Our Mom
February 25, 2021
by Leslie Hanna
She was a passionate violinist, teacher, and political activist. She loved the desert scenery as well as the mountains and passed that passion onto us....as well as her love for music. Pets, wildlife, and tending to her many rose gardens also gave her joy.
She grew up loving to ice skate in Michigan and would go as far as jumping trains with skates on, just to get to the next best spot. Her sense of adventure took her to a remote village in the arctic by bush plane, exploring the streets of Morocco at night, whitewater rafting in Iceland, and landing on glaciers by helicopter in New Zealand. It was that same sense of adventure that propelled her to hopping a ship in the 1950s to join our dad in Germany after he was drafted. She told of the rough sea that winter, but that did not bother her or the other young people. As she said, they danced their way across the Atlantic and celebrated her 21st birthday on the ship. Once there, she was the only woman that toured Europe with the 7th Symphony Orchestra in the viola section along side our dad (solo pianist). In her latter years she got great joy from playing in the Silveridge orchestra and especially in playing & practicing with her trio group. She loved to hike, swim, and gab with her friends. She also loved getting together with her brothers and other family members.
She taught us the value of independence, but was always there for us to lean on when we needed advice or direction.
She was not only our mom, but our best friend.We will miss her dearly.
She grew up loving to ice skate in Michigan and would go as far as jumping trains with skates on, just to get to the next best spot. Her sense of adventure took her to a remote village in the arctic by bush plane, exploring the streets of Morocco at night, whitewater rafting in Iceland, and landing on glaciers by helicopter in New Zealand. It was that same sense of adventure that propelled her to hopping a ship in the 1950s to join our dad in Germany after he was drafted. She told of the rough sea that winter, but that did not bother her or the other young people. As she said, they danced their way across the Atlantic and celebrated her 21st birthday on the ship. Once there, she was the only woman that toured Europe with the 7th Symphony Orchestra in the viola section along side our dad (solo pianist). In her latter years she got great joy from playing in the Silveridge orchestra and especially in playing & practicing with her trio group. She loved to hike, swim, and gab with her friends. She also loved getting together with her brothers and other family members.
She taught us the value of independence, but was always there for us to lean on when we needed advice or direction.
She was not only our mom, but our best friend.We will miss her dearly.