SEND FLOWERS

Obituary

Our mom, Ola Louise Bussell Dailey, (also known as “Granny”) was born in 1927 in the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee. We don’t know much about her time there, but she talked of a house on the river where she lived with her mom, dad and siblings. One thing that has always stayed with us were her stories of Christmas as a young child in that Tennessee home. Her family was poor and struggling and they certainly lived through the great depression. Our mom said that for Christmas every year, she would get an orange and a handmade doll her mother sewed from old socks. How different her childhood was than all of her daughters. Eventually her family moved to Monroe and when our mom was just a schoolgirl, a science teacher told her something that set her on a path of doubt and uncertainty. The most important decision you can make in your life is to know that God is real and accept Jesus Christ. Even though our mom went to a Southern Baptist Church with her family, because this science teacher told her there was no God, doubts were cast that remained with her for the majority of her life. Our mom met our dad, Marvin, while living in Monroe. Our mom and her friend ran through a cemetery at dusk to get to the friend’s house quicker. Of course, our dad and his friend saw them coming and hid until the girls went running by. You guessed it, they jumped out from behind a big tombstone and scared the life out of those young girls. Somehow, that led to a courtship and marriage! Our parents were loving parents and they provided a great childhood for all their girls. Carol was 16 years old when Cheryl was born and 17 when Karen was born. Carol married right after high school, so Cheryl and Karen didn’t grow up in the same house as Carol. Carol remembers her childhood as a very happy childhood. Marv loved to fish and he named his first boat the “Carol Ann” after his 1st born daughter. Carol remembers taking a vacation every year with our parents and she has fond memories of those trips. Carol grew up in the first house our parents owned on Poplar Street in Southgate. Cheryl and Karen grew up together and have great memories of their childhood as well. They grew up on Veronica Street in Southgate. So many of their memories are about the swimming pool in the backyard. They had so many fun days with family and friends and remember their parents having many pool parties. Their house was always the place where people wanted to hang out and have fun. All the daughters also remember the parties that happened in the finished basement. They especially remember the DISCO BALL their mom hung up in the basement. It was crystal and it spun around and flashed disco lights all over the room! Their mother loved it and she loved to dance. They remember her knowing all the songs and all the specific dances of the Disco era. Mom and her ladies from bowling were always downstairs dancing under that disco ball! The most important things that all 3 daughters shared was the love and support from their parents. They all feel that their parents were wonderful and are tremendously grateful for their upbringing. Ola loved her girls unconditionally and even if one of them were to rob a bank, somehow it would have been the banker’s fault. Marv and Ola moved to Florida, to a community called Jamaica Bay when their dad retired. Their parents had a wonderful retirement life filled with all sorts of activities and new found friends that they had for decades. Ola’s love of dancing continued and she joined different dance teams and performed in different variety shows at theirs and other communities in the area. She wore all kinds of fancy and colorful outfits and performed all sorts of dance — even clogging for a time! Our dad passed away in 1999, and although that was very hard for our mom, we have been so proud of her strength and her ability to create a new and happy life for herself. He was 72 when he passed away, our mom was just 71 at that time. She remained in Florida for the next 9 years and it is here where the story picks back up about our mom’s struggle with God. When our mom was 80 years old and still living in Florida, Karen got a call very early one morning from Ola’s friend in Florida, Marie. Our mom had been taken by ambulance to the hospital. It was her heart and the situation didn’t look good. Karen was able to catch a flight and was with her mom by noon that day. Upon arrival, it was obvious to her that the Florida doctors just wanted to send their mom home to die. The next day, they released Ola from the hospital saying they couldn’t do anything to help her. With her sister’s blessing, Karen and her mom boarded a flight to Houston for an appointment with Karen’s husband’s cardiologist the next day. Dr. Younis examined our mom and couldn’t believe she survived the trip. He put her in a wheelchair, walked her across the skywalk to St. Lukes Hospital and she was immediately admitted. Her first surgery was the very next morning with a world renowned heart surgeon. Her second surgery was the following day with that same surgeon. These surgeries were very hard on our mom. She had a very high pain tolerance, but she was suffering greatly. The chest tube they inserted was really