Ernestine "Ernie" Solomon

Ernestine "Ernie" (Saraf) Solomon, 89, of Roseville, MI., died January 19, 2020 at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Twp., MI. Ernie was born the youngest of 6, January 26, 1930, in Lockport, NY to Theros & Pula (Juakem) Saraf. She will be sadly missed by her Husband Anthony, children; Paula (Stanley) Lawrence, the late Peter (Judith) Solomon, Bedelia (John) Urbaniak, Mary (Larry) Panther, Tony (Janet) Solomon, Michelle Solomon, 13 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and 5 great great-grandchildren. She was pre deceased by her parents, 2 brothers and 3 sisters.

A Funeral Mass will be held 10 am; instate at 9:30 am, Friday at Our Lady of Hope, St Germane Campus, 28301 Little Mack St Clair Shores, MI. Visitation will be Thursday From 2-8 pm with a Vigil Service at 4 pm at Kaul Funeral Home, 27830 Gratiot Ave., Roseville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Salvation Army, 24140 Mound Rd., Warren, MI. 48091; please designate: Shelter or Social Services

I wanted to share some things about our momma that some of you may not know. These are not in any special order and there is no way to put her beautiful life on paper – just some our thoughts and cherished memories:

- Momma was the youngest of 6 children and the last survivor of her siblings.

- Momma met daddy when she was 5 years old, he was 9. Her parents were immigrants from Greece, and they knew daddy’s grandparents, who were immigrants from Lebanon. Momma’s family came to visit daddy’s and he had the pleasure of teaching her how to play marbles. The marble story is one that you’ll have to ask daddy to share with you. It’s definitely worth retelling and will warm your heart.

- She was a real tom boy when she was young. Not afraid of anything. On a dare, she roller skated, or tried to, on a sewer pipe. She almost severed her arm off.

- Momma was about 15 when she volunteered to be a Candy Striper at Lockport Hospital. She always had a heart to help others.

- She had a beautiful voice and sang in a choir when she was a teenager.

- When she was 17, momma came back to Detroit for a visit. I loved hearing her tell the story of when she was walking up to daddy’s house, she saw a man leaning over the engine of a car, and she thought to herself, he has a really nice butt. She didn’t realize it was daddy. They were married shortly after that.

- One of her favorite foods was chicken. She could eat it every day.

- Daddy was always amazed at how quickly momma could get ready for anything. She would put some lipstick on, dab it with her fingers and then rub a little on her cheeks and was good to go and looked great! She really was naturally beautiful.

- She was the love of his life. He said she was such a beautiful wife, partner and great mother, and they worked together to raise us kids. He has great memories in his heart of before they were married, sitting at Belle Isle under a tree, watching the boats and talking for hours. In November (2019), they celebrated 72 years of marriage. Wow!

She did some amazing things:

- She could catch a fly or ladybug in midair and then would take them outside and to let them go.

- When I would scream because there was a spider on the wall or ceiling, she would calmly walk over and take it with her bare hands.

- Momma was not afraid of hard work or getting her hands dirty. Our driveway was formed for cement but had to be filled with stones until daddy could get the cement. When it came time for that, all those stones had to be taken out and daddy was concerned with how he was going to do it because of his back. Momma said don’t worry, me and kids will take care of it. When he came home from work, all the stones had been hauled out and none of us remember helping her do it.

- She was a great cook and amazing baker. EVERYTHING was always homemade. When we were walking home from school, as we approached the house, there was always the great smell of what she was cooking or baking. Friends always wanted to eat at our house.

- No matter what we did, momma never spanked us. She’d say, wait until your father gets home, but she never spanked us.

- She never yelled at us either. No matter the situation, she was always calm, never got rattled, wasn’t intense – like some of her children.

- She ALWAYS asked us “do you need any money honey” or if we needed gas in our car. She told us she had some “mad” money saved that your dad doesn’t know about.

- Words can’t describe how fabulous her fried chicken was.

- Momma was always a wonderful host and made everyone feel like family. We have such great memories of all the weekend parties at our house with our aunts, uncles and cousins. She would cook and serve us all day and night.

- Daddy would sometimes bring people from work home with him for dinner – unannounced - and she never got upset. We just set an extra plate at the table.

- Watching momma and daddy dance in the family room or on the driveway during our numerous weekend parties, was like watching Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers. Daddy always said momma was the only one that could ever follow his moves.

- She was such a graceful and simple woman and never asked for anything. Everything was for her family. She was in her glory when the family was around her.

- Momma had amazing will power and determination. She could do anything she put her mind to. She never gave up.

- Momma loved rolling coins and always offered to roll yours. She would sit at the kitchen for hours on end doing that. She saved old pennies and if she found one in my can, she’d insist on replacing it.

- She gave to numerous missions throughout the years – very secretly. She’d hand us envelopes when daddy wasn’t around and would say “mail these for me but don’t tell your father”.

