Anita Mary Yerina

Anita Mary Johnson was born on July 1, 1939, in Madison, Wisconsin from parents Robert and Florence Johnson. She had three sisters with whom she loved to travel: Carol (Dick, deceased) Ripp, Marlyn (Mike) Donagan, and Shirley (Joel) Feinblatt. They spent the last few winters together in Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama, to escape the mid-western cold weather. Her last trip was a 3,000 mile bus ride through the national parks out west during the summer of 2014 with Carol. She liked to keep the little bottles of mouthwash from her recent visits to the hospital because they were a “good travel size” ;-)

Anita graduated in nursing at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Kansas City, MO, on September 2, 1960. She worked as a registered nurse until 2012 when she finally retired at age 73. She worked for Dr. Normal Blatt and then Hyde Park Pediatrics here in Cincinnati for 31 years. Ironically, she never took her sick kids to the doctor…

Anita was married to Edward Welch on October 28, 1961. Together, they brought into the world Tom, Cathy, Mary (Jeff), Tricia, and Susie (Trevor). Ed was transferred for work a lot, so they got to experience life in Kansas City, Chicago, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. Cincy ended up being their last stop as Ed left this world in 1981 when he was only 42, leaving Anita as a young widow with five kids to raise. She was a strong woman – especially with Cathy and Tricia. Tom and Mary were relatively easy. Susie was the youngest, so by then she just trusted/hoped that she’d be good. She must have done something right, though, because her kids turned out pretty great and even gave her seven grandkids: Isabelle, Zach, Robert, Jack, Bebe, Fina, and Piper.

Anita enjoyed many activities and the friends that they brought into her life: tennis, bridge, Friday night dancing, church, her kids’ sports, traveling with her sisters, gourmet dinner club, going out to lunch, and probably more that we don’t even know about. She was a member of St. Michael’s, Good Shepherd, and All Saints Catholic Churches.

Anita was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988. She went through a mastectomy, chemo and experimental treatments and was deemed in remission. Hallelujah!

In 1995 she met the second love of her life, James Yerina. They courted for four years before they married on August 14, 1999. Anita immediately inherited three more children whom she treated as her own: Barb, Susan (Matt), Rick (deceased). She also almost doubled her grandchild count with Laura, Jenny, John, Joey, and Cole.

Anita and Jim liked traveling, gourmet dinner club, volunteering for concerts and events, and nagging each other (lovingly, of course). Unfortunately, Anita became a widow a second time when Jim gave up his battle with lymphoma on June 14, 2006.

26 years after her first diagnosis, Anita was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer with a metastatic tumor in her spine. She fought with radiation and lots of prayer, but it was an aggressive disease that took no mercy. In January 2015, she stepped up her battle with chemotherapy and fought like a champ. She believed she was going to beat it, but her little body just was no match to the beast of cancer. Hospice of Cincinnati was called in a week and a half before she passed. They did everything imaginable to keep Anita comfortable, and that’s exactly how she left this world: at ease, at peace and surrounded by family in her own home.

Special thanks go out to all the angels who took care of Anita for the last four months of her life: OHC doctors and staff, the nurses and PCAs of 5300 at Bethesda North Hospital, Home Instead care givers, and Hospice of Cincinnati nurses. They did their best to keep her untroubled and even treated her like their own mother.

Visitation will be held at Schmidt-Dhonau-Kucner Funeral Home, 10980 Reading Rd., Sharonville, OH, from 6-8 pm on Friday, May 8, 2015.

Funeral services will be held at St. Michael the Archangel, 11144 Spinner Ave., Sharonville, OH, at 10 am on Saturday, May 9, 2015.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Anita’s honor to Hospice of Cincinnati: (513) 865-1616 http://www.hospiceofcincinnati.org/donate.shtml

Arrangements under the direction of Schmidt- Dhonau- Kucner Funeral Home, Sharonville, OH.

"One night I had a dream...

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and

Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;

One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before us,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life,

There was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life

This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,

You would walk with me all the way;

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,

There is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why in times when I

needed you the most, you should leave me.

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious

child. I love you, and I would never,

never leave you during your times of

trial and suffering.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."