I was so privileged to be able to say a few words for our wonderful cousin, Marion, last night at her rosary. I loved her dearly and she will always hold a very special place in my heart. I am so saddened by her death.
Here is what I said last night about my wonderful cousin, Marion (April 8, 1943--May 20, 2021).
Marion Katherine Scott Steingrebe was like a sister to me. I dearly love her and she will always hold a special place in my heart. Tonight I would like to share some memories of when we were kids. Marion is six years older than me and I always looked up to her throughout my entire life and still do.
My memories are from when we were kids and you know that they might not always be accurate. I can remember how I could hardly wait to go to Phoenix to be with Matt and Gyp and the kids. To this day, if I smell orange blossoms, it brings back a memory of our drive from Douglas to Phoenix and 914 N. 6th Street.
However, my favorite memories are from when the Phoenix cousins and the California cousins came to Douglas in the summer. I could hardly wait for them to get there. Our Phoenix cousins spent more summers there than any others. I know Pat and Yaya were there a lot, but I don't remember that as much as Marion and Cecilia. Teresa Ann was enough younger than me that she didn't start coming until later.
As I said, I could hardly wait for them to get there in the summer. We would go swimming every day at the public pool. In the evenings, we would play in the yard or across the street at our friend Vicki's house She was the same age as Marion What I loved the most is that they always included me, the little kid, in everything. That is what Marion was always about--she loved everyone and made sure that I was included even though I was probably the pain the butt younger kid. At that time, I had been an only child as Judy was only a baby.
We (probably more Marion and Vicki) started a club in the house across the street. They got boxes and made a clubhouse. We were called the "Death Boys" an Marion and Vicki assigned us names. I can't remember what my name was, but I know that Marion was either Mehitable the Cat or Archie the Cockroach, but I think it was Mehitable. (Cecilia, I hope you can remember.) Cecilia was "Goofy the Gopher." I don't know why I can't remember what my name was but maybe that is one of those subliminal reasons? Who knows. We had regular meetings. They (not me) made up a recipe for brownies and the "chocolate ingredient" was from one of Judy's diapers so use your imagination. We even had our own chant.
"We are the Death boys, the mighty, mighty death boys. Everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are so we tell them, we are the death boys....... How they came up with this chant will always be a mystery to me. I loved being a part of it and being included with the big kids always.
Several evenings a week we would ride our bikes down to the Southern Pacific Railroad Station to watch all of he people who came through and into Douglas on the Sunset Limited which arrived at 7 each night It was only about five blocks from the house. There was a lady who lived about three blocks away who always wanted to talk to us. Her name was Katie Jones and she was a friend of our grandmother. One night, Marion told us all to put our heads down as we road by. She had big hedges and not a fence For some reason, I decided to be a "jerk" so I put my head up and we had to stop and talk to Katie I think that is the only time in my life that I saw Marion angry and it was with me and she had every right to be I learned a valuable lesson.
Another time and I believe this was way before the came regularly, Marion and Tom Park were at 858. They tried to tell me how good chinaberries were to eat They are not good for you but I had a couple. For some reason, Pat was in there and she was in CHARGE. I remember her locking Marion and Tom out of the house until my mom and Teresa came home for lunch. I remember the two of them sitting out on the porch crying.
So many of my childhood memories revolve around our wonderful cousins and I will forever be grateful for these memories for the closeness of our incredible Scott family. As my dear friend and favorite author, Carmen Agra Deedy says, "Those we love are never really gone as long as their stories are told. Marty, Scott, Nate and Maggie, you have so many stories about your wonderful mom that you will continue to share with your children. And Ron, what a wonderful gift you have been to all of us for your devotion to Marion and supporting her so that so many of her stories will live on with your children, grandchildren an our entire family. Thank you for loving her an creating the incredible family that you both did. We love you all.
After Dave and I were married, we have spent our summer in Butte. There is the fourth largest statue in the US there and it is the statue of Our Lady of the Rockies. It is dedicated to all of the wonderful mothers out there. Marion and I had several conversations about it and she so wanted to come to Butte to visit it. It sits at the top of the Continental Divide and we can see it from our deck. It is lit up each night and it is beautiful. Tonight the lighting of Our Lady of the Rockies is dedicated to one of the most wonderful mothers I have ever know, Marion Katherine Steingrebe. It was in the Butte paper this morning and I know that Our Lady of the Rockies and our Marion are looking down on all of us tonight. How can it get any better that that? We are all blessed to have someone as good and kind as Marion in our lives. She will be greatly missed.
