"Lord, help me to do what You want me to do." Amelia Moritz's simple prayer guided her heart and actions throughout her life. Born on a farm in Charleton, MA on November 21, 1914, Amelia Pluta Moritz was named after an opera singer whom her 3 older brothers (George, John, Joseph) and one older sister, Mary, heard on the radio. Vivid early memories were of her mother calling her from the top of a nearby hill across a field of flowers, of fresh milk squirting into a tin cup when Mary milked the cow, and the spring house with fresh butter, cheese and milk stored on a shelf near the top of the well. When she was 2, her mother was seriously injured when the farm wagon overturned, and the family moved to Dudley, MA to be near medical help.
Her last memory of her mother was of her rising from her bed, coming to the kitchen and sending Amelia out to play, saying that she would take care of the chores. Julianna died age 42, when Amelia was 7. Her father John remarried the following year, bringing a stepmother, Pauline and her son Joe Kubiak into the family. Amelia's older sister, Mary Rose Johnson "mothered" her and was a big influence all her life.
Although she loved learning, excelling in math at St Joseph's Catholic School in Webster MA, times were tough, and she started work at age 14, being a mother's helper full time in a wealthy home. At 18 she worked as a secretary in a Webster fabric mill.
When she met George Moritz, she was impressed with his faith and gentlemanliness. They dated for a year during the Great Depression. When George got a good job in New Haven, CT at Pond Lily Fabrics, he asked her to join him. "Not unless we get married!" was her response. So, on December 28, 1935 they wed at Zion Lutheran Church in New Haven. She continued working until the children started coming in 1940.
"My children! I loved them so much, I couldn't stop hugging and kissing them." As they grew, she loved, taught, modeled, led, disciplined, listened, counseled, forgave, and especially taught about Jesus, our Savior. Her kindness, faith and love extended to the neighborhood families, as she was the "go-to mom" for cuts, bruises, and hugs. She continued to actively learn about anything she came in touch with, and passed that love of learning and the fun of being able to converse on a wide variety of subjects to her children: Carolyn Lawson (Bruce), Judy Calkins (Peter), and Edie MacLauchlan, and grandchildren: David Stone (Lyssa), son Michael and daughter Bonita, Adam Calkins (Jody) and daughter Shea, Seth Calkins (Trish) and sons James and Sebastian, and Rachel Cast (Josh) and son Nathan, daughter Gabriella, Amy MacLauchlan (Wayne Avery and daughter Cheyenne Avery), Michael MacLauchlan (Kimberly) and daughter Ashley, Peter MacLauchlan (Vivian) and children Ariana, Julianne and David. She was a stickler for proper grammar, enunciation and knowing the meanings of new words. "Let's get the dictionary!" echoed around the table a lot. All that helped immensely as all three of her daughters graduated from college with honors, a first in our families.
Throughout her life, with George and after he went to be with Jesus, she was active in the Lutheran Church wherever they lived: Sunday School, choir, Bible study groups, quilting for missions, prayer meetings, fellowship activities, AAL (Thrivent) and caring for the church in behind the scenes work, gardening, repairing - wherever the need. With the Bedford, MA church, they helped start the Central Food Ministry in Lowell, MA, a food/clothing/spiritual help church-sponsored organization, and continued volunteering there well into their 80's.
As George's interest in electronics grew, he changed careers to Cannon Electric, becoming an inventor of new parts and procedures as needed for electronic connectors. When the company moved to MA, the family too moved to Beverly, MA and Amelia joined the company which made the gold-plated connectors for the first U.S. space program. They had to be perfect, and rejects could not be available to anyone, so somewhere, George encased all the gold-plated rejects in cement. When the company merged with ITT, they moved to California and took the opportunity to trailer-travel the whole western part of the continent, making new friends, and visiting old ones. She became a rock-hound, collecting stones from each state, labeling them, then making a U.S. rock garden in Woburn, MA, their next home. She showed the grandchildren the beauty in tilling the earth to create a garden, patiently guided toddlers in picking and enjoying the ripe vegetables and fruit, and the joys of just observing God's wonderful creation, the splendor in giving to others, and how a smile can brighten a soul beyond measure. She taught her whole family to never give up, to find answers through prayer and to cherish the family God has given us, including many warmly welcomed into her extended family, many of whom knew her as Mom, Gram, Gramma, Gramina, Mom Amelia.
Amelia loved people, wherever, whoever. She accepted everyone as they were and enjoyed interacting with them. A ten-year-old grandson, stubborn by his own admission, learned how to cook Thanksgiving dinner, and tried hard to beat her at Boggle, never could. On her 90th birthday she "bellied up to the bar" with all her grandchildren, shocking the bartender, and enjoying herself thoroughly, since she loved being surrounded by family.
After living alone for 10 years, Amelia came to live with her daughter Carolyn and husband, Bruce Lawson in Waltham, MA and enjoyed traveling south for the winter, making friends in both places, and sharing the love, peace, and friendship of both churches, Lutheran Church of the Savior in Bedford, MA and Lutheran Church of the Cross in Port Charlotte, FL. She won hearts in hospitals and rehabs, through knee and broken leg surgeries, and worshipped every possible Sunday, walking with a cane, then a walker, then in a wheelchair. She smiled at everyone coming in and going out of church, enjoying their smiles and caring ways. Worshipping Our Lord Jesus meant the world to her, and on July 27, 2020 she peacefully went to rest in God, enjoying the pleasure of His eternal presence.
A memorial service in each church is planned for the future. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to either church or Tidewell Hospice.
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