GREENE, BERNARDINE A. NEE GANNON Dec. 12, 2009 Age 85. Beloved wife of James F. Daughter of the Late John and Katherine McGuire Gannon. Dear mother of Maureen Maki John, Kathleen, James E., Timothy Lynn and Colleen. Loving grandmother of Kelley Flis Jon, Shannon Pihalja Ken, Ryan, Erin and Delaney Maki, Sean and Kerry Greene and the Late Katie Greene. Great grandmother of Ella Pihalja. Sister of the Late Mary Leontine, The Late Anna Marie, the Late Katherine and the Late James. Funeral Wed. 10:30 AM from Sacred heart Parish, 22430 Michigan Ave., Dearborn. Prayers Wed. 10 AM from the Dearborn Chapel of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home, 22546 Michigan Ave. Visitation Mon. 5-9 PM and Tues. 1-4 & 6-9 PM with rosary at 7 PM. Interment, Mt. Kelly Cemetery. Memorials to University of Michigan Alzheimer's Fund. A family's remembrance of Bernie MOM Bernardine Agnes Greene was born on a farm in Mt. Pleasant MI to her Irish Catholic parents, John and Katherine McGuire Gannon. Bernie was the youngest of the five Gannon children Mary Leontine, Anna Marie, Katherine, James, and Bernardine. Shortly after her birth in 1924, when she was only 6 months old, due to her father's poor health, her parents sold the farm and moved to East Dearborn, where her father had obtained a job working for the City of Dearborn. Bernie, like her siblings, attended St. Alphonsus elementary and high school in East Dearborn. In 1941, while Bernie was in high school, her father passed away, in his 50s, after many years of illness. Bernie graduated from St. Alphonsus High School in 1942. She was a good student and a proficient typist. After graduation, she became a secretary and worked for various employers, including Ford Motor Company, where she worked for several years, both before and, shortly after, marriage. She met her husband Jim in 1949 thru her cousin Pat Hackett who was in the same law school class as Jim at the University of Detroit. Bernardine and Jim were married in the fall of 1951, on October 6t, h, at St Alphonsus church. This past October 6th they celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary. Bernie and Jim raised five children Maureen, Kathleen, James, Timothy and Colleen who all attended school at Sacred Heart where Jim had attended and graduated from. Bernie and Jim spent their entire married life in the same home on Alexandrine Street in West Dearborn where Jim was raised from early childhood. Bernie was very active at Sacred Heart in the tabernacle society and within the schools. She was active with the lawyer's wives and various charities including the March of Dimes. She was always on the run for the children, taking them to music lessons, scouting events, sporting activities, dance classes, swim lessons, field trips etc. Maybe because she wasn't able to afford to attend college herself, or just because she really believed in, as did Jim, the benefit of getting a good education, she and Jim really instilled the benefits of education in their children. As a result of their upbringing all five of the Greene children went on to graduate from college, with a total of 14 college and post graduate degrees including two lawyers and multiple education degrees. Four of the five Greene children graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Kathy was admitted there but opted to go to Eastern Michigan for education degrees. Before "retiring", Bernie worked for Jacobson's in West Dearborn for seven years in the Bridal and Suit and Coat Departments. Bernie was a "Mom" and very happy in that role. Raising five children it seemed as though she was always cooking, cleaning, helping with homework and volunteering. She was all about family and doing her best for them. She took great pride in raising her family and being a wife and mother. She was always in the kitchen working to prepare the meals and treats for her family and friends. Being the youngest of the five Gannon children she experienced the deaths of her entire immediate family, her Dad in 1941, her brother Jimmy in 1957, her mom in 1965, her sister Katherine in 1987, her sister Leontine in 1989 and her last surviving sister Anna Marie in 2004. When we think of Bernie we think of the incredible family dinners, picnics and parties she put on or participated in. We think of all the special things she did for us and how we felt loved. Bernie was a proud Grandma and she loved all her grandchildren Kelley, Shannon, Ryan, Erin Delaney, Katie, Sean and Kerry. She loved being a grandma and cherished spending time with her grandchildren. She loved to bake and to sew. She became a Great Grandmother recently with the birth of Ella Shannon's daughter and has two great grandsons on the way Kelley's and Shannon's. She was an aunt to several nieces and nephews Sharon, Mary Beth, John, Michelle, Mary Kay, Francis, Dennis and Pat. She did her best in later years to look out for them after the deaths of their parents. She was a sister and did her best to provide love and companionship to her sisters particularly in their later years when due to illness they were in hospitals or nursing homes. Bernie loved getting her entire extended family together and she was happy and proud of them and loved to entertain in her and Jim's home on Alexandrine Street. She took care of her mother Grandma Gannon in that home until her mother s death in 1964 and also her mother-in -law, Grandma Greene, until her death in 1971. She could be stubborn and was known at