Darlene Valerie Selbrede

Darlene Valerie Selbrede (nee Hall) passed away peaceably in her sleep Monday morning, January 24, 2005 at the age of 39. She is survived by her husband, Martin Selbrede, and his children, Charity Selbrede, Christian Selbrede, Cord Selbrede, and Chase Selbrede, the last three of which she all but adopted as her own and raised over the last four years on a full-time basis. She is also survived by her father, George R. Hall II, and mother, Lana M. Bittner, of Cleveland, Ohio, and her four siblings: Stephen M. Robinson, Albert P. Hall, George R. Hall III, and sisters Charlene M. Woodrow, Elizabeth P. Hall, and Colleen A. Hall, as well her paternal grandmother, Anna V. Hall. She is also survived by her nephews and nieces in Ohio: Daniel J. Woodrow Jr. and Christian R. Woodrow, sons of Charlene and Dan Woodrow, and George R. Hall IV and Lauren Hall, children of George III and Carrie Hall. Born on August 18, 1965, Darlene was a natural musician and technologist. In her youth she was an excellent electric guitarist and played in a Rush cover band. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from The Ohio University with a B.S. in Communication in 1987 (a difficult double major, Audio and Visual), and was a Phi Kappa Theta member. After graduation she worked at the Recording Workshop, was credited on a Motorhead album, was production assistant to director Vladimir Lange on the independent movie "Bridges," created and directed videos for Bechtel Corporation, and later became webmaster at International Remote Imaging Systems in Chatsworth, Calif. She became a born-again Christian in late 1997, and no longer lived for herself, but for something bigger than herself. She married Martin Selbrede on September 19, 1998, soon thereafter starting her own business, DVS Webworks, which focused on graphic design and web programming. She had a servant's heart for God, and grew in grace and faith at a breakneck pace, submitting herself totally and without reservation to the authority of the Scriptures. Although she had no children of her own, she became a protective mother grizzly bear over Martin's sons, shepherding them spiritually and academically in an utterly selfless, sacrificial spirit. Her primary legacy is represented by Christian and Cord, whose successful enrollment at Baylor was solely Darlene's handiwork, and the progress 10th grader Chase has made in academics and character. She became the webmaster for the Chalcedon Foundation, a Christian educational institution, and made it her life's work and first priority. Darlene was committed to the uncompromised proclamation of God's truth, and its vigorous application to all areas of thought and life, "to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," and served at Chalcedon, as well as playing electric bass on the Worship Team at Crosspointe Church of Austin, a PCA church where her husband Martin serves as elder. Inquisitive, ever-learning (she even took up the violin the month before she died), humble, without guile, without a hypocritical bone in her body, genuine beyond measure, compassionate, selfless, her loss to those who knew and loved her is beyond calculation. She was at her post when the Lord Christ called her home, and has heard the six most wonderful words Christ's servants could ever hope to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant." The extent to which we all feel diminished is the measure of what she added so profoundly to all the lives that she touched. While she excelled in her vocation, in music, in service to God and His people at church and through her work with Chalcedon, and as a functional mother for Christian, Cord, and Chase, she was first and foremost the most wonderful wife any husband could ever hope to have had. Warm, affectionate, giving, selfless, she made it possible for Martin to be effective as a father, as a scientist, as a theologian, as a church elder, and as a symphonic composer and conductor. She laid her life down for him, voluntarily and gladly, in every imaginable way, and cherished her husband as he cherished her. Her life was truly full, and she found fulfillment in places she'd not expected it when she pursued a minor in Feminine Studies in college, which was a world away from where she ended up spiritually. Her conversion to Christ and His cause was total, and she put all things in subjection to Him, walking heart in heart with her like-minded husband as both served the Lord with all their mind, heart, and strength. Unusual among Christians, she took the entire Law of God seriously, and was a true take-no-prisoners warrior in the faith, who walked in the spirit of the Old Testament judge Deborah. In Darlene, God had torn out the pages of Proverbs 31 and fashioned a living human being, "of whom the world was not worthy." Her last years on earth were a brilliant comet flashing briefly through our skies, illuminating all our lives until passing beyond the azure horizon of eternity. Although she herself would be the first to deny it, she was truly worthy to be praised. In honor of her memory, and to perpetuate her unspeakably precious legacy, her family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the ministry that she lived for. You may send checks made out to "Chalcedon", with "Darlene Selbrede Memorial Fund" entered on the memo line, to Chalcedon, PO Box 158, Vallecito, Calif. 95251, or on-line at www.chalcedon.edu, under the Support Chalcedon tab, where the Darlene Selbrede Memorial Fund can be designated at the top of the donation page. Services will be held on Thursday, January 27, 2005, at 7:00 p.m., at the Cross Pointe Church, 5703 McNeil Dr. Arrangements under the direction of Beck Funeral Home, Round Rock/Austin Location.