This prompt is an easy one to start off the year with - my maternal grandma.
My grandma was Mary Elizabeth (Arnold) Heacock. She was known as Elizabeth. She was born on July 18, 1906 in Bedford, PA. She was the third of 10 siblings, the oldest girl. There are several reasons why I admire her as you will see.
During WW1, she and her sister worked with the Red Cross in town rolling bandages and such. Her first job was at an A & P grocery store, followed by jobs at Straub's Clothing Store and Maurice Clothing Co. in town. In high school, she was known as one of the brightest girls and a diligent pupil. She played the violin in the high school band. Her yearbook description states:
" Small in stature but not in mind. Elizabeth entered Bedford High in the fall of 1919. She is one of our brightest girls and has always proved herself a diligent pupil. You may think the boys are no attraction for Elizabeth, but there is where you make a mistake. Her sincerity and frankness are most conspicuous of the many qualities she possesses, and she is liked and admired by all"
After graduating from Bedford High school in 1923, where she played basketball, she took a year of commercial courses and started a job in Harrisburg, PA at the Pennsylvania Highway Department as a stenographer. Grandma would lose this job as a result of political alliances after an election of the opposing party, likely in the 1928 presidential election. She was asked to donate to the election campaign, she refused and 2 weeks after the election she was given an offer to resign her job, she refused this also and then she was fired. She stood up for herself and her beliefs.
In 1928, she married Floyd Heacock, who was of the Quaker religion at that time. Grandma was a Catholic, but this difference did not matter to them. They were married at Elizabeth's church. Four children later, in 1936, they bought Elizabeth's parent's home where they would live for the rest of their lives. They raised 8 successful children. Her parents moved into the home next door with Elizabeth's sister Ruth where they lived until jobs moved Ruth's family out of town. At this point they moved in with Elizabeth and Floyd. Her father died in 1961 and her mother had a stroke and became bedridden. I remember my grandma taking care of her mother until 1967 when she passed away as well. But once again, she took on the caregiver role when her husband also had a stroke. He was wheelchair bound and later bedbound before he died in 1989. As a caregiver for my own husband now, I believe that seeing Grandma taking care of her parents and husband gave me a role model that has allowed me to believe that I, too, could do this.
Grandma was a very devout member of the local catholic church, St Thomas', and was a member of the Ladies Guild, a charter member of the Catholic Daughters and volunteered in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. She was also known as one of the "Mitten Ladies" who knitted mittens for donation to needy persons and children. Grandma attended mass each and every day, no matter the weather or other circumstance.
One story that I heard that proves how devout she was came from one of her pastors at the church. One very snowy winter day, Grandma who was not a young woman any more, trudged her way to the church only to find it locked up tight. "What is this she thought?" So she went to the pastor's rectory and knocked and knocked until he answered the door. "Elizabeth what are you doing here? " said the pastor. "I came for Mass", she replied. "But the snow, we canceled mass for today". "Why ", she wondered, "I am here". She was very put out about this, but again, stuck to her commitment to attend daily mass no matter what.
I was born in Bedford also and lived there until I was 5 years old. We moved to a town about 3 hours away and did visit Bedford often. So even though I was not as close to my grandma as some people are to theirs, I saw and heard enough of her to know that she had an effect on my life as a role model. While I can never match the woman she was, I am grateful to have been her granddaughter. Elizabeth passed away just hours before her 90th birthday in 1996.
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