This is a recording of Grandma Peg's Funeral Service. It does not start until about 4 1/2 minutes into the recording. The family shares about memories of Grandma about 30 minutes into the recording.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Grandma Peg's Funeral
Marguerite E. Barron
September 11, 1923 to February 9, 2012
Grandma at PeaceA Tribute from Megan and Kristy Gregg
To Grandma Peg,
We will never forget the way you laughed and the way you told stories about papa.
We will never forget catching grasshoppers on Margo Court and putting them in the yellow margarine containers, and playing on the swing at the red brick house.
We will never forget spending Christmas in Texas watching the Santa clause 2, and learning to play your violin.
We will never forget the way your house smelled, your welcoming arms and generosity.
We will never forget riding around on the green caterpillar, or drawing on the chalk board in the garage.
We will never forget you scraping your car on the mailbox and exclaiming "I heard a noise so I kept driving until the noise stopped"
We will never forget stepping from brick to brick, and picking the honeysuckle
We will never forget hamburgers on Saturday, and hummingbird feeders out back
Grandma we will always remember your love and laugh.
We love you,
Megan and Kristy
I feel so blessed to have grown up with loving, involved grandparents. We always loved hearing stories about them growing up. I remember spending time at Grandma and Papa’s house. Every Saturday we would always eat hamburgers, chips and drink Shasta Black Cherry soda. My younger sister and I would watch the Lawrence Welk Show every weekend we were over at their house. Then they would send us to bed, be we would sneak out and sit in the hall and watch “The Love Boat”. You could see the TV perfectly between Grandma and Papa’s chairs. They would come to our softball games and plays or whatever we were involved in.
After grandfather passed away, I saw how strong grandma was. We all tried to tell her to start dating, but she always said that she just wanted a man to live in her basement, that she could call when she needed repairs around the house and then he would return to the basement. Beside her Savior Jesus, she had one true love in her life and she was content with that.
She was a great role model for me as I thought about what I wanted to do with my life. Nursing seemed like a great profession and I loved hearing all her nursing stories. She was my inspiration and motivation. When I graduated from nursing school, she chose to come to my graduation rather than going to her own 50th nursing reunion. That meant more to me than actually graduating.
As grandma got older she kept us on our toes and she was always good for some amusing stories. I remember once when she drove down to the car dealership and on her way home she pulled out and we waved at her. She drove around the car lot and then back into the parking space. We asked why she came back and she said that while driving past a truck (not my dad’s, but a customer’s) she heard a loud screeching sound and just kept going until it stopped. We went out and looked at the car and there was a long black strip down the entire length of her car where she had bumped up against the truck’s bumper. Thankfully, there was no damage to the customer’s truck and the black stripe buffed out easily. We always joked after that, that if you ever heard a loud screeching sound while driving, just keep going until it stops!!
About ten years ago, grandma came to Texas for Christmas with my parents and the twins. Taneil and Gil as well as George and I lived in Texas. We were all over at our house and it was a little loud and crazy. We were all watching a Christmas movie when the phone rang and grandma was frustrated that no one answered it. She grabbed the remote control to the TV, put it to her ear thinking it was the phone and said “Hello, hello.” When no one said anything on the “phone” she pushed the off button and said, “They must have hung up.” Then she looked at the TV and with a frustrated look said, “Who turned the TV off?” We all laughed so hard and Grandma had no idea what was so funny.
My Grandma was an extraordinary woman who loved God and loved people and I am so thankful for the time I had with her and memories I have of her.
A Tribute from Taneil Lawton
I always loved going to my Grandparents house. Grandma and Grandpa taught me how to play Pinnacle so that they would have a third person to play with them. Grandma would let me look through her china cabinet at all the little knickknacks in it. There was always a distinct smell to that cabinet. The cardinal rule in the house was that you do not touch the piano with anything other than your fingers. And then she would tell how a little boy had banged on the keys with a toy car and chipped a few of them.
I remember the way she would roll around on the floor doing her stretching exercises. she taught me how to sew and together we sewed a sleeping bag and three little pillow for my stuffed animals. When I would stay the night with them I would get up in the mornings, go into their room and crawl into bed with them. It was nice a warm.
I remember visiting Great-Grandma Rachel in her little apartment and the way Grandma would get things that she needed and help her with things.
I was there with Grandma the day that she and I came back from shopping in town and found my Grandfather in the chair after suffering his fatal heart attack. How glad I am that the Lord allowed me to be there with her. I count that as a special privilege in my life.
She moved from the brick house to Margo Court and I would stop on my way home from Texas to see her. Then we moved back to Colorado and my children and I would go with my mom to Montrose and mom would help her balance her check book, make sure she had what she needed and spend time with her. We would all go to Rib City to eat lunch on those days. My children enjoyed it.
