Sunday, May 17, 2009

Happy & Sad










Sat started out exciting we had finally made arraignment to do Dwain and Jeannie temple work. We had to be at the temple at 8:30 and went to the 10:00 session. Gary stood proxy for Dwain and Carla was proxy for Jeanie. We also had Dwain and Jeanie sealed to their parents. I also did my aunts’ endowments (Elsie).

Here again I am thankful for the temple and the knowledge that we can be families for eternity. Betty and her husband Ray and daughter Terri was there with us. We went to lunch after wards. It was a very humbling morning when I stopped and thought of the love our father in heaven has for us.

When we go home my sister Idonna called and told me our cousin Jon had called and said his mother our aunt Gladys had passed away, she is the last one of my mother’s siblings. There were nine total. We were given the web site for her obituary I had never read a more beautiful written one.

Gladys Lee Bronson (January 5, 1923 - May 15, 2009)
On May 15, 2009, Gladys Lee Bronson left behind her mortal body - aged and tired - and flew home on wings of light. Never encumbered by things of this world (unless it was an interesting rock, a twisted tree branch, or a sunset) she preferred to travel light. The travel bag under her wing only had room for love…love of the scriptures, for Heavenly Father and the Savior, and love for family, especially for her husband Boyd.
Born January 5, 1923 in Cudahy, Los Angeles, California to Hyrum Doyle Lee and Nellie Hamblin, she is the eighth of nine children. All of her beloved siblings have preceded her in death and have welcomed her home with laughter and tears.
Left behind are her husband, Boyd C. Bronson, daughters, Ann (Flake) Fairbourn, Elaine (Dale) Kemp, Cynthia (Morris) Decker, son, Jonathan Boyd (Renee) Bronson, and daughter Barbara (Kip) Allred and 28 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren, 36 by years end.
Gladys flitted between California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico all before joining the Women’s Air Corp in WWII. Alighting in Logan in the fall of 1946, she attended Utah State University on the GI bill, where she and Boyd met and courted. They were married July 21, 1948, in the St. George LDS Temple. Their homes have been nestled in the Salt Lake Valley the majority of the time: Salt Lake, Murray, and Sandy. After their children left the nest, Boyd and Gladys spread their wings and flew to the Philippines for six years from 1984 to 1990 where they helped the Philippine government build a steel mill. Active in the LDS church and still soaring, they served a mission to Kenya, Nairobi, Africa and Swaziland, South Africa where Gladys’ song took on renewed fervor. Loving and serving each other for over sixty years, they have lived for each other.
Some lines from “Mountain Whippoorwill” by Stephen Vincent Benet, one of Gladys’ favorite poems for some seventy years, seem appropriate.
“Sing till yuh bust the gold in yore throat! Sing on the mountains, little whippoorwill, Sing to the valleys, an' slap 'em with a hill, For I'm struttin' high as an eagle's quill,”
You’ve been Our Mountain Whippoorwill, Mom. You have sung till you’ve “bust the gold in your throat”.
“Whippoorwill, fly home to your nest”.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 23rd at 1:00 p.m. at the Sunrise Ward meeting house, 1850 East 8600 South, Sandy, Utah. Family and friends may call Friday 5 – 7 pm at Jenkins-Soffe South Valley, 1007 W. South Jordan Pkwy, (10600 So.) and Saturday from 11 – 12:30 pm at the church. Interment will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery on Tuesday, May 26th at 11:00 am.


The funeral is next Saturday in Sandy Ut it looks like we will not be able to go. She has had Alzheimer’s and then in a care center for the last little while. Uncle Boyd loved her so much he was there every day and spent all day there. My mothers family was a fun loving people they loved to tell stories, sing, and joke so I can only imagine the reunion that look place. Then I thought about the reunion that we had help take place that morning! Isn’t life wonderful!!

1 comment:

Robin said...

Sounds like a wonderful day. Glad you were all able to go together. Sorry to hear about your Aunt, but the eulogy was beautiful.

I was going to call yesterday but the cable was out and therefore our phone as well until sometime after 9.

Love you lots.