I was a ticket agent for NW airlines,used to see Dean and Mary all the time as they commuted,they were nothing but lovely,kind,and always a delight to attend to..I hope she is at peace and rolling that beverage cart down the aisles up above.
Dean you were so lucky to have her as a part of your life,as she was to have you..

I remember at her niece Stephanie's 25th Wedding Anniversary in Frankenmuth, MI, I reminded Mary Catherine that she and I were Stephie's godparents.  Jeanne, Stephie's mom (and Mary Catherine's older sister), had picked Mary Catherine and me to be the godparents at Stephie's baptism.  Mary Catherine acted surprised when we reminded her of this fact and said, without missing a beat,  "Oh no, I'm too young to be a Godmother".   (I should point out that Mary Catherine was about 14 months older than me.) But we all had a hearty laugh at that remark.  Mary Catherine always had a truly remarkable sense of humor and could come up with the darndest things to say, on the spur of the moment.

  

I just shared this story with my Aunt Carol (Cotchie's younger sister).  One summer, my husband and 2 sons and Carol, Bob and their two kids visited Dean & Cotchie and their kids in Spokane.  We spent a few days at their condo in Idaho.  One morning, we had the stereo playing while we were getting around.  "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys came on the radio.  As if on cue, Carol & Cotchie came from opposite sides of the living room and started doing a "kick line" to the words - Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama" -- it was hilarious!  Of course, I told them both not to quit their day jobs, but whenever that song comes on Sirius XM satellite radio, I think of my two aunts doing the chorus line in Idaho.  :)

My mom, Jeanne (Cotchie's oldest sister) was a single mom.  Raising 4 children on one income meant Christmas was often very lean.  Every single Christmas, Cotchie would send a BIG box through the US Mail.  Every day after we knew she mailed it, we would run to the door to see if it arrived.  Once it did, my grandma (who was babysitting us at the time) would drag it into the dining room and carefully cut it open to reveal beautifully wrapped presents and lots of candy inside.  She picked out one perfect toy, and a new outfit for each of my brothers and me.  It was as if Christmas came twice.  I never forgot it, and I hope she knew how much it meant to me as a kid to know that she loved us so much.

Mom was a great Nana! She would randomly call and say "you and Kurt need a date night! I'll come stay with the boys!" It gave us the opportunity to have date nights which were difficult with having 3 kids in 4 years! I think Dad wondered if she was going to just move in with us! LOL

Mom was very funny! I remember when Chase was born... her and Dona were making their way to the hospital and Mary wasn't great with directions. She was trying to remember the exit and said to Dona "don't count on me to find it... that's like the blonde leading the blonde!" She was able to laugh at herself ... 

My best memory with Mom was when the two of us took a trip to Italy to visit Darren when he was attending Gonzaga in Florence.  After I got over the fact that she insisted we only bring one bag each, which I did, and then she brought three...we discovered we were perfect traveling partners!  We ate everything, drank tons of coffee, shopped like crazy, walked everywhere, and laughed ourselves to sleep every night.  We even both decided simultaneously that we were suffering from museum overload in the middle of The Uffizi and walked out with zero regrets.  Mom went to Italy many times afterwards and always sent me a postcard to let me know she was thinking of me and our perfect trip.  ❤️❤️❤️