Obituary of Reverend Muriel E. Hand

Hand, Muriel E. Reverend. Of Vineland NJ on December 21, 2002 aged 73 years. Blessed both with a personal charisma and social grace, Rev. Hand loved people and people loved her. As her children began enrolling in school, Rev. Hand channeled her devotion to them and her love of people into involvement to the local PTA. Her dedication , industry and leadership skills eventually lead to her serving as President of the Salem County PTA. In the days before women became widely engaged in the workforce, Rev. Hand spent many years of her life as an advocate for children through her work with the PTA. Beginning in the early 1970?s , Rev. Hand?s talent took her into the workforce , again serving people , but now the sick and the elderly, as the Assistant Director of Volunteer Services at the West Jersey Hospital in Camden. While serving her tenure there , Rev. Hand helped to revise the manual for the NJDVS, the New Jersey Association of Directors of Volunteer Service, as well as to organize major fundraising projects for the hospital. In 1979 , she took a position as Director of Volunteer Services at Tyler Memorial Hospital in Tuckhannock, Pa. where she built the Volunteer Service Department up from the ground level. Confronted upon her arrival there with a loosely organized group of a few volunteers who had more contact with the mundane operations of the institution than with the patients , Rev. Hand tripled the staff in short order and restructured it so that the volunteers became actively engaged with the patients, thereby bettering their lives. Her third and last position as a Director of Volunteer service came in 1981 when she began her tenure at Pocopson Home in West Chester, Pa. While serving there , Rev Hand instituted an annual fair which became a widely anticipated fundraising and booster event for the hospital. Her public relations skills , along with a little luck , lead to an enthusiastic plug for the fair by Willard Scott for the Today Show, thereby giving it national recognition . As a minister with The Church of Ageless Wisdom, Rev. Hand also spent over 30 years of service tending to people?s souls. Ordained in 1969, Rev. Hand served both as a minister and a teacher throughout the rest of her life. Well versed in all the metaphysical arts, she was an accomplished astrologer , numeroligst , and hypnotherapist , with a large international clientele. For her service to people and her lifelong promotion of tolerance among the races, Rev. Hand was inducted into the Chapel of the Four Chaplains in 1980. In 1989, she retired to Florida , where she remained active in church work , conducting Bible study classes , lecturing on metaphysics , and teaching numerology. In May of 2000 , Rev Hand returned to New Jersey to be with her family. One motif pervades Rev. Hand?s impressive list of accomplishments and awards in a varity of fields , service to others. Whether to children , the sick and the infirm, or to her pastoral flock, Rev. Hand always strove to serve people and to better their lot. Rev Hand is the loving mother of Kipp & MarkCurry Jane Matalucci , Robin JosephMontresor , Sherry NeilBenjamin, Sister of Ralph Hand, Grandmother of 8. Memorial Service Thursday 8:00 P.M. in the McGuinness Funeral Home 34 Hunter Street Woodbury where relatives and friends may call after 6:30 P.M. Donations may be made to the American Diabetes Assoc. 1060 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill NJ 08034. Tributes & Memories may be shared at www.mcgfuneral.com ?The Lifetime Tribute Funeral Home®?