My mom's obituary

Our mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend Georgetta Bernice Maxfield Ojanen “shut ‘er down” one last time on Tuesday morning March 10th. She was 80 years old on the outside, but on the inside, she was still dancing.

Georgetta was born in Rockland on October 19th, 1928, to James and Grace Maxfield, the third of 8 children. She graduated from Roger Clark High School with the class of 1946. She married Raymond S. Ojanen in 1948 instead of becoming a beautician and taking a trip to Venice as she had planned. Her main job was raising her kids until Ray got into an accident and she began working at Wager’s restaurant. She also worked at the Eagles club for many years. George had a lot of good friends and was a friend to everyone. She would have given anyone the shirt off her back. She often fed people who might have gone without if it wasn’t for her generosity. Once someone stole her TV set. She knew who had done it, but said “Well they must need it more than I do”. Many people have benefited from her generosity and she has benefited from the kindness of others including her friend the Schwann man, Carol, who helped her twice a week and Lorraine who came to her house and gave her a perm. She loved her small town life and the people in it, and never strayed too far away.

Our mother taught us what was important in life, such as “never talk about other people. You could find yourself in the same situation” and “people come to see you and not your house”. She never tried to be someone she wasn’t. She made friends wherever she went and talked to everyone. She taught us to always say “I love you” whenever you leave someone because you never know when or if you will see them again. Georgetta loved watching baseball, especially the Chicago Cubs. She was an avid reader, taking up this habit several years ago in place of smoking and often read a book a day. Parts of her life were very hard, but she made the best of it and was happy with the simple things: a good cup of coffee, egg sandwiches with pickles, the hummingbirds in her window, the deer in her yard and Jan Tucker’s show. She enjoyed a ride to the casino every now and then too. All three of us kids said “goodnight” to her every night. She would often call Barb and say “Goodnight, I’m shutting ‘er down”.

Georgetta was preceded in death by her husband Ray, her parents, two brothers and a sister. She is survived by her children Barbara Jean, Donna Raye Thomas (Bruce) of Salt Lake City, and Raymond Charles, of Rockland, three grandchildren, Kseniya Anne, William Raymond, and Daniel James, brothers Bernard (Elaine), James (Gaby), sisters Margie, and Wanda (Grant), nieces, nephews and cousins, and her kitty.

Memorial services will be held at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Rockland on Wednesday, March 18th, at 11 am. In memory of Georgetta, say “goodnight, I love you” to someone close to you. Hug your own mom if you are lucky enough to still have her.

Good night, mom. We love you.