times to have an Irish temper that you would rather not be on the opposite side of. She was a neat freak and was always busy cleaning up after her large family. She had a good sense of humor and had many funny situations happen to her that the family still laughs about. Just ask us about the Mrs. McCarthy, cock-a-poo, or many other stories or the frequent family vacation mishaps. She was an excellent scrabble player and enjoyed playing family games, including cards, volleyball and tennis. She and Jim did some traveling including the Caribbean and Hawaii. On one special trip to England, Ireland and Scotland in 1976, they met and made some friends from Grand Rapids, who they continued to travel and spend time with for decades. Even in her later years when the dementia set in we all knew she still loved us. It was very hard to watch the progression of the disease as it took its toll on her and the strain it placed on the family particularly on her husband Jim. We are all extremely proud of the way Dad took care of her in these final years, keeping her at home where she was most comfortable. Dad attended daily mass and would take her communion. She loved her family and we loved her. Following are some remembrances of "Mom" from her children: Maureen I remember... how excited she was about my wedding. She planned the whole wedding, asked what I wanted and went all over to find it, especially the song Christmas Rose. On our honeymoon, without my knowledge, she slipped little presents and a folding tree into my luggage so I would have a sense of Christmas while we were away. She was there for every birth of my five kids, except Kelley's. After Kelley was born, John and I returned to Pennsylvania and she was waiting for us at the airport. She always dropped everything to be there; no questions or complaints. She stayed with us and went everywhere we needed her to go. In Utah, the second Christmas we weren't able to come home, she and Grandpa flew out and brought three huge boxes of presents for everyone - bringing Christmas to us. Year after year she made Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners for the family and shared them with the homebound, elderly neighbors and even those who didn't have anyone to spend the holiday with. She was always collecting money, pop cans or soup labels for some charity. New Year's Eve she always came to our house and played games, especially her all-time favorite Scrabble. She never lost at Scrabble. She would help everyone find the best word they could put down. While I was earning my Master's degree, I would drop the kids off at her house. She would watch them and have dinner ready when I returned from class. Kathy My mother was a very special, unique individual. She had one of those personalities that just jumps out at you. She was very verbal, fast-moving and fast-thinking; always in a hurry, to the point that very humorous situations resulted. On one such occasion, I had stayed home in Dearborn while most of the family went up to Black Lake. My parents said they would call a couple of times just to chat and make sure I was okay. One memorable day, during this week, I walked into my apartment to see the light flashing on the answering machine. I pushed it and recognized my mother's voice. What threw me for a loop was that my mother's voice was saying "Hello MOM, this is KATHY"!!! They were the right words. They were just coming out of the wrong mouth! I heard my father and Tim shout with laughter in the background, and my poor mother got so flustered that she hung up. Another humorous incident resulting from the above loveable traits that my mother possessed, involved shopping one day at a Farmer Jack Store when we were younger. With five children, she always had at least three carts of food, etc. Some of us had to go with her to help us down although she usually found us in the candy aisle, anyway. However, this was stressful enough for anyone, and by the time we got in line, she was a little flustered. One day, mo mother wrote out a check and handed it to the cashier. I'm not sure who she wrote the check TO, but when she handed it to the cashier, the woman burst out laughing and said, "I can't accept this, Mrs. Greene" obviously she knew my mother from past experiences. My mother had signed the check "Farmer Jack", instead of Bernardine Greene. We all got a good laugh out of that, including my mother. My mother did a lot for all of us, she was a very intense person, with a generous heart, and VERY strong opinions about how things should be done. She had a very strong will and a determination to match. I NEVER remember her giving up on anything: even a TV that went on the blink when we were children, and other numerous appliances that wouldn't work. She would try EVERYTHING from physically abusing the appliance in question, to using VERY colorful language, to plugging and unplugging every plug into different places, and turning every knob ever invented, on that appliance manuals were never read. My mother NEVER gave up and I remember that more often than not, she succeeded in 'scaring' the inanimate object into working, without having to call a repairman. Due to family circumstances, when she was growing up, she was unable to achieve one of her greatest desires; to go to college. She never gave up though. She read quite a bit, when she wasn't feeding and entertaining her children and the entire neighborhood's children, as she did many times. She loved crossword