Mary Durham Obituary

Dear Family,
It is very hard to beleive that one year has come , that Gramma is gone, but she is not forgotten.
Gramma, I think of you often, and miss you when I visit Jim & Linda, but I know you are there in Spirit.

My Condolences To The Durham Families And Friends; Her laughter, jokes, stories and most of all her warm heart will be missed...I told my sister Ruth, the other day that after all these years (30), I always called her Mrs. Durham, that is how I was introduced to Herself, and if I had known her first name was Mary, I would have introduced myself as Kathleen Mary--Rest In Peace & Safe Journey Home, Mrs. Durham!! GO IRISH... St. Laurence/St. Felicitas Parishes

Terry, Joann, Mary Elana & Jimmy:

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort.

THERMA SILLIPITIRIA.

Grandma Durham was the sweetest, wittiest and a most fiesty, loving woman. I guess you could say it matched her red hair in her younger days and her Irish Heritage. We have had so many good times and lots of laughs whether it was about the tales of the Durham brothers: Leighton, Bobby, Rick, Art, Terry or daily funnies from Aunty Linda and Aunt Mary Leigh. She loved her kids dearly and was a joy and gift to have for this long in my life. She will forever be in my thoughts and my sincerest condolences to my father,Terry, and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins who grieve along with me. I regret being unable to attend this funeral and would have loved to be there with all of you.So, I hope you had a drink for me... Gram lived a full, long life and I was pleased to be able to have a very special relationship with her and the honor of her good name for the past 30 years. All good memories will be cherished and to all they will be different, but whether it was over a quick lunch of fish & chips, at the by request must-be kosher deli", flipping some poor sod "the bird" when he cut her off(in our younger years), a ride to Calumet federal for the sometimes-stale cookies or over a cup'o'tea (and you must boil that H2O), she was a delight to be around and always had a sly, funny comment about things..... God bless you, Gram....Schloncha (Thank You- in gaelic). I will always love and miss you. I'll look forward the time when we can meet again.

With a sorrowful heart and many memories-

Your grandaughter,

Mary Elana Durham

Santa Barbara, CA

Terry, Joann & Family:

It's been many, many years since my family has seen you guys. However, over the years I would see your mom, as she was a customer at the bank I worked. She was always such a delight. She had pictures or stories to tell quite often about Mary & Jimmy. In 1994 I got married and she attended our wedding. I moved away, however my parents would run into her occasionally. On behalf of the Jaworowski Family I send our thoughts and prayers. My parents are out of town at the present. Had they been here, I know they would have attended the services.



She was a wonderful lady.



Love & Prayers,

Janet Jaworowski-Palkon

Rich and Bobbi Jaworowski

DEAR FAMILY ,MY NAME IS WILLIAM F DENNY JR. I AM THE SON OF THE LATE MARY L DENNY .OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU AT YOUR TIME OF GRIEF .MY MOTHER SPOKE OFTEN OF THE DURHAMS , PHILBINS AND THE McGRATHS .SHE WOULD TELL OF ALL THE GOOD TIMES THEY SHARRED TOGETHER .A FRIEND OF MINE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE DECEASED LEAVES THE BODY AT THE TIME OF DEATH AND ENTERS THOSE OF THEIR LOVED ONES. THIS SPIRIT HELPS CARRY THEM THROUGH THE GOOD AND BAD TIMES AHEAD. MAY MARY'S SPIRIT CARRY YOU ALL IN THE TIMES AND DAYS AHEAD .RIGHT ABOUT NOW MARY IS CATCHING UP ON OLD TIMES WITH MY MOM ,ANN PETERSON AND CATHERINE ( KAY) WYNN . MAY GOD BLESS THEM ALL ,AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU .

Dear Family,

I was so sorry to hear of your loss.Our thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring comfort to you all. For, I know myself we will miss

Gramma dearly, she was always so kind and sweet to me. I remember when Jim & Linda where dating, and I spent the weekend at their house in Jeffery Manor, I felt so welcome and at home, gramma, made me feel like part of the family. I will never forget her and the Love and Kindness to showed to everyone. Lately, she would always tell me stories of her ma & pa , when I went by Jim & Linda's , I will miss her dearly, but I will never forget her. She will be in my prayers always.

Deepest Sympathies,

The Di Fiore

Family

My sister called me on June 7th. from Indiana and said to me “your mother’s dying and wants to say good bye to you, here she is”. My sister held the phone for my mother and she said that she wasn’t doing well and wanted to tell me that she loved me and say good bye. I had a thousand questions for my mother but only managed to ask three (3) of them: Where are you? Who told you that you were dying? When did you last see a doctor? At home on the recliner, no one and not for a long time were her answers.



I called my son Jimmy from downstairs and said here’s Grandma. She’s called to tell us she’s dying and to say good bye. In shock, he asked her how she was and told her that he loved her too. We repeated the process while connecting Joann, Mary and my brother Art in Florida who my sister hadn’t been able to reach. We were all connected for one last time. It seemed special, surreal and a unique gift.



When the call was over, my son Jimmy took control of the situation and arranged for Visiting Nurse David from the William J Riley Memorial Residence hospice in Munster Indiana to visit Grandma at 5:00 PM. By 6:00 PM Nurse David’s evaluation and telephone conference with Grandma’s doctor was complete and Grandma was being transferred by ambulance to the William J Riley Memorial Residence.



I can’t say enough about Visiting Nurse David and his consummate professionalism. If there was a Nurse of the decade, this man is a contender. During the ride to the hospice, the EMT Specialist spoiled Grandma with Oxygen, gave her strength and comforted her. With her spirits raised so much upon arrival at the hospice, Grandma commented about what a beautiful day it was and asked the EMT Specialist if he would wheel her gurney around the outside of the hospice just for her to see it. He willingly complied with her second to last request. In fact, he wheeled her through the front door of the hospice into a beautiful lobby where Grandma remarked: This place is beautiful. Who’s paying for this?



Grandma was a guest at the William J Riley Memorial Residence for only 28 minutes. She made her last request within seconds of dying while holding my sister’s hand and asking her that she not leave her alone to die. My sister assured her that she would be there and was till the very end just seconds later.



I found out today that Grandma was the hospice’s new record holder. The previous record holder was a guest for just 45 minutes. Grandma passed away at 7:01 PM CST while holding her daughter’s hand and having had all of her wishes granted.



We’re celebrating Grandma’s passing this weekend and will bury her next to my father on Monday. Please join us in celebrating her life by doing something special for someone you love. Because, life is too short.