Sixty-eight years ago Charles Looper and Leona Brannon were married at Lake Lindsey United Methodist Church. When the couple met, Charles Looper had recently returned from WWII, where he was captured by the Germans in December of 1945. He spent several months in a POW camp in Moosburg called Stalag 7A until he was freed on April 28th, 1945. On that day, the German Compound was taken over by American Troops where he and thousands of other allied soldiers had been kept as POWs.
Leona had moved down to Brooksville from Ohio and started working at her family’s restaurant, a sandwich shop in the Lake Lindsey area. Charles, hearing of a beautiful new girl in town decided that he had to find out how good the food really was at this new restaurant and the service as well. “The rest is history” says Laura Hobbs, their daughter who was planning for her wedding to take place at Lake Lindsey United Methodist Church on her parent’s 68th Wedding Anniversary.
Laura is one of the Looper’s three daughters. The sisters are all about 4 and a half years apart and grew up in Tampa, visiting Brooksville to see both sets of grandparents throughout their childhood. Laura explains, “That’s how Lake Lindsey UMC became to mean so much to us. We had many Vacation Bible Schools, family reunions and celebrations at this church.”
Newly weds Laura and Tim Hobbs originally met 9 years ago at the VA hospital in Tampa, where they were both working as nurses. Circumstances arose that led them to courtship in January of this year. Laura explained, “Our friendship turned to love quite quickly! I’ve always respected him as a man of honor and integrity. He is much like my dad, whom I respect and love dearly.”
The day before Laura and Tim’s wedding, family and friends decorated the gathering hall of Lake Lindsey United Methodist Church where they would celebrate Laura and Tim’s marriage as well as Charles and Leona’s 68th anniversary. However, on the morning of the wedding day (June 14), 24 year old David Wilmott Jr., a trustee of the church set fire to it. The church suffered just smoke and water damage, nothing structural according to Battalion Chief of Hernando County Fire Rescue Chris Sloane. However wedding plans for the couple’s 5pm marriage had been complicated to say the least.
Much scrambling took place to secure a location for the 5pm wedding ceremony, until Eden Baptist Church, just down the road from Lake Lindsey UMC, generously offered the use of their sanctuary and gathering hall. The family showed incredible resilience to ensure that this wedding took place despite the turn of events. “It was a beautiful day, in spite of all that happened. I would have fallen apart completely had it not been for my precious family and friends who worked so tirelessly!” said Laura.
Perhaps Richard Cabot, Laura’s brother in law and Sr Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Lutz, who performed Tim and Laura’s marriage ceremony explained the situation best. “Tim and Laura, as I was riding here with mom from Lutz, I couldn’t help but think about Isaiah 43:2, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.’ ” He continued, “ ‘For I am the Lord your G-d, the Holy One of Israel, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, and you are mine.’ And you are his, and what a picture of life…”
Clean up may take sometime for Lake Lindsey UMC and plans had to be changed for the Hobbs’ wedding ceremony but God protected both from any major damage. There will be obstacles in life that are thrown upon us, but with God’s Grace, He will guide us through them. Tim and Laura will surely face more obstacles in their life together, but God will provide the means to navigate them as he has for Charles and Leona Looper, for 68 years.
Quite a telling part of this story is the wedding photo of Charles and Leona Looper that greeted family and friends as they walked into the reception hall. It had been damaged by fire on the bottom left corner, but otherwise remained wholly intact.
