Perhaps it was because she lost her own mother at such a young age, but our mother never wanted to be anything other than “Mom”. She flirted with being a school teacher, but then she met Dad and all her dreams started coming true. She felt forever blessed to have birthed and raised five children! We are the blessed ones because our mother loved us, taught us, lectured us, forgave us and allowed us to learn from our mistakes with no judgement. When we married, she embraced our spouses as her own. Her love was a constant in our lives.
That is why with heavy hearts, we grieve the passing of the Best Mother In the Whole World! Mom was born, Gertrude Grace Docherty, in Windsor, Ontario, on September 7, 1938. She died peacefully, surrounded in love, on May 8, 2020, at the age of 81 after a brave, long journey with Alzheimer’s.
She will be deeply missed by her beloved husband of 62 years, George. He was and will be her Prince Charming for eternity. She will be forever loved by her 10 “children”, Carol Zack (Steve),
Patricia ‘Tish’Mailloux (Kevin), Catherine Weselak (Mark), Greg Costea (Rosalynn) and Mary Ellen Costea (Stephanie). As she loved her children, Mom loved her grandchildren with all her heart, and they cherished their “Gramma”. She leaves behind 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren; Matthew (Sheila), Michael (Erica) and Mitchell Mailloux, Amanda Roselle (Mark), and Adam Zack (Emily), Grace and Owen Weselak, Jennifer and Joseph Costea, Ethan and Dylan Costea-Shreve. Great grandchildren Mia, Sylas and Alessia.
She is predeceased by her parents Jack Docherty (1979), Gertrude “Tiny” (Webster) (1945) and Bev Docherty (1985). She leaves behind her sister Patricia “Patty” Smith (Stan, 2018), her brothers John (Myra) and Tom (Karen) Docherty. She was a devoted Godmother to Janice Holland (Costea) Thom, Ken and Mary Ann Costea, and a loving Aunt to 20 nieces and nephews.
To our friends, Mom was known as “Mrs. C” and she loved all of you. One of her greatest joys was having a house full of people which meant a house full of laughter. Mom always said she was the “funny one” in the family and we let her believe that. Mom’s smile, laughter and enthusiasm for life is what made our little house a real home. We will miss that the most.
Mom lived the last years of her life at The Villages of St.Clair. We would like to extend our deepest thanks and appreciation to the entire Gosfield Neighborhood Team who always cared for Mom with love, dignity and a sense of humor. These ‘angels on earth’ deserve our utmost respect, and Mom would want us to acknowledge them. Thank You!
We appreciate your kind words of sympathy in this difficult time. A celebration of our Mom’s life will be planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Trudy’s name to the Alzheimer’s Society.
Be kind to each other, love with your whole heart and cherish your family; lessons we have learned from our incredible Mom. Words cannot describe how much she will be missed.
DONATIONS
The Alzheimer Society of Windsor & Essex County2135 Richmond Street, Windsor, Ontario N8Y 0A1
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