- Momma LOVED going to Florida during the winter. She was a social butterfly there. She was always involved in some sort of craft or activity. She volunteered at the post office on the campground. And in Florida is where momma fell in love with Bingo. She was a Bingo queen and to watch her play brought joy to your heart.

- Before her arthritis in her hands got bad, momma loved to make ceramics, crochet, and knit. I learned at work that Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD wanted blankets for babies with aids. She made dozens of blankets for those babies.

- Momma had unconditional love for everyone. She would always tell us “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

- She was such a kid at heart and loved dressing up for Halloween. She used to sew and made costumes for Halloween and my school plays. Some of her best costumes were a Clown, a 1920’s flapper, and a Belly Dancer (which daddy wore to a party). I was a pilgrim in a school play, and I remember my teacher being amazed at how awesome my costume was.

- On her Niki sewing machine, she used to make all our doll clothes too. We had the best dressed Barbies – all our friends were jealous.

- In the winter when we would come in from playing outside and our hands were cold, we’d go right over to momma because she would put them under her arms to warm them.

- Momma loved to watch mystery movies and could have been a Sherlock Holmes. She could ALWAYS figure out who done it!

- If you were in her house, she wanted to feed you. She’d keep asking if you wanted something and would go through the frig and cupboards naming items she could give or make you. And she always had cheese on hand to make you one of her famous grilled cheese sandwiches.

- Momma wrote numerous poems, and a short story of Aunt Rosie. She also wrote a novel (a love story). She wrote two endings for it and never decided which one she wanted to use. She wrote each of us girls a poem or letter before we got married.

- Momma was such an unselfish person and a faithful woman. She was extremely dedicated to her daily prayer time. She prayed for everyone and paid for mass cards so their names would be mentioned during a mass. She even had an on-going list of people she was praying for every day because she didn’t want to forget anyone. And it was a long list.

- Whenever daddy wanted to take her shopping to buy her clothes, she didn’t want him to. She would rather get us something.

- She made everyone feel welcomed and loved.

Her grandchildren shared some of their memories with me:

- Nicole often called her grandma on the way home from work and cherishes those conversations. She remembers sitting with her while watching her “stories”, and she still watches General Hospital to this day because of her.

- Michael remembers his grandma as always being loving, caring, happy and with a smile on her face.

- Danielle shared that one of her fondest memories was sitting around the table at all the parties and listening to our reminiscing. She loved watching her Grandma twirl her hair while she talked. She would take her hand and push up her curls. She also remembers how her grandma let all the kids play with her stuffed animals on the couch. And she always had coloring books and crayons for them.

- Helena remembers the great hugs her grandma gave.

- Daria cherishes the angel coin her grandma gave her when she started driver’s training. She wanted to make sure she was always protected and safe on the roads.

- Erik has a great memory of picking cucumbers and his grandma cutting them up and salting them for him.

- Robyn said her grandma always made her and her girls feel loved and like family.

- She always said I love you more and called her grandchildren angel.

She was the most loving and giving wife, momma, grandma, aunt, and friend.

After her stroke, even though momma was mostly non-verbal, she communicated with her eyes and facial expressions. She could still console you if you were sad or hurting. She would touch your face, stroke your arm or hug you. And she still had a great sense of humor. I have so many great memories of playing around and laughing with her. You could tell how much she loved so many of the nurses, CNAs and residents at the nursing center. And they truly loved her. Many would horse around with her and get her to laugh so hard her tummy would move. It was priceless. CNAs would go out of their way just to come visit and talk to her.

Momma never lost her beautiful, bright smile. She was known for her smile, wave, crinkled nose and wink that she’d give to everyone. Many called her the resident sweetheart. She was so excited when she was chosen as the Resident of the Month in July. You can tell from her picture in the newsletter how happy she was.

We became Hallmark Movie junkies and it was such a hoot to see her expression at the end of every movie when the couple would kiss. I would often ask her, “momma when am I going to find my knight in shining armor, she’d tilt her head and give me this look, and when I’d say, don’t you think that can happen, she would smile, shake her head and clearly say NO – but very sweetly. She remained very honest when asked questions.

She loved listening to music and would dance her in wheelchair. Moving her shoulders, tapping her foot and moving her arm to the beat. We have so many wonderful videos of her doing that.

It was precious to listen to her sing happy birthday and she sang it to everyone but me and Bedelia. I tried for over a month and every time I asked her if she would sing to me, she would smile, shake her head and say no – again, very sweetly. Mary has a video of her singing happy birthday in Polish.

When she heard that Erik and Mickey were having triplets, she cried and kept saying Oh God, over and over.

She remained so joyful even during her challenging circumstances. She put up such a great fight and overcame so many things that no one thought possible. There have been abundant blessings during this journey. I know momma was very grateful for the love that everyone at the nursing center showered on her, and for the love and support of her family and friends. She was truly loved by everyone and has left a void in us that cannot be filled.

It is a comfort to know that she is in now in the loving arms of our Jesus.