Leatrice June Joy Phipps
This was the obituary that I wrote for the paper and for her memorial.
You would think that after 12 years of her being gone, I would have excepted that she is gone. I haven't. She was the closest person to me on the planet and I miss her every day! She knew me better than anyone and she was my greatest supporter in everything that I ever tried to do!
Back in the day when I was giging around with my beloved huge, heavy beast of a keyboard, (top of the line) I should add... Mom tried to construct a dollie to help me haul the thing. We had an old stationwagon so my amp, (also freakin huge) and my keyboard fit into the wagon. The two of us
struggled to get it the few places I took it. Thankfully, my fellow band dudes took over hauling it around for me. Bless her heart I still recall her humor and support in everything she tried to make
happen for me.
I recall when disco was big we had a club in town that was an under 21 club which meant no drinking. I dearly loved to dance, so I was there nearly every weekend. Mom was thrilled about disco because in her hayday, she was a dance instructor in dance studios. She was an extremely good
dancer in her younger years. So when disco became popular she loved to watch people dance. She went with me to this club a few times. I had a blast with her! She just watched everyone dance lol,
she didn't dance. When line dancing became popular she watched as I tried to pick up the steps by watching a video. She promptly began dancing with the video as if it were so easy. She totally got it
and I was just amazed lol. She just picked up the steps and went with it! I was enchanted to see her
go.
I don't know why any of this would suprise me, she was something else before I was born. She wrote a whole musical by herself. She didn't read music so she would hum the songs to her friend, a pianist who would translate it into a song. Mom wrote the script and lyrics to all of the songs, designed the
set and had complete and total control over the whole musical. She performed the whole production in a theater in Roseville, CA. She was a mover and a shaker!
When I was in middle school, Dad lost his job. He had an idea for an invention so he and Mom worked on proving his idea, invention. They built a small plant on some property that they rented.
Mom would scoot up and down a hill on her butt by a pond that they built. She would retrieve wet
polystyrene bead board out of this pond and run density tests on it. I recall to this day how she fashioned a crucial clip out of a bobby pin that she took from her hair. They worked tirelessly for a few years on this project to prove his invention. They did this together every step of the way... To
bring to us all “Foamular”, know as Owens Corning Pink.
This is a pic of my Dad at one of the manufacturing plants of his invention. They had plants in Korea,
Kuwait, Germany and in Akron, Ohio.
My Mom's best role was that of supporting us. She made us feel as if we could accomplish anything we set our minds to. She inspired and helped my Dad create this industry. She was a terrific Grammy to my kids. My three oldest kids loved and learned so much from her! She was the smartest woman I ever knew. She was always learning. She was up to date on current events and had a vast wealth of knowledge on many different topics. She was interested in space. She was a heck of a seamstress. Didn't need a pattern, just could sew! She had a draftsman certification that she picked up in the 1950's. Lol. She could fix things, just give her a tool and she could fix it. What an amazing person, truly.
Sadly, she died when I was 7 mo. pregnant with Zoe. She had been making a pretty quilt for Zoe and
the day before she died she was telling me that she wanted to get up and finish it. Awwwww....I'm sad that my youngest never knew her. They would have enjoyed each other so much! To say that I miss
my Mom is an understatement. To this day, nothing can bring tears quicker to me than thoughts about Mom. I guess some losses you never really get over.
The following was my Mom's favorite song that I cover. She would ask me to play it for her from time to time...
She loved the haunting melody.
After she died, this song somehow became the song I identify with her. It allowed me to cry and cry and still have hope that she is around somehow, somewhere...
