Since this blog is also a way for me to journal life's events, I wanted to post about my husband's Grandmother and my memories of her. When my husband and I were married, I only had one living grandparent and he had three. Over the course of our 9 years together, he has lost all three of his grandparents. This grandmother's passing has caused me to do a lot of self-reflection. It wasn't an overly emotional funeral by any means. She lost her first husband to a heart attack about 20 years ago and remarried about four years after he passed away. She was never an easy person to be around, at least for the last 10 years that I've known her.
My first meeting with her was at my own wedding reception when she yelled at me from across the room, "So are you gonna' get over here and give me a hug or what?" I'm like, "Um, hon, who is that crazy lady yelling at me?" My sweet new husband's reply, "Meet my Grandma." But that is who she was. We didn't really spend a lot of time around her. On one stop to her home for a visit we left with our car full of stuff...and by stuff, I mean mostly junk. She sent us home with old newspapers, a puzzle she had put together and glued on a board, some plants she pulled out of her flower beds and I can't remember what else. It's still something we laugh about to this day.
But, because she was a difficult person to be around, there weren't a lot of loving things said at her funeral. It was quite sad to me to sit there at the funeral of a woman who'd had nine children and two husbands and not many kind words spoken. There is still a lot of bitterness and contention between those she has left behind. So sad. Her obituary isn't filled with terms of endearment or longing, descriptions of "loving mother, grandmother, sister, friend...". Just short and to the point. It caused me to seriously think to myself, what will be said at my funeral? How will my obituary read? Will I leave this earth a better place for having been here, or will I even be missed?
We all have the ability to affect so many people during our lifetime. Is that affect positive or negative? Will we be remembered with endearing love and affection? It was a definite wake up call for me to be more patient, more kind, more compassionate and more loving to everyone around me. I definately want to leave behind me a legacy of love.
So, in memory of Grandma Koerner:
Lorraine Jeanne Meyer Gentry Koerner
(September 2, 1935 - September 4, 2008)
Lorraine Jeanne Meyer Gentry Koerner St. George, Utah ~ Lorraine Jeanne Meyer Gentry Koerner, born September 2, 1935, in Yakima, Washington to Richard Eugene Meyer and Mae Alice St. Martin. Died September 4, 2008, in the Dixie Regional Medical Center, at age 73. She was preceded in death by her husband, Levi Ellis Gentry, her parents, and a grandson, Joshua Ryan Bird. She is survived by her husband David Koerner and her children Vicky (Kent) Loveridge, Lehi, Utah; Laura (Terry) Bird, Orem, Utah; Mark (Alice) Gentry, Fillmore, Utah; Cynthia (Don) Sandberg, Magna, Utah; Leland (Tawnia) Gentry, Cedar City, Utah; David (Trudi) Gentry, Hurricane, Utah; Kenneth Gentry, Taylorsville, Utah; Cheryl Ann (Curtis) Terry, Cedar City, Utah; and Jamie Gentry, Las Vegas, NV. She has a sister, Loretta Bowles, of Tacoma, Washington and a brother, Daniel Meyer, of Lacey, Washington. As well as 33 grandchildren, and 34 great grand children, including David Koerner’s children, Kaye (Fred) May, Valerie (Tom) Duffy, Rosalie Koerner, Sharman Koerner, Dean (Teresa) Koerner, Todd (Nancy) Koerner, 23 grandchildren grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held on Monday, September 8, 2008, 11:00 a.m. at the Metcalf Mortuary Chapel, 288 W. St. George Blvd. St. George, Utah. Visitations will be held on Sunday, September 7, 2008, from 6-8 p.m. and again on Monday from 9:30-10:45 a.m. at the chapel prior to services. After the service she will be buried with her husband, Levi Ellis Gentry, in the St. George City Cemetery. Please view the Metcalf website at www.metcalfmortuary.com for obituary, condolences and full funeral listings.
Recent Comments