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My Grandma’s youngest son and one of her many great-grandchildren releasing butterflies in her honor at her funeral.
Thella Wilson Brock – A Loving Tribute from her Favorite Granddaughter
My Grandma Thella Wilson Brock passed away recently.
My Grandma was amazing – I know I’m biased, but trust me she rocked!
She was the Grandma that would show up at our house at 7:00 AM with a batch of homemade oreo cookies.
She was the grandma that asked me to drive to Los Angeles with her one week after I got my license. She handed me the keys got in the car and promptly fell asleep.
Who does that type of stuff – she might have been slightly crazy at that point.
She was the Grandma who went back to school and graduated with her teaching certificate at 49.
She was the grandma that served two LDS missions after she retired and was the Relief Society President in her ward (this means she was responsible for all the women in her congregation) when she was 75 years old.
This is also the grandma that was an FBI informant for 20 years.
She and my Grandpa joined the communist party in Los Angeles at the request of the FBI and lived a double life to serve their country.
When my Grandma believed in something, she wasn’t afraid to show her support.
Once I was an adult, she always had a petition for me to sign or a letter to write. She loved this country and firmly believed in free speech and her right to express herself.
She was always very respectful of others beliefs.
My Grandma was the rare political junkie who managed to balance her beliefs with respect for others.
She retired to St. George while I was in High School and moved three blocks up the street. I remember walking to her house frequently for awesome food and company. She would just sit and listen to us kids and then let us watch The Simpsons.
I remember teaching her to use her computer. I’m not going to say she was hopeless, but technology wasn’t her thing. She never gave up. She was always trying to learn something.
She was a voracious reading and was constantly recommending good books to me. I still have many of the books she gave me over the years.
One of the projects I helped her with during high school was a book she wrote and self-published about her time as an FBI informant.
The book was entitled “Operation Housewife: FBI Informant”. The book was never in wide publication but won the 1998 Quill Award from the League of Utah writers. I haven’t read the book in years but will be rereading it over the next couple of days. Here is a link to an article written by BYU Magazine about her book.
It is funny how you take people for granted in your life.
She was always there and was such an example to me as a teenager. She didn’t sugar coat the truth.
I remember once as a teenager Grandma telling me about a co-worker who got propositioned in a parking lot.
The co-worker was telling my Grandma the story and asked why the wrong type of men were always attracted to her. My grandma in her kind gentle way explained it probably had something to do with the clothing she wore. She kindly explained to her that people judge us based on our appearance and that her dress wasn’t always appropriate.
At the time I didn’t understand that she told that story for my benefit. She was using personal examples to show me my worth as a woman, wasn’t based on my clothing or looks. My Grandma was a very wise woman who knew and understood the struggles I would be having as a teenager.
Her entire life was such an example to me and I’m so incredibly thankful to have her in my life.
She left a legacy of 7 children, 44 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren and a life of service. I’m very proud to call Thella Wilson Brock my Grandma. Her obituary is found here if you are interested.
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A wonderful tribute to Grandma! You were so blessed to be close to her during her good years. Thank you for your stories – I love them and you!
I definitely miss her. She really was an amazing women and we were lucky to have her so close by for so many years. Love you too!
Amén to all you wrote. So nice of you to remember her. I am so blessed to be a part of our family.
I’m glad you liked it. I should have sent it out to the family when I wrote it but was so new to blogging back then I didn’t even think of it. I’ve got it on an auto system now which is why everyone is seeing it today. Grandma really was one of a kind!
PS. Thanks for sharing it on Facebook.
Very nice story about an amazing woman, it was a pleasure to know her
Thank you! I’m glad you got to know her as well. She touched a lot of lives.
Thank you for this posting, Amy. We, her extended family, were also so blessed by her sensitivity and strength. I have so many sweet memories of her, as her niece-in-law. She indeed was so sensitive to everyone around her. I remember visiting her when she came to spend time with her sisters Carma and Mona in Roosevelt. Our youngest son had tripped over a steel boot scrapper, installed in the ground. Grandma had a teaching technique that involved repeating the walk, over and over and over again, while avoiding the obstacle. Aunt Thella must have picked up on my sadness and embarrassment at watching my little guy repeating the process so many times. She gently put an end to that. Oh, how I loved her for that little kindness. When her brother Uncle Wendell passed away, she recognized the time and effort we had made to care for him near the end of his life, and she sent me flowers. I was so touched that she would do such a sweet thing, recognizing the sacrifice it had been caring for both he and Carma, who had dementia pretty badly, while raising my own children. That was a comfort, beyond words, to me. When she served her Mission to New England (Boston), she met and visited my non-member mother, in southeastern MA, cementing my Mom’s feeling that the Church must be true. She would never know how much I appreciated her for that. I miss her so much, too !
I remember driving with her to Roosevelt in 6th grade. We had some car issues and ended up spending a couple of extra days in the area. It was very beautiful and so much fun to see all the the extended family. The thing I will always remember about her was her kindness. She loved everyone and wasn’t afraid to share her feelings. I can see her taking the time to visit your Mother. She would have been honored to be able to reach out to someone who she considered family.