My paternal grandmother was born to Mose and Virginia (DeMars) Coutchie. Her parents were well-known and respected farmers in the Reeman Township area of Newaygo County, Michigan (near Fremont). Her father's name was actually Couture, but for some reason, he unoffically changed it to Coutchie and that's the name that was carried on to his descendants.

She was the oldest of nine children.

She married my grandfather, Walter Warner, on October 2, 1918 in Flint. They had four children together: Marcella Marion, Walter Maurice, Dorothy Mae, and Duane Joseph. They also raised Grandpa's two oldest sons from his first marriage, Howard William and Clarence Earl. His first wife, Josephine Douglass, had died as had two of the children from that marriage -- one in infancy and one at the age of 4 years from meningitis.

Grandma worked for many upper class families of the Flint area as a housekeeper. She worked for the president of General Motors for many years and he and his family really loved her. After my grandfather was killed and she was seriously injured by a drunk driver, she didn't like to travel alone. So, her employer would send her on vacations-- Europe, Hawaii, etc. and pay for a companion to go as well, usually her oldest daughter, my Aunt Marcella. Sometimes, she'd travel with her lady friends.

She was a wonderful cook and many of her recipes have been passed on to her descendants. She was especially well-known for her sugar cookies.

Growing up on a farm, she learned the value of hard work. She was wonderful with animals and that love and talent seems to have been inherited by her descendants, including my Dad and his children. Her father raised Percheron draft horses and she had a way about her that could get them to do anything she wanted with the gentlest touch.

I suppose that the work and skills she learned growing up on the farm helped her through the dark days of the great depression, taking care of her family on very little money.

I can only imagine her fear of sending both of her sons off to war. Both of them were in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II, but they came home virtually unscathed. I'm sure, in part, due to a mother's fervent prayers.

She passed away when I was 5 years old. I only met her the year before she died, but cherish those memories I do have of her.