Obituary examples for a grandmother

Inez Villarreal Saucedo, 85, of Yakima, Washington, died February 26, 2026. She picked apples in the valley as a girl and later spent 29 years as a forewoman at a fruit packing house. Her 17 grandchildren called her Wela, and every one of them learned to make tortillas at her counter, badly at first. She is survived by her children, Ricardo, Elena, Rosalinda and Javier. A rosary will be prayed Wednesday, March 4, at 7 pm, and a funeral Mass celebrated Thursday, March 5, at 10 am.

Gertrude “Trudy” Baumann, 93, of New Ulm, Minnesota, died April 3, 2026. She was a church secretary for 30 years and taught every grandchild to play sheepshead by age ten, with no mercy shown. She was preceded in death by her husband, Erwin. She leaves her daughters, Heidi and Gretchen; 8 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Her funeral will be Thursday, April 9, at 11 am at her church.

Our Mamaw, Mavis Elaine Crowder, died August 2, 2026, in Huntington, West Virginia. She was 79. Mamaw worked the cafeteria line at the elementary school for 25 years, so she fed most of us lunch twice, once at school and once at her house. She leaves her sons, Tommy and Jerry; seven grandchildren; and a freezer full of soup beans. Services are Friday, August 7, at 1 pm at the funeral home.

Vera Jean Hilgenberg, 91, of Ames, Iowa, died June 21, 2026.

Vera was born in 1935 in Story County to Otto and Mildred Kuhl. She married Merle Hilgenberg in 1954, and they farmed corn and soybeans north of Ames for 45 years. Vera kept the farm’s books and the garden, raised five children and drove a grain truck every harvest until she was 70.

She led the Willow Creek 4-H club for 31 years and judged pies at the county fair until she was 88. Her grandchildren showed calves, sheep and rabbits at that fair, and she sat in the stands for every one of them with a thermos of coffee and a notebook, writing down what the judges said so she could go over it with them later.

Vera was preceded in death by Merle in 2011. She is survived by her children, Lori (Brent) Ostrem, Roger (Jill) Hilgenberg, Susan Klein, Neal Hilgenberg and Gwen (Greg) Lutz; 16 grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held Friday, June 26, at 10:30 am at her church. Memorials may be given to the county 4-H foundation.

Dr. Adaeze “Ada” Nwosu, 81, of Pearland, Texas, died on September 19, 2026.

Ada was born in 1945 in Enugu, Nigeria, the daughter of a schoolteacher, and earned her medical degree before coming to Houston in 1973 for her residency. She practiced pediatrics in southeast Houston for 38 years and lived long enough to treat the children of some of her first patients. She ran a free vaccination clinic at her church every August so no child started school behind.

She married Dr. Chukwuemeka Nwosu, an engineer, in 1970. They raised four children, all of whom were expected to finish their homework before dinner and their vegetables before dessert.

To her eleven grandchildren she was Nne Ochie. She looked in their ears every Christmas whether they had an earache or not, and she sent each of them a handwritten letter on their first day of college. She is survived by Chukwuemeka, her husband of 56 years; her children, Dr. Obinna (Amara) Nwosu, Chioma Nwosu-Bello, Ifeoma (Tobenna) Okeke and Kelechi Nwosu; and her grandchildren.

A wake will be held Friday, October 2, at 6 pm, and a funeral Mass on Saturday, October 3, at 10 am at her parish church.

Our Bubbe, Sylvia Rosenthal Adler, died in Pikesville, Maryland, on January 6, 2026. She was 89.

Bubbe was born in 1937 in Baltimore, the daughter of a tailor, and taught third grade in the city schools for 32 years. She married our Zayde, Morris Adler, in 1958, and they were married 61 years before he died in 2019.

She made the brisket every Rosh Hashanah and the matzo ball soup every time one of us had a cold, and she sent the soup home in the same plastic containers every time and wanted them back. She came to every school play, bat mitzvah and soccer game we ever had, and she kvelled so loudly at our graduations that strangers asked who she was. She called each of us every Friday before Shabbat to ask whether we were eating.

She leaves her children, Marvin (Ilene) Adler and Lynne (Barry) Fein; us, her six grandchildren; and her first great-grandchild, Noah, who is three months old and has her chin.