Then it came time to move her to Grand Junction so we could take better care of her. First it was to a house near her sister-in-law, my Aunt Evelyn. She called me one time to tell me that her toilet wouldn’t stop running, so I told her to go into the bathroom and turn off both of the light switches. Sure enough that stopped the toilet from running. I permanently solved the problem later when I taped the bathroom fan switch down to the off position, her toilet never kept running again after that.
Later when she was no longer able to live by herself, I encouraged my mom to let Grandma live with her and Dad so that my own children would see the blessing of taking care of an elder. This was no easy task for my mom or me. We helped get her dressed, helped her bathe and made sure she was taking her medicines. Tirzah would sleep on the floor in Grandma’s room when my parents were out of town in case Grandma needed something in the night. It wasn’t easy, but it was a blessing to help her and show my own children what love looks like even when it isn’t easy. Grandma and Jasper the dog became close friends while she lived with my parents and Jasper continued to love her even when she didn’t remember who he was.
The next step came when we put her in an assisted living home. The children, Gil and I would go to visit her and we would pick her up and take her to church each week. Then came the time that she needed constant care and she went to Family Health West on the floor they call Main Street. I am told that she loved to dance when they had dances up on the floor and her nursing spirit would come out because she would try to make sure all the other patients were taking their medicines and eating their food. She was always trying to make sure the other residents were doing the right thing. Mom and I loved her nurse, Katie, who took excellent care of her and kept us informed about what was going on with her. The children and I would visit her and we would take her to church each Sunday. Then to my parent’s house were we would eat Sunday lunch. These lunches came with many laughs. One time she told Gil, my husband, that she would kick him if she ever saw him walking down the street. Other times she would extremely feisty if we tried to help her to eat. Her eye sight was amazing, because many times she couldn’t see something that was large and directly in front of her, but she could find the smallest little toy that one of my children had left on the floor. She was constantly picking up itty bitty things off the floor. When it was time for her to go back to the Nursing Home in the afternoon my three year old daughter, Talitha, took it as her special privilege to go with Gramgee to take Grandma Peg home. She would say “Wait for me Gramgee I am going with you.” She would gently grasp the hand of Grandma Peg and lead her to the car. Then once at the nursing home Talitha would lead Grandma back to her floor. It was so precious to see this little three year old take such an interest in her Great-Grandmother. Talitha loved her and cared for her in a very special way.
Last Thursday when Grandma passed into eternity, Talitha asked to go with mom and I one last time when we went to the nursing home to see Grandma that morning. I explained to her that the body she was looking at was not Grandma, it was only her body. Grandma, I explained was in heaven with Jesus. Katie, Grandma’s nurse told us that Grandma had a smile on her face when she passed away. Katie said “She must have known something that I don’t.”That is what I want to leave you with today. Grandma passed from this life into eternity. She understood that she was a sinner in need of a Savior. She understood that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save her from the wrath of God which her sins deserved. “For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Grandma isn’t in eternity with God because of going to church or all the good things she did. She is there because of the trust she placed in Jesus Christ her savior for taking the wrath of God for her sin. And one day this body that is laying here will rise again and be glorified and be reunited with her Spirit which is already in heaven. What a glorious day that will be. Now Grandma and I did have a disagreement one day on this subject. We were talking about how Christ’s death on the cross could satisfy even the most wretched of sinners. I then said that if Uncle Art had trusted Christ as Savior he too would be in heaven. Grandma proceeded to tell me that there was no way that Uncle Art was in heaven because of all his lying, stealing and cheating he had done while alive. Now I don’t know the state of Uncle Art’s soul when he died, but I do know that even Uncle Art could have been saved from the wrath of God if he had trusted Christ as his savior. First Timothy says “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” We are all sinners and we all need a Savior, will you place your trust in Jesus the son of God who died to save sinners.
I am so thankful that Grandma is home now, no more earthly body to be in pain and no more mind that doesn’t quite connect. She gave me many good memories, many good laughs and I count it a privilege to have been able to play a small part in her care during these last few years.
The Ladies from the church who provided lunch.
Talitha and Gramgee
Papa, Zeb and Tabby
CousinsStephanie Carroll, Taneil Lawton and Damien Barron
Susan Gregg, Sandee Stucky and Stephanie Carroll
Janet and Mike Yohn
Damien, Debbie and Dale Barron
Family
Family
Talitha with some of the flowers.
These are two banners that a lady in the church made when my Grandfather died 24 years ago. The lady stayed up until 2 AM to get them done in time for his funeral. She made sure that they were hung for Grandma's funeral too.
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