We're writing today with overwhelming sadness at the loss of our dearest friend, Duane Grimes. He was taken off life support yesterday and passed away at 1:17 a.m. this morning.

We still are in shock with everything that has happened. He had been so healthy and strong (his only hospital stay was this year when he had surgery...not bad for someone a few months shy of 80 years old).

The guys were scheduled to sing in Benton Harbor on Sunday morning. Chuck called Duane, as he always did, to let him know they were on the way. He was in great spirits and told Chuck he'd be ready. We believe, as was his usual way, that he waited a few minutes and then went downstairs to wait. When the bus pulled up, the first thing everyone saw was his suit bag and other stuff laying on the sidewalk. Then we saw him slumped in the doorway. Jeff, being an RN, jumped off the bus to help. He saw that he had no pulse and started CPR. He and Jerry worked over him until the paramedics arrived and were able to get a faint heartbeat. By the time he reached the hospital he had been put on a ventilator. His heart was working but he was unable to breathe on his own. There was extensive damage done to his brain due to lack of oxygen and the family were asked to make the decision last night about whether to keep him on life support or not. The difficult decision was made knowing that Duane would not have wanted to be kept alive if there was no chance of any quality of life or the ability to keep singing for the Lord. Now we know that he is really singing for the Lord.

He just told us during our concert at the Pix on Aug. 9th that this month was his 50th anniversary of singing gospel music.

Please keep the Grimes family, Duane's extended Royalheirs family and all who loved him in your prayers. We will post the funeral arrangements as soon as they are available.

Well, if nothing else, we Royalheirs are able to multi-task. On one of the previous posts, it showed what happens when Jerry falls asleep and misses the soundcheck. Above is a picture of what happens when Roy is a little late to hook up the sound system.
We have had some great services since our last update. Fourth of July weekend was a lot of fun. Pam & I spent the Fourth with the Hawks family and then watched the fireworks at North Branch. We also found out what Tim Hebert from The Gospelmen does when he's not singing...he directs traffic at firework celebrations. We wrapped up the weekend singing in Rosebush at their Red White & Blue Festival. It was outside under a tent and they were a great bunch of people to sing to.
Last weekend we were at Mio Church of God for an a.m. service. This was another new church for us. They have a beautiful church and a wonderful congregation. We look forward to going back. Sunday night we were at my home church, Gateway Assembly of God in Imlay City. It was good to be home with my church family and my pastor, Pastor Jeff Krist.
Thank God there were no police between Mio and Imlay City and I'm sure the bus was happy when we finally slowed down. Don't forget about the Pix Theatre concert (tickets are available now).

Until next time,

Chuck

Well, it's been awhile since we let you know what is happening with The ROYALHEIRS. We had a great concert with The Browders and they are such a sweet family. The crowd was small but the enthusiasm was big. We hope to have them back sometime in 2009. On Sunday, June 8th we were at Faith Bible Church in Houghton Lake for a morning service. They have a newly remodeled sanctuary that is beautiful and they treated us very well and served us a delicious meal afterward. We then took off for Argentine Nazarene and developed bus problems along the way. As we inched our way into Argentine, the tornado sirens were going off. As soon as we had the equipment unloaded, the storm hit and took out the power for the whole area. Unfortunately, the concert had to be cancelled and we hope to rebook at a later date. Jeff was so worried about Roy being outside when the storm hit that he ran right into a plate glass window. The window is fine and we're going to make sure to check to see if his nose print is still there when we return.
The bus was in the shop on Monday, June 9th with a major oil leak. Thank God it was fixed and back on the road for our concert at Forester Park on Saturday, the 21st. The place was packed and our good friends, Phil Parkin and his family were there to be with us. It was a beautiful night on the Lake Huron shore. Even though the rest of the group says I never stop for ice cream, we did stop at Dairy Queen that night. Sunday morning we were at Duane's home church. Most of Duane's kids, grandkids and great-grandkids were there. It is so cool to look out and see his family's faces light up when Duane starts to sing. They have supported Duane through all his years with The Calvarymen and the last 13 years with The ROYALHEIRS. Our prayer is that Duane has many more years to sing the gospel.
On Sunday, the 29th we were at Good Tymes Barn in Melvin. What a great location. If you get a chance, get out there some Sunday afternoon and support gospel music.
I also wanted to tell you a story about Jerry's son, Ben (the good-looking boy in the picture above). After the concert at Forester Park we were out late but the next morning Ben was up bright and early waiting on the couch because he wanted to go with his Dad to sing. Jerry thought that maybe Ben had a problem so he asked him why he wanted to go with him that morning and if there was something he wanted to talk about. Ben said, "I just wanted to come along to spend some time with you, Dad".
So many times we forget about how much our families have to sacrifice for us to be out on the road. But every mile is worth it, knowing that we are in God's will and we are seeing souls touched and lives changed.

