Jack Bryant knows the comfort hospice care can provide terminally ill patients and their families waiting for the inevitable.

&uot;You’ve got to have an unbelievable heart,&uot; he said of hospice workers who helped care for his wife, Bobbette, in the last month of her battle with cancer.

Bryant and his family were among those attending the Hospice Care Foundation’s candlelight memorial service for hospice patients Monday night at Holy Family Catholic Church.

Hospice care is designed to improve the quality of life and provide comfort for patients who can no longer benefit from a cure. Often there is a team approach to care, with doctors, nurses, social workers and clergy working together with the family to provide the best care possible.

Father John Tyne, pastor of Holy Family, welcomed visitors to the candlelight service and read a passage from the Gospel of John.

&uot;Whoever heard my word and believes in me will have eternal life,&uot; he said.

Tyne said hospice workers have a difficult task.

&uot;Death is always a difficult time,&uot; he said. &uot;Giving care and comfort at that time is a great gift.&uot;

The Rev. Ray Holland, pastor of Trace City Baptist Church, also spoke, and the Holy Family Choir sang several hymns.

&uot;We turn to this passage of Scripture because it brings comfort to our hearts in the time of death of a loved one,&uot; Holland said, reading from John, chapter 14: &uot;Do not let your hearts be troubled.&uot;

Bryant’s son, Jeremy, closed the service with a poem he wrote about his late mother, who liked rainbows.

&uot;Mom, you’re like a rainbow,&uot; he read. &uot;You make the day extraordinary.&uot;