Growing up, Mom played the piano, as did all of her sisters. We could gauge her mood by what she played, and I cannot listen to Clair De Lune without smiling, the song taking me back instantly. Mom sewed clothes for her daughters, baked for any and all organizations to which we belonged, and made sure she was always home when we got home from school. It was reassuring to holler "Mom?" coming in the door and hearing her answer.
As Alzheimers took Mom further and further from us, we could count on her large smile as we went to visit. She would always grab our face and say, "I love you so much." The feeling was reciprocated, Mom.
Her obituary:
Arloa Walker Stein," Arlie," was born February 25, 1926, in Ft. Lupton, Colorado, the youngest of nine children of John and Bessie Walker, and died April 28, 2014. Descended from Colorado's early pioneers, she attended school in Ft. Lupton and upon graduation began working as a secretary for a firm in Denver, where she met her husband, Don Stein. Theirs was a whirlwind courtship, having met in November and married in February of 1950, on her birthday. During their 62 years of marriage they raised their children in Littleton, Colorado, eventually building a home in Idaho Springs, Colorado, and moving there. She traveled for several years with her husband, working as his secretary on construction jobs around the US. They traveled extensively, including taking a semi-walking tour of Australia and New Zealand after she received her first set of artificial hips. Due to her having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Arlie had 3 hips, 1 knee and 2 shoulders replaced, providing further evidence that she was nearly indestructible.
Arlie loved gardening and bowling, and was a member of the Idaho Springs Gardening Club. While physically able, she bowled in a league in Littleton. Arlie loved big, noisy family get togethers, which was a good thing, given the size of her family. Even when it was just a gathering of her kids and their families lots of laughter, good-natured kidding and at least 5 simultaneous conversations were the norm. She sewed many of her daughters' clothes, knitted and crocheted, canned food, and made jellies. She and her husband Don carried containers in their car just in case they came across a patch of ripe berries. They would bring home bushels of fruit from the western slope for canning.
Arloa was preceded in death by her parents, all eight of her siblings and her husband, Donald Paul Stein. Survivors, besides numerous nieces and nephews, are her four children, Howie (Grace), Karen (Rob), Don Jr. (Christy), and Kathy. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Mom was cremated. Her ashes were mixed with Dad's and scattered in their beloved mountains.
Growing up, Mom played the piano, as did all of her sisters. We could gauge her mood by what she played, and I cannot listen to Clair De Lune without smiling, the song taking me back instantly. Mom sewed clothes for her daughters, baked for any and all organizations to which we belonged, and made sure she was always home when we got home from school. It was reassuring to holler "Mom?" coming in the door and hearing her answer.
As Alzheimers took Mom further and further from us, we could count on her large smile as we went to visit. She would always grab our face and say, "I love you so much." The feeling was reciprocated, Mom.
Her obituary:
Arloa Walker Stein," Arlie," was born February 25, 1926, in Ft. Lupton, Colorado, the youngest of nine children of John and Bessie Walker, and died April 28, 2014. Descended from Colorado's early pioneers, she attended school in Ft. Lupton and upon graduation began working as a secretary for a firm in Denver, where she met her husband, Don Stein. Theirs was a whirlwind courtship, having met in November and married in February of 1950, on her birthday. During their 62 years of marriage they raised their children in Littleton, Colorado, eventually building a home in Idaho Springs, Colorado, and moving there. She traveled for several years with her husband, working as his secretary on construction jobs around the US. They traveled extensively, including taking a semi-walking tour of Australia and New Zealand after she received her first set of artificial hips. Due to her having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Arlie had 3 hips, 1 knee and 2 shoulders replaced, providing further evidence that she was nearly indestructible.
Arlie loved gardening and bowling, and was a member of the Idaho Springs Gardening Club. While physically able, she bowled in a league in Littleton. Arlie loved big, noisy family get togethers, which was a good thing, given the size of her family. Even when it was just a gathering of her kids and their families lots of laughter, good-natured kidding and at least 5 simultaneous conversations were the norm. She sewed many of her daughters' clothes, knitted and crocheted, canned food, and made jellies. She and her husband Don carried containers in their car just in case they came across a patch of ripe berries. They would bring home bushels of fruit from the western slope for canning.
Arloa was preceded in death by her parents, all eight of her siblings and her husband, Donald Paul Stein. Survivors, besides numerous nieces and nephews, are her four children, Howie (Grace), Karen (Rob), Don Jr. (Christy), and Kathy. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Mom was cremated. Her ashes were mixed with Dad's and scattered in their beloved mountains.