most about him was his compassion, his caring," said Gerardo Pineda of Chicago, a member of the church since 1988.
"He touched many lives," said Amanda Harris, who handed out programs and booklets detailing Hyles' life to those attending the funeral.
Every seat in the church, which has a capacity of 7,000, was filled, with some members opting to sit on metal folding chairs set up temporarily in the aisles.
Before the service, which started at 10 a.m., hundreds of Hyles' followers lined up to file silently past his open casket to say goodbye.
The casket, surrounded by dozens of floral arrangements and covered with an American flag, was closed when the service started.
Following the singing of "Blessed Assurance" by the congregation, Eddie Lapina, youth minister, spoke briefly about his friend.
"The service today is for the hometown folks. It's a good time but a sad time," Lapina said.
Hyles' son, David, said the passing of his father was a troubling time for the family.
"We were filled with confusion as to what to do next," he said. Hyles said the family yearned for the earlier privacy it had been able to experience in the hospital while his father was alive but knew it had to move on.
"It was difficult to accept that we weren't the only family. ... There is his church family and his family across the nation. Last night at the memorial service we had people here from all over the nation. This service is for the church family," he said.
Jack Hyles' wife, Beverly, spoke of the love her husband had for his large congregation and the loss to all.
"He truly loved you. ... I lost my best friend, my sweetheart, but we all lost our pastor. ... He loved being a pastor. It was his favorite word," Beverly Hyles said.
Lapina closed the service, speaking of the national and worldwide impact Hyles had. Hyles trained more than 1,000 pastors and missionaries serving in the United States and on foreign lands.
"Dr. Jack Hyles' voice was heard all over the world. He was a preacher of preachers. He set the standard," Lapina said. He also spoke of the wide variety of those in Hyles' large flock, including those who were homeless and those with handicaps.
"He looked for those who no one else looked for," Lapina said. He said Hyles, despite his worldwide influence, never forgot his large family of church members in Hammond.
"He loved the world, but his heart remained to Hammond," he said.