Grace was a precious, loving person. You couldn't know her and not love her. I remember after Mary moved to Texas I would call to talk to Mary and if she was not home, Grace would just carry on a conversation like she had never missed a beat. Sometimes you could tell she didn't really remember everything I was talking about but she hung right in there with the conversation! All in all I was always impressed with her quiet, gentle spirit. I know she had to be a great mom to have produced such great kids and instilled in them such a deep foundation of faith. I always envied Mary for having such a great mom to live with her. I know her legacy will be never ending and the lives she touched will be forever changed. Love, Cheri
I too have many great memories of those wonderful Hefty get togethers usually hosted at the Corbin house. Aunt Grace was a great hostess and always such a classy lady.
She encouraged me in my pursuit of nursing when I went to nursing school.
In recent years I was able to see Aunt Grace several times. She enjoyed looking at the photo album Lois brought and talking about "the old days" when we visited with her, Uncle Dick & Judy, and my mom and dad at Carol's house.
We had several nice visits with Aunt Grace in Florida in the last couple years and I'm grateful for that. I will always remember her fondly.
I have so many fond memories of my Aunt Grace, who was my father Walter's sister. As Uncle Dick noted, they came from a large family of 10 children so we had wonderful get togethers and reunions. I will always look back on those times with great fondness. I was fortunate to see Aunt Grace a few times last year. In September 2007, Grace was visiting Carol, and we took my father to see her, and Uncle Dick and Judy were also there. This is a very bittersweet memory because my father died three weeks later so it was the last time the three of them were together. In December, I went to Venice, Florida with my sister, my mother, and my daughter Elizabeth. We had a wonderful visit with Grace, Jeanne, Mary and Chuck and I'm glad we were able to see her.
Mrs. Grace always had this sweet little smile, and she always had a word of praise to lift up my day. She absolutely adored Nathan and wanted to have him near her always.
I remember seeing Mrs. Grace one day at the adult day-care. I had stopped by to get some papers for my work and didn’t know she was there. When Mrs. Grace saw me she made a point to tell me that she was there to help the older people. I looked around the room and noticed that a lot of the “older people” looked to be the same age or maybe even younger than she. It was dinner time when I left and I noticed that Mrs. Grace was sitting down helping another lady put on her napkin getting ready to eat. I later said something to Mary about how great it was that Mrs. Grace was able to volunteer at the adult day-care. She informed me that she was not there to volunteer, but was there as a day resident. I’m sure the staff wished all their day residents were as helpful as Mrs. Grace.
I will miss Mrs. Grace and her sweet smiling face.
Grace was my older sister and she loved her little brother (me). I have many good memories of our childhood. Grace loved to sing and she had a good voice. I remember her singing on a local radio station. Our family was proud of her. One of the songs she sang that I remember was "Boo Hoo you've got me crying for you".
She wrote a song and some of the words were, "Just sit and wait till I get to paradise I will get a boyfriend or two". She also recited poetry.
I was the youngest of the children in our home. I had six older sisters and I know they spoiled me. I had two older brothers who also influenced my life and an older brother in Europe who I did not know growing up. Grace was always sweet and kind to me.
Grace and I were both born again believers and we had common ground as we talked about our Lord Jesus Christ.
After my wife, Dotttie, died in 1994 I went on a vacation trip to the western part of the United States. My goal was to visit my sisters, Grace, Flossie and Aggie. I had a nice visit with Grace, Chuck and Mary in Kansas. In 1995 Grace, Flossie and Aggie came to visit me and my new wife, Judy, in Pennsylvania. We all went to an Elder Hostel in North Carolina and many good memories were made there. Later our family, Walt and Edythe Hefty, Marge and Dan Emerson, Grace, Flossie, Aggie, David and Mindy Emerson and their children and Judy and I had a family reunion on the Outer Banks in North Carolina and we were together again. We rented a beach house and we were together for about five days. These are some of the highlights of my recent memories. Over the years there were many family reunions and it was a special time to make memories.
Grace had a sweet spirit and she was not a person to become upset easily. She was usually calm and looked at the bright side of life. I know she loved and enjoyed her children and was happy to be their mother. She was very interested in nature and noticed things that others did not notice.
I am thankful she was my sister and I look forward to seeing her again in heaven.
Dick Hefty
