Rita Dorothy Waldschmidt (1927 - 2014)

I lived right down the road from my grandmother for a good majority of my childhood (1 house away). I would walk down the dirt road to bring her things or to get things for my mom (Betty Ann (Starbuck) Huffman) and I would always come back with some sort of sweet and a heart full of love. Unless it was time to pull a loose tooth, then it was just a dirty face from crying and yet still a heart full of love. My grandmother was hard working and able to pinch enough pennies to keep her large family (15 kids) fed and clothed. She was a devout Catholic that went to church consistently and she was the rock that held everything together in our family. My grandfather was wonderful too, but she was definitely the rock. When she reached about 70 Parkinson's set in. Her father, brother and I believe a few other Waldschmidt relatives developed this disease (pretty obvious it is genetic in this case). This was probably one of the worst diseases my grandmother could have gotten. She use to go for walks all the way from her house to the country market my mom worked at (about 4 to 5 miles away) and she never sat down. This disease trapped her in her own body. She was stubborn though. She held on until she reached 87 and she never did lose her ability to fill everyone who came near her with love. My grandmother was one of the most amazing women I have ever known in my life. -Jeanette (Huffman) Van Norden