This was the third (and better be the final) funeral my Jewkes' side of the family has had in less than a month. Needles to say, by the time I got to this one, I was a bit weepy and emotional about this whole dying thing. That, and I got asked to say the closing prayer at Grandma Great's funeral... apparently I need to do some activating in my family so I'm not the last resort choice. It's just cruel to have a woman go last at a funeral because we spend the entire time trying not to bawl hysterically and getting nervous that we won't be able to make an understandable word come out of our mouths because we're so worked up and emotional. I did get choked up and was super nervous but I think Grandma Great is happy that I was there.
You may remember our trip to Colorado two years ago for her 100th birthday party. The first thing she reminded me when I saw her, was that I'm not her Jenny. She has a granddaughter named Jenny. I'm her Jenette. Only two people have ever called me Jenette and I love them both. Uncle Brent even put Jenette on the program so as to keep Grandma Great happy. I blogged about a few of my favorite memories of Grandma Great back then... meeting her in Nauvoo, IL when my Grandparents were serving their mission there and listening to her brag about how proud she was of her missionary son and the first time she met Jeff and wanting to see his temple recommend. But the best part of funerals - if there is one - is that you leave with a whole bunch of old memories you'd forgotten about and new ones you've never heard before. One of the speakers, Grandma Great's faithful home teacher who visited her every single day for years and years, told us to hold on to our memories of Kathryn and treasure them. So here are a few memories, old and new, that I left with.
Lipstick. My Aunt Denise recalls a time when Grandma Great told her that when times were hard to buy yourself a new lipstick and hold your head up high to face the world. She knew that a little tube of lipstick was always affordable and would be just the boost you needed to remain "radiantly hopeful."The alarm clock. One night my Grandma Great heard her alarm clock beeping. She got up, turned it off and went back to bed. Then she heard it beep again and again and again. So Grandma Great got up, picked up a hammer, and beat her alarm clock in. Then it beeped again. She realized it wasn't her alarm clock at this point, but her smoke alarm signaling the batteries were dead!
Living with the "old" people. When she fell and cracked her pelvis (or was it when she fell and hurt her hip? I can't remember now), she had to go to an assisted care facility until she was strong enough to go back home. She told us that she didn't want to go live with the "old" people. Uh, old people? She was at least 20 years older than the average age of all the residents! Age really is all in your head because Grandma Great never considered herself one of the "old" people. When she left the center, the staff gave her an award for all of her hard work and for being a shining example to everyone there... she worked hard, recovered, and went home at 101!
The funeral was really sweet. It was so touching to hear her friends and home teacher speak about how much they loved her. I guess you kind of forget that those "old" people have friends too. It was beautiful. I can only imagine the reunion on the other side when she got there. Seeing her eternal sweetheart for the first time in 36 years (and probably lecturing him about why he left her so early), her friends, parents, siblings, my Grandma.... we forget that this must be such a glorious reunion for them because we are left her to grieve, sometimes with confused, shaken, forgotten, or little understanding of the glory that awaits us.
I pray I can remain as "radiantly hopeful" throughout my life as Grandma Great. Because if not, I'm going to be buying a whole lot of lipstick! I love you and will miss you, until we meet again.
Here is the obituary:Kathryn Jewkes March 8, 1909 -- Nov. 5, 2011
She was born March 8, 1909, under a full moon in Los Angeles, Calif., in a large two-story home that her father had built; the third of five children in the home of her parents, Samuel and Laura Elizabeth (Bartleson) Dailey.
Kathryn's lifetime on earth spanned more than a century, and provided her with opportunities to experience a multitude of changes in both society and technology.
She was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, at the time of her death, was a member of the Sterling Ward of the Greeley Stake. Throughout her life she served in many of the auxiliaries of the church, and it was at a church dance in 1928 that she met her future husband, a young man from Utah by the name of Royal S Jewkes.
Kathryn Dailey and Royal Jewkes were married in Los Angeles on Aug. 2, 1929. Later they were sealed for time and eternity in the Manti Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After residing in California and Utah for a number of years, they moved to Fort Collins in 1952 where the Great Western Sugar Company in Fort Collins, Windsor and later in Greeley, became Royal's employer.
Kathryn was a stay-at-home mom, but enjoyed designing and sewing clothing. She was well known among her acquaintances for the quality of her stiches and her imaginative designing abilities. She was also actively engaged in doing family history and genealogy work and was a member of the genealogical societies in her community. In the mid-1960s Kathryn was active in the Poudre Hospital Auxiliary and became president elect in 1967.
She is survived by her four children: Ann Marie Snow and husband Stuart of Austin, Texas, Don Royal Jewkes of Logan, Utah; Karen Susan Sperber and husband Hal of St. George, Utah (recently of Sterling), and David Brent Jewkes and wife Kathleen of Fort Collins, Colorado. Also surviving are 13 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great-grandchildren and a former son-in-law, Alvin Smith of Wray.
Preceding her in death are her parents; all four siblings; her husband, Royal; and a daughter-in-law, Nan Peackock Jewkes.
Beside members of her family, she had many special friends. We would like to especially recognize her faithful LDS home teacher, Gordon Moore, who visited her daily and filled the gaps when family could not be there. Also many thanks to the staff at the Legacy Assisted Living Center, for the dedicated and caring service they provided.