puzzles and was very adept at improving her vocabulary. She never felt she was intelligent enough, but she was. She was more alert and more practical than most people I know. When she got older, and first the arthritis, then the dementia started taking hold of her more than a decade and a half ago, I did my best to try to help her as much as she did for us and to make as many personal sacrifices for her, as she did for us. It was very difficult watching her decline; knowing how independent she always was and how hard it was on her to have to watch people do things for her. She was a generous and feisty woman with a unique determination and a strong, but caring personality. Her personality was as colorful as the adjectives she occasionally used when upset. She had a difficult life, but she never gave up. She will be forever in our hearts. I'm just glad that I was able to do as much for her as I did; to pay her back, in some small way for all the things she gave us and did for us! I wish I could have done more, no matter how hard it was. I love you, Mother, and always will. Thanks for everything. Jimmy There is no way I could ever thank you for all you've done for me over my life. I mostly just want to thank you for being you - all your love, patience, kindness and all the wonderful memories of times with you. Thank you for being there in my times of need - when I needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to. Thanks for all the special meals and treats that you bought for me - the brownies, cakes and other sweets. I loved the cordon bleu meals you specially prepared for my birthday. Thank you for remembering the things I loved and my favorite colors. Thank you for teaching me manners and what is right and wrong. Thanks for playing with me when I was a boy. Thanks for helping me with my studies and homework. Mostly, thank you for encouraging me to develop my faith in God. Thanks for making me laugh when I was down. I loved your sense of humor!! You were even able to make my friends laugh. I can recall one time when I was working under my car in the garage and I heard you yell out the kitchen window "Jimmy,....Steve!!" I asked, "Is he on the phone?" You responded, "No...he's sitting on my lap STUPID!!" When I go to the phone, Steve was laughing. You always showed an interest in my friends and made them feel welcome in our home. You would ask them how they were doing and about whom they were dating. My friends always said they liked my mom. I especially enjoyed the Christmas season when you would make every kind of cookie imaginable and I got to be the chief sampler and taste tester. Give a whole new meaning to MMMMM Good! Mom, my heart is broken now... but I know that I will be with you again someday. I thank the Lord for you! You will be missed! I LOVE YOU! Timmy I remember …. The lemonade stands she helped us with as kids, the brownies she made, the pink velvet pie, the turkey, stuffing and gravy she made at Thanksgiving and other holidays. I remember the little pool she assembled and put in our back yard. I remember the times she bandaged my knees, the Alexandrine Street picnics, and the way she loved Christmas and the holidays and how special she made it for us. I remember the five speed bicycles she and a neighbor friend assembled for me and Jimmy. I remember the funny wiglet she wore on top of the beehive hairdo she had back when it was it was the fashion in the 60s. I remember the three grocery carts she would fill when we went grocery shopping for us. I remember the family vacations to Camp Dearborn and Lake Otsego, Shamrock Lodge and out east. I remember the trips to Baskin Robbins, Strohs, Sanders and Truans as she loved ice cream. I remember how she loved to decorate and how she helped Lynn and I paint and strip wallpaper when we bought our house in Farmington. I remember how she always tried to give each one of us a special decoration to put on our tree every Christmas. I remember all the Christmas cookies she used to bake and how she loved to decorate the house for all the holidays. I remember how much she loved children. I remember the hug she gave me Christmas morning the year Lynn and I gave birth to, and then lost our first child, Katie. I love you Mom. Colleen Most of my memories were already mentioned... that usually happens when one is the youngest—the youngest gets what's left over Speaking of which, I remember a time when Bernie had me wear a pair of leftover pants of Maureen's to school. The pants were the MOST atrocious bright orange! I was self-conscious all day….. I also remember one time when Bernie and I were playing tennis, and she hit herself in the nose with the racquet. She then told everyone her daughter Colleen broke her nose....I remember nights playing Scrabble and Hearts, and her laughing so hard she had to run quickly to the bathroom……I remember the look on her face as I tried to explain why her punishing me was "Double Jeopardy", after I got in trouble for something at school and the nuns punished me , then she punished me when I got home……I remember her patiently dealing, with great humor, with all the screaming little girls at the slumber parties she allowed me to have…..Bernie, you have always been "da bomb" and we are going to do something you would have done for someone else--get a fund set up in your name for Alzheimer's Research so that sometime soon, no other family has to lose a mom in the horrible suffering way that atrocious disease took you.