My Aunt Dee had bought her a LED glass Christmas tree that played different Christmas Carols and lit up with lots of colors earlier in the month. My Dad and his Mom spent her last few hours pushing the button over and over and singing the songs together. Her short term memory was so gone that each time she saw it it was like the first time and her face would just light up with excitement. My Dad left her room that night (after feeling she was struggling but wouldn't let go unless his needs were taken care of as my Dad described her in the Eulogy, she was "the perfect hostess") and 20 minutes later the staff called to let him know she had passed away. My Dad said as he left that he knew she was going to die that night. He mentioned in the Eulogy that she looked at him and told him she was scared and it was the first time he could recall hearing he say that.
Grandma Marje did not have an easy life. She grew up in Northern CA right near the "Ditch bank" (an irrigation canal that was 6-8 feet deep and quite wide) and their family was constantly worried about high water or flooding. Each winter they had to move into town when the rains came. She was quite sick her first year with whooping cough and having to have her ears lanced repeatedly. It was not an easy first year. She grew up (developing a love for horses and being in the outdoors or backpacking/fishing) and got married and had my Dad and my Aunt Dee but did not have a happy marriage. She often moved away from my Grandpa Vince with Aunt Dee and my Dad and was a very hard worker doing all kinds of different jobs working from the bottom of the ladder on up. She and my Grandpa Vince built a lithe house in Meridian, CA and she got to have her horses. She loved them and often even showed them in fairs. Eventually she and my Grandpa Vince divorced. She moved to Salt Lake City and ended up serving a mission to England. She served at the same time that my Dad was serving in Mexico. She moved back to CA after my Grandpa Vince passed away and met and married my Grandpa Joe in Colusa, CA. They enjoyed backpacking any chance they could and did lots of fishing.
My family often went out to visit them and help harvest the walnuts. They only lived 25 minutes away most of my life. First in Meridian, than Loma Rica, than Sutter. My Grandma was always willing to take us grandkids fishing or backpacking with them. She loved genealogy and made delicious pies. She was hardworking and loved playing the harmonica. In 1997 she and my Grandpa Joe faced high water from the Sutter bypass and their house flooded. My family had actually evacuated to their house from Yuba City and then shortly after we were cleared to go home the Sutter Bypass flooded leaving up to 6 feet of water in their house. Her fear of high water was grounded. She and my Grandpa Joe used their saving to rebuild their house and then sold it and served a mission together in Wyoming at the Martin Handcart Site. We had relatives who came across the plains in the handcart companies and Grandma and Grandpa loved being there. My family and I went to visit them while they were serving and later on she and Grandpa Joe came to visit me while I was at BYU Idaho. They loved their van (that only had a few buttons) and would travel anywhere they could. She was a great lady and I am happy she is with other loved ones and at peace.
This is not the canal she grew up near but is much smaller. This is the view from near the cemetery she and Grandpa Joe are buried in (Sutter Cemetery in Sutter CA). Those are the Sutter Buttes. Our family used to go up there and have a picnic with my Dad's side of the family each Spring. It is one of my favorite memories with them.
Derek, Susanna, Katie, April, Davin.
My Parents
Susanna and I in front of the Sutter Buttes.
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