Until next time,
Chuck

P.S. Don't forget about the Pix Concert on Aug. 9th. Hope to see you there!

See what happens when Jerry falls asleep on the bus....Roy has to fill in for the bass part. That Jerry will do anything to get out of helping unload and set up the equipment...ha!ha! He did wake up in time for the concert though. Speaking of Roy...a couple weeks ago he had two more stints put in his heart (for a total of seven!!) Who needs an antenae when we have Roy? This past weekend was very busy with two churches we had never been to before and another that we hadn't been for 10 years. Everyone was so nice and the dinners that were provided were great. The White and Hawks families were all in attendance for Saturday night's concert. It was definitely a bus full and we all had a wonderful time.
Until next time,
Pam

Krikey, Mate....Is that the Crocodile Hunter?? It looks like Jeff is having fun on his adventure/vacation to Florida. I hope his family is having as much fun as he is. The guys haven't been singing much but will get back at it at the end of this month. It's been nice for the wives to have their husbands home for a change but I'm sure the guys are getting antsy to get back to their ministry. Please keep the ROYALHEIRS and their families in your prayers and we hope to see you soon at one of our concerts.

Blessings,

Pam

It was another busy weekend for The Royalheirs. The first picture is of Jeff and Chuck being part of a scrap iron quartet (believe it or not...Chuck was singing the bass part!) at The Midwestern Christian Music Celebration in Portland, MI. This was the first year for the event and there were a lot of great groups there from different states that the guys had not had the pleasure of meeting in all their travels. It's always nice to meet new people and be blessed by their ministries. As you can see from the other photo, little Miss Hannah Hawks was also with us and was quite a trooper. We were there from 12:00 p.m. to approximately 9:00 p.m. and she lasted right up until the last half hour or so. Also with us on the bus trip to Portland was Bud Hardy and his wife, Marilyn. Bud helped to emcee the program.

On Sunday, Chuck and I were able to stay close to home (which was very nice) when the guys sang at Zion United Methodist in Capac. The congregation is such a friendly bunch of people and they hosted a potluck for everyone before the concert. We also celebrated two birthdays (Roy and Jerry) and an anniversary (Chuck and I). Poor Jerry was one tired guy! He had been on a missions trip to Brazil to help rebuild a church and had left to come home on Saturday, traveled all night and got back to Michigan on Sunday afternoon and then came right to the church to sing. That's dedication!

Blessings,

Pam

We would like to thank everyone for making our 2008 Flint Homecoming Concert another wonderful night of gospel music. The weather again this year was certainly not the best but that didn't stop the crowd of over 400 people from coming out to be with us. We had the same groups with us... Gospelmen, Calvarymen, Royalheirs and from Morristown, TN, The Perrys.
Soloist Paul White performed a song which blessed many in the crowd. Taylor Hawks was thrilled when her hero, Libbi Perry (pictured above) called her up on the stage to sing a song and Taylor's little brother, Noah stole the show when he got up to sing with the guys. Also, we would like to thank Bud Hardy and his wife for all their help. Bud served as the emcee for the event and his wife greeted everyone as they arrived. In case you don't know, Bud is the host of Precious Memories on WLCO (1530 AM) every Sunday morning starting at 7:30 a.m. which features local and national Southern gospel groups.
We're already working on the 2009 Flint Homecoming Concert. Again next year, we will feature all the Flint quartets and with them will be The Dove Brothers. The concert will be Friday, March 6, 2009. Please mark your calenders. We would love to see this concert grow each year.
This was the first time The Royalheirs were back singing since New Year's Eve and it was such a great night to kick off this year's schedule. Again many thanks to all who were with us last night.
Blessings,
Pam