Grandma Holtzman, Sterling Gazette, April 26, 1947.
(Click to enlarge.)
"After the war, I remember helping Grandma Holtzman pack bundles with clothes, coffee, and other food items, which she sent in heavy cloth bags that she sewed. She thought they could also use the material of the bags. Some we took to the post office for mailing were quite large. Grandma also translated letters that others had received. I can remember only a few phrases Grandma used when I was a child. And you probably remember her telling you—"teller mar shomatten"—you must clean up your plate. (Probably not the right spelling)" (recollection by Janna Hey Dean)
"Grandma sewed pajamas for soldiers wounded in World War II and recovering in the hospital. Her granddaughters, Janna and Sue Hey, sewed on the buttons. Grandma put a gospel of John in each pajama pocket. After the war, she packed many bundles for Germans whose homes were lost during the war." (recollections by Janna Hey Dean)
HER OLD ROCKING CHAIR
She sat all alone in her old rocking chair,
The sun streaming down on her snowwhite hair
A lavender shawl resting over her arm,
And a bit of a smile enhancing her charm.
Contentment for her is a sweet mint or two,
A shiny, red apple, it takes but a few,
A phonograph record of her favorite hymn;
Her humbleness, no fleeting years dim.
Many a lad was taught the right way
As he sat in her class on the Sabbath day;
With each she was patient, honest and kind.
Her only concern—that Jesus—each find.
She held high the banner of motherhood,
And showed to her child all the things that were good.
The Pastor knew her as a loving wife;
As they walked side by side thru gladness or strife.
The light of His love shines forth from her face.
Her temple she gave as His dwelling place.
She never complains for Jesus is there,
Rocking with her in her old rocking chair.
"Blessed are the pure in heart." Matt.5
—Dorothy Ferguson, October 23, 1948
(neighborhood friend who stopped periodically to visit,
written for Grandma's birthday)
Grandma lived a widow for almost 40 years, but those years were filled with service to others.
