Honoring Grandma Dorothy's Life

Grandma (my Mom's Mom) passed away on Wednesday, April 28th, peacefully in her sleep, just the way she always wished to "go home." She is now with Jesus, dancing, and feasting at His table. Praise the Lord!

This past Friday, May 7th we traveled home to be with family to celebrate and honor her presence in our lives. The viewing for the family was held at the funeral home at 9:30 a.m. followed by the procession to the cemetary for the graveside service at 10:30 a.m.

The pallbearers were all my male cousins, Grandma's grandsons - 8 total.


Family photographs and a family lunch followed at Emanuel Lutheran Church. Grandpa Art and Grandma Dorothy married in 1942. They had 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren (with 2 more currently on the way). There are 64 of us in the photo below. 66 of us were in attendance for the memorial service out of our current total of 73 in the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren category. Suffice it to say, it was a terrific family reunion. During the service held at 2 p.m. the 15 of us grandkids who were present at Grandpa and Grandma's 40th anniversary celebration sang "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" just like we did in 1982 (when I was 5 years old). Thankfully Cousin Matt didn't faint during rehearsal like he did nearly 20 years ago.
Cousin Kathy (pictured below) read a beautiful tribute titled "My Grandma." Then brother Scott, sister Molly, and I performed our Amazing Grace/Unclouded Day/I'll Fly Away/Sweet Country medley on our fiddles and guitar - something Grandma ALWAYS remarked when we played it for occasions, "You are playing that at my funeral someday."
The church was filled with family and friends.
Refreshments and fellowship followed the service in the church basement. Pictured below are the three surviving siblings of Grandpa Art. From left to right - Olga, Dan, and Hannah.
My Dad's brother, Uncle Gary, brought Grandma Alma to the service and reception. She'll turn 96 at the end of July. Isn't she beautiful?
It was a memorable, wonderful, somewhat bittersweet day. Being with family and friends was really special. Being just 4 weeks away from my due date was evident by the end of the day (my feet and ankles retained water, my muscles were quite sore, etc.) but I'm so glad I was able to take part in and enjoy the celebration of Grandma Dorothy's life. What a legacy she and Grandpa left!

*Special thanks to cousin Kathy's blog post where I "stole" some of the pictures for this post.