Carol Margaret Latimer Child 1924-2010

On the evening of Thursday, June 10th, I received a phone call from my mom, who was crying, and told me that my grandmother was in the hospital and that things were not looking good for her. She had an infection and was going downhill fairly rapidly and they didn't think she would live much longer. My grandmother was lucid enough that night to be able to have a conversation with me over the phone. I am so grateful for that opportunity that I had to tell her that I loved her and how grateful I was for all of the service she has given to our family over the years. I expressed how much it meant to me to have her at my wedding and all of the great times we spent at Grand America. I truly feel so blessed to have been able to have this opportunity to have closure. She hung on until Sunday afternoon, June 13, when Cousin Dave, her nephew, was able to come and spend a few hours with her before she died. I was also fortunate enough that the funeral was on Saturday, June 19th, so I was able to fly back to Utah to spend that time with my family and honor my grandmother.

I really tried to make the day one of a celebration of the life of my beloved grandmother rather than one of sadness because she had lived a full and amazing life. She made her goal of getting to her 85th birthday last December and she was ready to move on. I realized that she had been without my grandfather for 12 years- that is a long time- and he was in a bad mental state for years before that. I truly feel so blessed that I was able to have my grandmother as an integral part of my life for nearly 30 years.

I only shed a few tears at the funeral because I really did want it to be more of a celebration about her life. And I think it ultimately was as all of her children, grandchildren, and some great grandchildren were there.

I LOVE this picture of my grandmother when she was a young adult- isn't it fabulous! She totally looks like a model.

We had a table of photos and some of the needle work my grandmother did throughout her life

Close ups of the table


The linen on the right with the circle of flowers was the one my grandmother gave to me for my 16th birthday.

I loved this flower arrangement that had a ribbon attached saying "Beloved Grandmother" and one of our whole family portraits that was taken over 15 years ago.

We were so touched by all of the beautiful flower arrangements given in honor of my grandmother.

I also loved how the programs turned out.

We had several speakers- David Sollis, my eldest cousin Mark Robert Greenwood, my uncle Craig Child, and my aunt Cheryl Wilson. We also have some amazing musical talent and had several stellar numbers. My cousin Natalie and my aunt Carla did a violin and piano duet, my sister Cynthia sang while my mom accompanied her, and my cousins Amy and Laura did a piano duet. My grandmother sacrificed so much so that her children could take music lessons so it was so appropriate for us to have multiple music numbers.

As one of my cousins remarked after the funeral, they had never been to one where FOOD was the predominate topic mentioned by EVERYONE. My grandmother was the most amazing cook- she made EVERYTHING from scratch and so many of our family get togethers and memories centered upon food. I will do another post about all of the memories about my grandmother.

We then headed up to the Mount Olivet Cemetery where my grandmother now rests besides my grandfather. It was a beautiful day- so much so that even the deer came out to honor her.

All of 6 of her children-Cheryl, Connie, Carla, Bruce, Carl Dana, and Craig.

And the Stults family- Cheryl, Sarah, Barry, Connie, and Cynthia

And of course, a great meal followed. We went to Diamond Lils where I had one of the BEST steaks I have ever had. I'm not usually a steak person, but this was so unbelievably good. It was well seasoned, with a crisp crust and juicy on the inside. My dad even raved about the steak (he has lately been picky about restaurants so this is saying a lot). All of the 16 grandchildren- (back row right to left)-Natalie, Cynthia, Collin, Laura, Jason, Clint, Candace, Mark, Nick, Brandon, (front row right to left)- Amy, Sarah, Cheryl, and Kathryn.

I think that my grandmother was very happy with how the day turned out as we ended up at the dinner laughing and reminiscing as usual, a legacy born by my grandmother and continued in her honor.