Josephine A. Conway
1921 - 2000
CONWAY, JOSEPHINE,(Nee BARON) of Highland, Michigan died Tuesday, December 5, 2000 at 79 years of age. Beloved wife of the late Ivan Conway. Loving mother of Mary (Louis) Weglarz, Therese (William) McIntire, Janet Cahill, Michael (Cathy) Conway, and Patricia Hoard. Grandmother of 9 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. Sister of Lawrence, Joseph, and Thomas Baron, Virginia Halpin, and Elaine McLaughlin. A funeral Mass will be celebrated 10:00 A.M. Saturday, December 9th at Church of the Holy Spirit, 3700 Harvey Lake Road, Highland. Visitation will be Friday from 2:00 until 9:00 P.M. at the Highland Chapel of the Elton Black & Son Funeral Home, 3295 East Highland Road, Highland, and on Saturday from 9:00 A.M. until time of service at the church. A rosary will be prayed 6:00 P.M. Friday. Burial Michigan Memorial Cemetery. Donation may be offered to the Bortz Health Care on Green Lake Activity Department.
I had copied many obituaries, many cemetery stones, and this is the first time in my life that I had been deeply affected. When I look up and read the obituary above, all I can think is, "this is it ?"
Sure, the details to link family members by name are listed. My grandmother's children are listed, and her husband (my grandfather, who died when I was very small, so I don't recall very many memories of him.) Her siblings are there. But you know, this is not my grandma.
Grandma was born in Hamtramck, Michigan in 1921, from Eastern European immigrants that came to American between 1907 and 1912. She attended Madonna College and had planned on pursuing the life of a devote Catholic nun. However, after her own mother fell ill, with a mental illness, she returned home to help her father raise her younger siblings.
This is one thing I am grateful for, as it wasn't until after she left college that she met my grandfather, Ivan Conway, and they married.
In 1941, Grandma's father passed away, suddenly, leaving my Grandparents legal custody of her siblings. I believe my Grandma did the best she could,those first couple years, but she was starting to have children of her own and made a difficult choice to give up custody of her siblings. She and grandpa moved to Taylor where they raised their five children.
In 1971, Grandpa passed away from cancer. My Grandma never remarried. She did however, continue her worship, and joined a small group of women who liked to travel and play cards.
Even those facts don't really describe my Grandma.
She gave out the biggest and best hugs around !
Her house in Taylor, seemed rural to me as a little kid, as she was on about a half acre of land, and I was a city girl. She had a crab apple tree perfect for climbing... and weeping willow trees that you could swing from the branches of. On the other side of her house was a large field, when I was little I used to pick wild flowers from there to give to my mom or my Grandma. They were more like weeds than flowers, but they loved them anyway. Everytime I see a black-eyed-susan, I think of Grandma.
Christmas Eve was the best time of year. All 5 of my mom's siblings came with their kids (my cousins) and we ate and opened presents, read from the Bible and sang Christmas Caroles. Every year Grandma wrapped a package of lined paper, a package of construction paper, crayons, and glue for us grandkids... And I'll tell ya, even after I was married, I STILL got my paper and crayons !
My parents and my Aunts and Uncles had a yearly joke of getting their present from my Grandma, and every one of them would say that thier card from Grandma said "To My Favorite Daughter/Son."
One time my cousins and I were outside playing in the field next to Grandma's house, and for some reason we came up with, If there had been a tornado Grandma wouldn't survive because she didn't have a basement. So all us kids dug up a huge hole in that field and told Grandma if there was ever a tornado, she should run out and jump in this hole ! (she got a BIG kick out of that !)
I really wanted to tell someone about my grandma. She was so much more then Josephine Conway, of Highland Michigan, who died at the age of 79 years.
I will miss her very much.
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