Last week we lost a very important person in our family. Her name is Della Johnson - Mike's mother. She was a very fun-loving, kind-hearted woman who was very full of life and lived her life to the fullest. For the past several years, she hasn't had it so easy. She had a hip-replacement, went to Sena Kean for rehab and ended up staying there. She never did walk again.
She was a good mother who cherished her boys. She was a "fun" grandmother...the kind who would take the grandkids to Darien Lake and the McKean County Fair and have as much fun as the kids. She loved to garden, was a good bowler, and she loved to crochet and sew.
After her retirement and her daily trips, sometimes two a day (or more) to Port Allegany, we encouraged her to move here. We thought it would save her a lot of driving time. We thought wrong. After she moved to Port, she made daily trips to Smethport to see her family and friends who lived there...and to get a cup of coffee at Herzog's in the morning and a Pepsi and a cup of chili for lunch at Myra's.
We would pick on her for her constant weather reports, some that came very early in the morning or very late at night. As she got older, she was afraid of thunder storms and would pack up her stuff and make it to our house to stay in the basement.
She was a wonderful woman and will be missed. Thanks to everyone for their cards, memorials and kind words. We appreciate it all!
We also lost a member of our church family, Betty Culver. Betty, too, was a wonderful woman. I was lucky to know her.
Saturday, before making our way to the Big 30 game in Bradford, we learned of the passing of George Petrisek. George and I go way back...he was my teacher. He was also a wonderful drama director. I was not a person to be on stage, but I did a lot of behind the scene stuff. Later, we worked together. He stuck up for me on more than one occasion and taught me quite a lot. I was thinking of calling him last week...had a Port history question for him. We got busy with funeral arrangements and company and I put it off until this week. There's a lesson there as well. In any case, George was one of a kind and I was lucky to know him.