Submitted by his son, Claude  Hazel Jr, following Claude's memorial service in October 2013

"When I, Claude Hazel, was thirty nine years old and my wife, Elise, was thirty six in 1969 we decided to move our family from the west side of Houston to the “Redeemer” neighborhood. Elise was a native Houstonian. Her family wanted to know why she wanted to move to that decaying part of Houston. We located a house five blocks south of the Church. Our family at the time consisted of four children, Claude Jr. 10, Daphne (pronounced “Daffin”) 9, Reese 6 and Geoffrey 3. Born later were Catherine in 1972, Brian in 1974 and Sarah in 1976.

We had been attending St. George Episcopal Church on the west side of town off of Stella Link Boulevard. Elise had attended some services at Redeemer and wanted to join the church. I had no investment in where we would attend church at the time. Forty one years later I am the only one of my family still here. Elise went to be with the Lord in 2007. Brian went to be with the Lord in 1995 and Geoffrey in 2010. My other children have married and moved away.

When we arrived at Redeemer the church probably had an active membership of about 600+ including adults and children. The church was full every Sunday including the balcony and chairs brought in to the aisles. Besides the active membership present there were always many visitors to witness The Holy Spirit active filling the church to capacity. The Rector was Graham Pulkingham. His assistant was priest Al Rountree. Some priests joined the church later and were involved in ministry. The Friday night services attracted visitors from all over the world, and the church was filled to capacity. There were many speakers in those “early” days such as South African David du Plessis but a naturalized American (aka “Mr. Pentecost”), Bishop Fry, the Episcopal Bishop of Colorado and others.

Initially there were about 6 or 7 first tier laymen active in the ministry of the church. They were Jerry Barker, Dr. Bob Eckert, John Grimmet, Gordon Abbot, Earl Frid, Bill Renfro and Ralph Neal. Leaders such as Jim Clowe, Bob Woodson, Jack Minor and others arrived later. Lay women to mention are Essie Ringo, Ann Wafer, Pat Farra, Nan Credle, Evelyn Broussard, and Peggy Fergus among others.

The youth of the ‘70s and ‘80s had great youth leaders like Jay Temple and Marsha Harmon, and were blessed to grow up in the Redeemer environment. Maris Farra and Dr. Joe Waltman, owners of the “Bar None” ranch near Giddings, TX, offered the ranch to Redeemer youth and adults, with opportunity to experience the great outdoors and ride horses. Grover Newman was the chief wrangler at the ranch

The church plant is scheduled for destruction in a few months. To sum up my time here in six words, “It has been a great ride”!!! Where I go from here TLOK."