Grandma Isabelle Storm: 1917-2008
This morning, I received the very sad news that my beloved grandmother of ninety years died peacefully in her sleep last night, surrounded by her family, including her husband and children.
While I will miss her greatly, I am relieved that her suffering is over, and I'd like to take an opportunity to reflect on her extraordinary life.
Isabelle was born in Portland, Oregon on May 9th, 1917 to John and Anna Tabshy. Her parents had journeyed from Lebanon to the United States of America just a few years before. They spoke mostly Arabic and were wonderful cooks. They had three other children in addition to Isabelle.
Isabelle was educated at Holy Cross Elementary School and Roosevelt High School, where she graduated in 1937. Her favorite pastimes as a young woman were listening to radio shows, playing games, and sewing (she was an excellent seamstress, and made most of her own clothes by hand). After she graduated, she got a job at the Kaufory Brothers blouse manufacturing company, where she worked for some thirty years.
In 1955, she married George Storm, and together they had three girls: Elizabeth, Carol (my mother), and Michele. This made eight children as George was previously widowed and already had five children: Marie, Olive Ann, Tony, Frances, and Patrick. Isabelle worked extremely hard to take care of all of these children (some of whom were already in their teen years!) and to maintain a beautiful home in southeast Portland where people were always welcomed and well fed.
Isabelle's first grandchild was born in 1955. To date, there are over fifty grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am one of them.
She had a wonderful sense of humor and a faith that was inspiring. It carried her through her life from one decade to the next. Remarkably, she seemed to be able to find joy and fulfillment even in the ordinary.
Though she never owned a computer, a few years ago we did give her a mobile phone (which she learned to operate!) and up until very recently, I used to call frequently to ask how she was doing and tell her all the news from Redmond.
Her sense of humor always made those conversations fun.
I spoke often with Grandma about my political involvement. While we did not have the same perspective on everything, Grandma was a progressive, like me. She was opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning, didn't care for George W. Bush one bit, and thought highly of Al Gore, as I do. I can still remember us watching An Inconvenient Truth together on DVD last year.
Grandma also loved Barack Obama, and followed his presidential campaign with great interest. Had she lived through the autumn, she would have happily cast her mail-in ballot for Obama, and would have been excited to see him inaugurated as the next President of the United States in January 2009.
Isabelle and George journeyed many times up to Washington to visit us - for Easter, for New Year's, Christmas, and during the midst of summer break. We traveled to Portland even more often for Thanksgiving and family gatherings.
Last year, for her ninetieth birthday, I created a presentation filled with hundreds of slides of photos from her life, which I showed during the banquet. She enjoyed this immensely, and watched it again later with her daughters.
I am glad I was able to help her reflect on her long life before the end.
She was graceful in life and graceful in death. I will have no more conversations with her, but I will always cherish the memories of our relationship.
Rest in peace, Grandma Isabelle.
While I will miss her greatly, I am relieved that her suffering is over, and I'd like to take an opportunity to reflect on her extraordinary life.
Isabelle was born in Portland, Oregon on May 9th, 1917 to John and Anna Tabshy. Her parents had journeyed from Lebanon to the United States of America just a few years before. They spoke mostly Arabic and were wonderful cooks. They had three other children in addition to Isabelle.
Isabelle was educated at Holy Cross Elementary School and Roosevelt High School, where she graduated in 1937. Her favorite pastimes as a young woman were listening to radio shows, playing games, and sewing (she was an excellent seamstress, and made most of her own clothes by hand). After she graduated, she got a job at the Kaufory Brothers blouse manufacturing company, where she worked for some thirty years.
In 1955, she married George Storm, and together they had three girls: Elizabeth, Carol (my mother), and Michele. This made eight children as George was previously widowed and already had five children: Marie, Olive Ann, Tony, Frances, and Patrick. Isabelle worked extremely hard to take care of all of these children (some of whom were already in their teen years!) and to maintain a beautiful home in southeast Portland where people were always welcomed and well fed.
Isabelle's first grandchild was born in 1955. To date, there are over fifty grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am one of them.
She had a wonderful sense of humor and a faith that was inspiring. It carried her through her life from one decade to the next. Remarkably, she seemed to be able to find joy and fulfillment even in the ordinary.
Though she never owned a computer, a few years ago we did give her a mobile phone (which she learned to operate!) and up until very recently, I used to call frequently to ask how she was doing and tell her all the news from Redmond.
Her sense of humor always made those conversations fun.
I spoke often with Grandma about my political involvement. While we did not have the same perspective on everything, Grandma was a progressive, like me. She was opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning, didn't care for George W. Bush one bit, and thought highly of Al Gore, as I do. I can still remember us watching An Inconvenient Truth together on DVD last year.
Grandma also loved Barack Obama, and followed his presidential campaign with great interest. Had she lived through the autumn, she would have happily cast her mail-in ballot for Obama, and would have been excited to see him inaugurated as the next President of the United States in January 2009.
Isabelle and George journeyed many times up to Washington to visit us - for Easter, for New Year's, Christmas, and during the midst of summer break. We traveled to Portland even more often for Thanksgiving and family gatherings.
Last year, for her ninetieth birthday, I created a presentation filled with hundreds of slides of photos from her life, which I showed during the banquet. She enjoyed this immensely, and watched it again later with her daughters.
I am glad I was able to help her reflect on her long life before the end.
She was graceful in life and graceful in death. I will have no more conversations with her, but I will always cherish the memories of our relationship.
Rest in peace, Grandma Isabelle.
# Posted by Andrew : 9:40 AM
Comments:
Sorry to hear about your grandmother. When I first moved to the NW and was in my 20s and a student, the closest person to me politically was my great aunt Henrietta. Neither of us could stand Reagan or Bush Sr. She would roll over in her grave to see what Bush Jr. and the neocons have done and I'm sure she would support Obama!
I'm glad your work lives on & that she was supportive.
Peace and comfort to your family.
Rick
My condolences to your family and what a nice tribute you wrote to your grandmother. She sounds like a wonderful lady. Here's thinking of you at this tough time, Andrew.
Andrew, I'm sorry to hear of your grandmother. I still miss my grandmother who died over 20 years ago.
That was a lovely rememberance, Andrew. Reminded me in some ways of my grandma Black, who passed away some years ago, but who I think shared some similar qualities with yours.
All the best to you and your family at this (and every) time.
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