The funeral will be held Thursday, January 8, at 11 am, followed by burial beside Zayde. Shiva will be observed at the home of Lynne and Barry Fein through Wednesday.

My grandmother, Nell Louise Tidwell, 74, of Joplin, Missouri, died May 1, 2026. She raised me from the time I was three.

Grandma Nell worked the front desk at a motel off the interstate for 22 years. When I came to live with her in 2004, she switched to the day shift so she could pick me up from school, and she kept that shift until she retired. She came to every band concert and every parent-teacher conference, and she sat through my nursing school graduation in a new dress she had bought for the occasion.

The tornado in 2011 took her house, and she rebuilt on the same lot the next year. She said she wasn’t going to let the wind decide where she lived.

Grandma Nell is survived by me, her granddaughter, Kayla Tidwell, whom she raised; her son, Brandon Tidwell; her sister, Juanita Mayes; and my son, Eli, her great-grandson, who called her Gigi. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, May 6, at 2 pm at her church.

Hoa Thi Tran, 84, of Garden Grove, California, passed away peacefully on July 9, 2026.

Hoa was born in 1942 in Huế, Vietnam. She left Vietnam by boat in 1979 with three of her children, spent a year in a refugee camp in Malaysia and arrived in California in 1980. She opened a small bakery in Garden Grove in 1985 and made bánh mì there for 30 years, starting the bread at four every morning.

She went to the temple on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month and took whichever grandchildren she could wake up. She taught them to light incense for their grandfather and to bow three times, and she saved them the warm end of every baguette.

She is survived by her children, Minh, Lan, Tuan and Thu; her 10 grandchildren; and 3 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Duc Van Tran, in 2002. Prayers will be held at the funeral home on Sunday, July 12, and cremation on Monday, July 13. Prayers for her 49th day will be held at the temple in late August.

Kwonsa Soon-ja Choi, 87, of Annandale, Virginia, went to be with the Lord on March 15, 2026.

She was born in 1939 in Daegu, South Korea, and came to Northern Virginia in 1976 with her husband, Elder Young-ho Choi, and their three children. She worked as a seamstress at a dry cleaner’s for 24 years and served as a kwonsa, a deaconess, at her church for more than 30.

She went to the 5 am prayer meeting every weekday for as long as she could drive and prayed for each grandchild by name. She grew perilla and hot peppers in her backyard, made kimchi with her daughters every November and sent every grandchild off to college with a jar of it, carefully wrapped.

She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Young-ho; her children, Joshua (Rebecca) Choi, Lydia (Joon) Lee and Eunice Choi; and seven grandchildren. A funeral service will be held Thursday, March 19, at 10 am at her church, with burial to follow.

Agnes Cecilia O’Rourke, 102, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, died October 10, 2026, in the same house she moved into as a bride in 1946.

Agnes was born in 1924 in Pittsfield, the daughter of Irish immigrants. During World War II she wound wire at the General Electric plant, and she kept her employee badge in her jewelry box for 80 years. She married Francis O’Rourke, home from the Navy, in 1946, and they raised six children on his salary as a postal clerk and her talent for stretching a pot roast.

She lived through 17 presidents and voted for most of them, and she never missed a Sunday Mass until she was 99. She knew all 19 of her grandchildren’s birthdays and most of her 31 great-grandchildren’s, and she held each of her four great-great-grandchildren at least once.

She was preceded in death by Francis in 1998 and by her son, Timothy. She is survived by her children, Kathleen, Brian, Maureen, Patrick and Eileen; her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, October 15, at 10 am at her parish church.

Jolene “Jo” Tibbs, 77, of Sparks, Nevada, died September 27, 2026, after a long illness that she said was cutting into her line dancing.

Jo dealt blackjack in Reno for 30 years and could shuffle two decks with one hand, which she taught every one of her grandchildren to do, starting at age six, over their parents’ objections. She drove a red convertible until she was 75 and took each grandchild on a road trip to the Grand Canyon when they turned 13.

She leaves her daughters, Tami and Lynette; five grandchildren, who all still shuffle; and her line dancing group, who will be performing in her honor. A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, October 10, at 3 pm at the Eagles hall. Wear your boots.