Genevieve W. Bruton

With profound sadness we announce the passing of Genevieve Bruton, our loving, strong and devoted mother. She returned to her Maker while sleeping peacefully in her home in Silver Spring, MD, on Friday 7th December 2018, attended by two of her daughters. She was in her 101st year.

Born in Michigan in 1917, her century began on a rural farm. Parents Edward and Mary were of the Polish-American community; farm chores were the center of life. One of ten children, she and her siblings spoke Polish at home and attended a small, one room country school house.

A teacher recognised her intelligence and she was sent away for further education. At the age of 14 she worked in a grocery store to earn her keep. She said she often cried at night over her school books because she was too tired to finish her homework. From this experience she developed a lifelong passion for education. With characteristic determination, at a time when college education was rare for women, she received her degree in Education and worked in the Michigan schools.

During World War II she attended summer school at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to pursue her Master’s degree. She met her future husband John Francis Bruton, a naval officer, at this time. They were married in 1943 and celebrated 54 years of marriage before he passed away in 1997. Together they brought eight children into the world.

Genevieve was known for her devotion to the Catholic Church. She was asked to found the first Sodality at St. Camillus Church in 1953. Parish work, where she was a long-standing head of the Women’s Club, was a major part of her life for decades.

A born teacher, she often took an educational approach to her children and grandchildren. Memorisation of long poems was good for the brain; educational outings took priority over restaurant dinners; knowledge was more important than “things.” A common saying was, “We never guess, we look it up.”

Children and grandchildren were also beneficiaries of a more flamboyant talent: in a dining room covered with fabrics and patterns, the hum of her sewing machine was a constant. She made her own clothes - elegant dresses in the 40’s style, and elaborate concoctions for First Communions, parties, costumes and proms.

When she was in her eighties she researched her family genealogy as well as that of her husband’s; she wrote three books on the family history at the age of 90.

To her husband’s relief she was a sparkling conversationalist which saved him from awkward silences at cocktail parties. To her children’s astonishment she could adopt the force of a general when necessary. To her grandchildren’s delight she broke her own rules for their amusement. To everyone’s sadness she grieved deeply at the loss of her second son, Eddie; her courage in braving it through those years set a high standard for us all.

A woman of indomitable energy, at the age of 90 she was spry enough to organise her own birthday party. In her later years she was lovingly cared for at home by her daughter Elizabeth, and then joined in this service by her devoted daughter Julie.

Genevieve is survived by her children and their spouses: William & Dorothy, Thomas & Anne-Marie, Paul & Donna, Mary & John, Ann & Charles, Elizabeth and Julie; by her sisters Theodora and Mary Ann, and her sister in law Patricia; by her grandchildren Christy, John, Theresa, Bridget, Michael, Kevin, Rachel, Sarah, Mary, Genevieve, Julien, Henri, Caitlin and Annarose; and many great-grandchildren.

A visitation will be held at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20904 on Sunday, December 16, 2018 2pm -4pm and 6pm – 8pm. Mass of Christian Burial for Genevieve will be held Monday, December 17, 2018 10am at St. Camillus Catholic Church, 1600 St. Camillus Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20903. Interment to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 13801 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD.

* * * * *

“Death is nothing at all,

I have only slipped into the next room.

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still…

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near

Just around the corner.

All is well.”

Henri Scott Holland