Marlene Alice LaRose

Marlene’s eulogy – written by her daughter and son-in-law Annie and Faiz Mohammad and delivered by Faiz Mohammad. Faiz, I, Arman and Aryana feel so blessed to have built and shared so many intimate memories and spent so much precious time with Mimi.
My name is Faiz Mohammad, and I am the “one and only” son in law of Marlene(watch out Gwenny I am also in the One and only club.) Marlene was a committed wife, a loving mother to her six children, and a doting grandmother to eight grandchildren. To most of us in the family, particularly the grandchildren, she was known as Mimi. She chose that title 30 years ago when her first born grandson graced her world. Now for any of you who knew my mother-in-law, she took a fair amount of time making decisions. So to get her to decide on her title as a Grandmother, it turns out calling her Granny motivated her to speed up the process – and so Mimi it was.

She loved being a grandmother and she did it well. She was a kind, humble and naturally a gifted person: her pacifying smile, her soothing tone of voice, her temperament, and combined with the patience of a saint, made her an extraordinary human being, and without a doubt, a perfect grandmother anyone could hope for. We were grateful, fortunate, and blessed to have Mimi in the lives of our children during their formative years. She went to great lengths in preparing their lunches, in a way only Mimi could do. She took meticulous care to arrange their meals so that every hot-dog bite was dotted with mustard, grapes were peeled and sliced and everything artfully arranged so that they were sure to eat everything on their plates. Her boundless love and attention towards her grandchildren extended past mealtime, teaching them to read and play piano, play Monopoly, UNO, Trouble and Canasta. With all of that, she created a special bond that my children hold sacred. She was such a huge presence in their lives – giving and asking nothing in return.

Before she was Mimi however, and even before she was mom or Mickey or as Gordon sometimes called her – Alice – she was Marlene – the first of Mary’s 7 children and the eldest in a line of over 100 of Mary’s descendants. Growing up she learned piano herself, and you may not know, but she was quite an accomplished pianist and was deservedly proud to take credit for teaching Arman to play. In return, Arman never missed an opportunity to play for Mimi and Papa their favorite songs, and he took great joy in entertaining them whenever he was home.

Like her mother, Marlene was extremely intelligent – she did crossword puzzles in ink and could often guess the phrases on Wheel of Fortune with almost no letters. She often participated in card games with Ann and me and our friends and neighbors and although she’d tell you she didn’t know how to play; she’d somehow manage to go home with everyone’s money in her pockets and a smile on her face.

Mimi had her peculiarities that struck many as strange, but we all accepted that that’s who she was. She subscribed to the newspaper just so she could cut out and save the daily puzzles for Peter. She sat on half a chair because that’s all she needed. She sliced a slice of bread, she liked her toast slightly burnt, her burger beyond well done and paper thin. She trained the Wendy’s staff to drop the nuggets twice and the fries three times. She liked her coffee piping hot and then asked for an ice cube to cool it down and she had a precise ratio of beer mixed with ice water that none of us ever got quite right. Going out to a restaurant with her was an experience for sure. But that’s who she was, and we loved her despite it and because of it.

Over the years she and Gordon routinely came to our house for dinner, and as long as I can remember, she had a very specific – and unusually small fork that she always wanted to use, and she wouldn’t sit down to eat until that fork was found and it wasn’t uncommon for her to spend five minutes searching through the drawer, the diswasher, the sink…..she wasn’t eating until she had that darn fork. And then about a year and a half ago Marlene came for dinner, she sat down at the table, Ann fixed her a plate and put it on the place mat with a regular dinner fork, and to my dismay, she didn’t ask for her favorite fork. For me that was very telling and an anecdotal affirmation of her cognitive decline, which we suspected.

Marlene and Gordon were married for 54 years. Gordon was a man of great patience and for that he was rewarded with a lifetime of unwavering care and love only Marlene could give him. They had a good life together and one of the things she looked forward to the most was their getaways – Bar Harbor, The Scotia Prince, their weekly Village Café dates and Hollywood Slots. Since neither one of them flew or had a desire ever to do so, every trip was a drive. She would happily spend hours in the car and would never turn down the opportunity to go for a ride. Until my father-in-law became ill and eventually passed away in 2015, planning and going on road trips with Gordon brought her a lot of joy.

The years following Gordon’s death were very challenging for Marlene. Convincing her to leave her home where she built a life with her husband, raised 6 children and cared for and created memories with her grandchildren was one of the most difficult things we ever had to do. Marlene never really thrived living alone and so when Gwen broached the subject of moving in with her, Marlene reluctantly agreed and they became roommates again after more than 60 years.

Gwen was determined to create adventures with her sister. She, somehow convinced her to get on a plane (shocking us all) and travel to Florida to see their only remaining brother, Bud. They went to church together, took a cruise, and got their casino fix once a week in Oxford and met Tom for lunch at Georges Pizza every Wednesday.

Gwen looked after Marlene, providing her with the kind of love and care that she deserved. And she provided Gwen with company, snarky remarks, laughs – everything her sister didn’t realize she needed but I’m sure was grateful for in the end. Although Gwen and Marlene were pretty much opposites, they somehow made it work. We thought they’d live together for many years to come but alas, God had other plans.

Mimi never wanted to take up space, but she filled up all of our hearts. She never wanted to be the focus of attention or take credit for anything, but she deserved all the accolades in the world. She will be remembered at our dinner table and every Saturday night card game from here on out. We will all carry her memory in our hearts and I’m grateful we can think of her and laugh and smile.

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un

We belong to God and to God we shall return

Love you, love you…toodlie oodlie😇😘

My sister lived with me nd was my constant companion and friend for the past year. Together we shared many “firsts” in her life, at age 88, she went on her first airplane trip with me, her first trip to Florida, she watched toe sun go down on St Pete’s beach, her first visit to Walt Disney World, her first time extending our trip by “tripping” and breaking both elbows, first time out of the state of Maine for Thanksgiving, she took her first 7day Cape Cod cruise, her first lobster bake, her first time visit to rMike’s Pastry Shop in Boston, her first time holding her one day old (new) Great great niece, We had a very full ,loving and very interesting year.

Her favorite place was with her oldest grandchildren

I am Marlene’s sister. It 2s my pleasure to share many “firsts” with her, even in the late years of her life. She had her first airplane ride, her first trip to Florida, first trip to Disney World, her first Cape Cod Cruise, her first time taking a “trip” and breaking both her elbows. She was a trooper! We had a lot of fun during this past year! She loved going places together with me, but she also LOVED to sleep!, I will miss her dearly.

Marlene was a very compassionate, and loving sister, mother, grandmother, and friend. Marlene never sad a bad word about anybody. Nor would she ever say a bad word. She believed in the good in everyone. She was very gracious to everyone. And she was a very loving thankful sister.

Dancing!

She was my one and only sister.

How she loved to stay in bed!

Rest in Peace my Sweet Auntie!💜

Hugs and prayers for a peace that surpasses all understanding