FACTS OF MOM'S LIFE

An outline of Mom's life, of her qualities that I composed for the Immaculate Conception priest who performed Mom's eulogy.

Bisbee, Arizona.  Born Celestine Ann Stockham in 1920 in Bisbee, Arizona, the copper capital of America.

Grew up in Denver, Colorado.  Her mother and father divorced, placing Sally, Jim, and Claire in St. Clara’s Orphanage in Denver.

B.      With the help of her movie-star good looks, Sally achieved acclaim at St. Clara’s with her performance of Cinderella in a play of the same name.  caught unawares for one moment, a nun directing the play thought that Sally wasn’t paying attention and slapped her loud across the face and knocked her down.

C.      Sally led the fun.  One time she saw a nun go into her room to rest and taek a nap.  Sally took a nearby ladder and placed it just outside the nun’s door, climbed up and peered through the window above it to see the nun lying in bed bald with her wig off and set aside. 

D.     Sally developed a terrific vocabulary at St. Clara’s.  She always enjoyed sitting with me as I solved crossword puzzles.  She was like a walking thesaurus and dictionary. 

Los Angeles, California

A.     Sally marries Charles Walgenbach in 1940.  she absolutely loves the Southern California sunshine and her view of the San Gabriel Foothillls.

B.      Charles is drafted into the Marines and is shipped out in 1942 to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific during WWII.  Sally stays behind in their tiny apartment in Alhambra, CA.  they write love letters to each other.

Didn’t always have the right answer to people’s personal problems, but she had the wisdom to be empathetic and express sweet empathy.   

Dealt with things with a wry sense of humor, waiting for that sparkle in her eye because we knew that she was observing some irony in people’s statements.

She was kind, generous, animated with each member of the family.  In her presence, she focused on you, assessing if everything was just right. With children, with her children, she was kind, active, loving, sacrificing. With adults, she loved teasing and joking and had fun being silly.

Cute lady.  Stylish, demure, she knew she was cute.  She was adorable. 

Favorite vegetable—asparagus

Favorite color—pink

Favorite singer—Bing Crosby.

Favorite actors.  She loved Edward G. Robinson as a performer.  But as a leading man with good looks and command, it was Fred MacMurray.

Care and nurture each other.

Smart with a remarkable vocabulary.  A great companion to do a crossword puzzle with.  She penned some of the most beautiful love letters to her husband while he was away on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific during World War II.  Expressing love was easy for her. 

Hard worker, starting with her job as a comptometer, a mechanical calculator.  She trained in Denver and later worked as a comptometer operator at the Sears Building in Los Angeles.

 

Skilled, she learned to cook, clean, and be handy around the house at Aunt Gertrude’s. 

She baked, learned clever ways of ironing fast and to perfection. 

Athletic, too.

At baseball, she could hit and run.

At skating, she was the best, too.  This is the kind of scene she would have enjoyed.  Except his is actually shot at Evergreen, CO, which is up in the hills.