She loved me.
She taught me to sew.
She made blankets, lots of blankets,
and dishcloths and slippers and pies.
She enjoyed my company.
She loved lots of people.
We went visiting together when I was young.
She had a "green thumb".
She repurposed things in a seemingly endless amount of ways.
She liked to fish, and to eat fish,
I did not know that, until the day of her funeral.
Her favorite color was pink.
I did not know that either,
and I would not have been able to guess.
Her life was full of so many colors.
The memories of the others cheered me.
Apparently, mixed matched and upside down wallpaper
is a beautiful thing to the people who love you.
She was a master of knitting, crocheting and sewing.
Once, when she was visiting with my children
they were reciting poetry, and she knew every ending!
She taught them a few versions they did not know.
She sang, she sang to children, she sang when she was alone,
mostly she sang for joy and Jesus.
Her garden was a work of art... tin cans, old boards, and lots of vegetables, I wasn't usually allowed to walk in it.
Her ancestors were French.
She was a Leo, and my dad's mom.
She had a pear tree by her steps,
when she moved into the last house of her own she planted two.
The new owners took them down, that made me sad,
but I will always think of her when I preserve pears.
I have tried growing meadow tea, without much success,
and I have had even less success making tea that tastes like hers,
but wild hyssop mint took over my backyard last summer,
perhaps that is the way of it.
Similar things, but different, that is like Grandma and me.
She is a lovely, cultivated, hodge podge, skillful garden,
and I am a hillside of hyssop mint and wild flowers,
growing where God scatters me.
Grandma didn't get angry much, unless her oldest son felt like making merry,
then he would tell her that we came from monkeys, and "she would get all fired up."
Pastor Womer read from Grandma's Bible,
verses that she had marked at some point in the past.
"And the Lord repented of the evil that He thought to do unto His people." Exodus 32:14
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12a
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that." Matthew 27:3-4
We buried her earthly body in an old cemetery, a family plot, a heritage site, beside an orchard, beside a lot of white churches.
Sylva Mae Womer... "Sylva, like in the center of Penn-sylva-nia"
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA
October 13, 2012
Sylvia Mae Womer, 99, Selinsgrove
The Daily Item
— SELINSGROVE – Sylvia Mae Womer, also known as Sylva Mae Womer, 99, entered into eternal rest on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, at The Manor at Penn Village, Selinsgrove.
She was a daughter of the late John L. and Addie Mae (Peters) Maneval, and was born on Aug. 8, 1913, in Mount Pleasant Mills. On Nov. 29, 1929, she was united in marriage to Paul L. Womer, who preceded her on Feb. 21, 1978.
She had worked for various sewing factories and had retired from the Selinsgrove Center as a resident aide.
Mrs. Womer was a member of St. Thomas Independent Brethren in Christ Church, Mount Pleasant Mills.
She cherished her family, especially the infants.
She was talented in sewing, crocheting, knitting and sharing her skills in her love of gardening.
Mrs. Womer will be remembered as always being there to lend a helping hand to others.
Surviving are four children and their spouses, P. Carl Womer, of Mount Pleasant Mills, Erma J. Shelley, of Mount Pleasant Mills, Vern L. and Goldie L. Womer, of Middleburg, and Loren L. and Trisha A. Womer, of Liverpool; 55 wonderful grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren; one sister, Goldie Goodling, of Dauphin; and several generations of nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Womer was preceded by one son, Lee Alvin, in infancy; one son-in-law, Russell J. “Pepsi” Shelley on June 22, 2010; one daughter-in-law, Janet E. Womer on Feb. 21, 1998; five brothers, Paul, Eugene, Ralph, Harry, and Emory Maneval; and two sisters, Annie Smith and Edna Pyle.
The family will receive friends for visitation from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at The George P. Garman Funeral Homes Inc., 9366 Rt. 35, Mount Pleasant Mills, followed by the funeral at 11 with her nephews, the Rev. Elwood “Woody” Maneval and the Rev. Roger L. Womer, officiating.
Burial will be in Richfield Union Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a memorial gift in loving memory of Mrs. Womer to: St. Thomas Independent Brethren in Christ Church, “Prayer Garden,” 1070 St. Thomas Road, Mount Pleasant Mills, PA 17853.
The family extends their sincere gratitude to all of the staff at the Manor at Penn Village for their love and tender care for the past two and one half years. “You were great and we all appreciate you. God Bless.”
