See You Later, Sally!!

My oldest sister, Sally, died Friday night Sept. 16.  Her given name is Joan.  I don't know how she

became Sally, but that is how I've known her.  She was 90 years of age and endured Alzheimer's for the past 5 years.

These are difficult times for me as they make me more aware that I didn't grow up with my family of 11 children. The amount of time that I actually interacted with Sally since I was 5 or 6 is probably no more than a month's worth of living.  It's like I've "popped in and out" of their lives since then.  I was an occasional visitor, coming back to ensure I was still part of the family.  

I think she was involved in driving 5 of us to the orphanage in Vincennes, IN when I was about 5.  I remember her coming with a friend to visit and bringing Hershey bars.  

(Photo: St. Vincent orphanage)

Fred, John, Pete, Georgia, Kate

I was living as a foster daughter with the Sperry family when Sally got married in Indianapolis.   I was going to go but at last minute something happened and I wasn't able to.

(Photo: Mom, Gertrude; Sally; Pop, John; grandpa Mike, whom I never met; youngest sister, Betsy...I acquired the picture sometime in my adult years)

I recall, also, when I returned home for a few months spring of my 3rd grade, that she patiently combed and cut out tangled hair from pig tails left from my time with the Sperry's.  I didn't know how to care for my hair by myself so I left them in for I don't know how long.  

Jarosinski family home in Indianapolis

Oldest child, Eugene, and Sally, second oldest

Mom with Rosie, Sally, Paula, Fred and Pete

Sally, with her 2nd husband George (after Jack died)

One of her famous family meals

Six sisters, several years back,

 Sally, Rosie, Paula, Kate, Georgia, Betsy

July 2021

Most recent photo, July 2022

Sally, Kate, Georgia, Betsy

 

 

      She was gentle and motherly to her family of six and to all of us.  She would dote on me whenever we visited and on one occasion called me "special".  Earlier years she always inquired about my life and family in northern Wisconsin. 

Joan “Sally” Petty-Koerber of Nashville (formerly Greenfield), Indiana, age 90, passed away Friday, September 16th, 2022. She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 20, 1932, daughter of the late John and Gertrude (Herbertz) Jarosinski

Everyone who knew Joan felt her big heart and giving nature. She was a genuine example of what it meant to have a servant’s heart. She will be dearly missed by all who were blessed to know her. She enjoyed gardening, swimming, and had a love for entertaining. She had a special love for her church (St. Agnes) where she was an active member, working in the office and being a part of the women’s guild. She loved her family and friends dearly.

REFLECTIONS

   It's a bit ironic that I didn't attend Sally's celebration of life service, with having missed her wedding years earlier.  I am comforted in knowing I was able to visit with her several times during my adult years and almost yearly in recent times.  I am at peace knowing that before too long we will have eternity to hang out with each other. Family bonds remain even if one doesn't physically live with them.  I feel it more now than in my youth and earlier years. I am grateful for the time I have had with all my siblings.  

This has been a good 2 GeoGram weeks in the life of Grandma G.

"On this mountain he [Jesus] will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces."  (Isaiah 25:7-8)