bothering her and soon the pain meds or side effects of the anesthesia were making her very sick. Karen had been staying at the hospital and was now 48 hours without any sleep at all. She held the trash can for her mom all afternoon as the vomiting continued. Karen felt as though she was trying so hard to help her mom live and get through these difficult days, but then her mom said it. She was crying and yelling and told Karen that she just wanted to die. You can imagine how upsetting this was to Karen, especially in her sleep deprived state. She needed a break and told her mom she would be back in the morning. Karen drove home feeling terribly guilty for leaving her mom in a great hour of need. She got home, sat down and within 10 seconds the phone was ringing. The caller ID, revealed it was St. Lukes Hospital. Her heart sank. She thought her mom had died and her last moments with her were horrible. The guilt as she picked up the phone was overwhelming. What we are about to tell you next happened before Cheryl’s son, (Ola’s grandson), Joe, had his beautiful Melissa in his life. We have their blessing to tell this part of the story. It wasn’t some representative from St. Lukes hospital calling to say our mom had died. It was our mom. Not the mom Karen left in her hospital bed just a few hours before, but a joyful, blissful, positive and full of hope mom. Ola started her story of what happened to her right after Karen left her hospital room. Ola’s phone rang, and it was her grandson, Joe. Joe is a loving grandson, calling to check on his Granny after her big surgeries. Ola said they had a nice conversation and as it was nearing the end, she decided to ask Joe if he was going to marry his girlfriend at the time, Kara. At this point in Joe’s life, we were all wondering about that, but he hadn’t shared that with anyone yet. Maybe not even his own parents. But, he decided to share it with his Granny that day. For all of you who know our mom well, you know she sure loved a good party! But her grandson’s wedding???? Wow, now this is something to live for!!! Ola said she hung up from that conversation and immediately started to pray. She told Karen she prayed harder than she had ever prayed before and she begged God to let her live long enough to dance at her grandson’s wedding. She was so excited at this point of her story. Karen never heard her mom talk with such exuberance. Remember, Ola had always doubted God. As soon as she finished her prayer, she said God came to her. She said it felt as if He entered her body and a warming, peaceful sensation started at her head and went all the way to her toes. She knew it was God, and she finally came to the realization that God was real and He was present in her life. He heard her prayer and gave her the will to live. God didn’t want Karen to stay in her mom’s hospital room that day. He knew the call was coming from Joe. He knew Ola would pray like she never had before and He knew how he was going to respond to her prayer. Not only did God provide that warm and peaceful experience, our mom sure enjoyed dancing at that wedding a few years later! Upon being released from the hospital, our mother wanted to be baptized right away. She was baptized at Karen and Greg’s church on January 27, 2008. She was 80 years old. Cheryl and Chuck purchased a tiny home in hopes Ola would now leave Florida and live around family in this house on Riverbank. It was just 1 house away from them and they started remodeling, repairing, painting, and carpeting. The plan was for Karen and Greg to bring Ola to Michigan to see the house after her recovery. We all had high hopes that she would love it and thankfully that is exactly what happened. The house reminded everyone of a gingerbread house and Chuck and did an amazing thing for our mother. We will always be grateful to him — especially because he had to be Ola’s landlord for the next 10+ years! That had to be more challenging than the transformation of the gingerbread house! She could be just a tiny bit demanding! Our mother was so happy in this little house. She put her personal touches on the home and got real busy in her yard. She loved flowers and flower pots and she had them everywhere! She even painted a large yellow smiley face on a tree trunk in the front yard. We discovered quite some time later that her smiley face was actually visible on Google Earth! She also loved painting her garden gnomes every year and having barbecues and bonfires in her backyard. Our mom also got her first dog and loved her beyond belief, a miniature dachshund she named Daisy. Both Daisy and Ola loved their house and their yard! Our mom did develop one crazy obsession while living in her Gingerbread house! It was an obsession of solar lights for your landscaping. Solar lights began popping up everywhere! They were in the flower beds, they were in all the flower pots, they lined tree trunks and were just stuck in the ground out in the yard. They were in the front yard, the back yard and the side yards. It was impossible to miss the obsession of the solar lights! At one of the backyard parties, Karen and her niece, Emily, decided to walk the whole yard and count just how many solar lights were on Granny’s property! There were hundreds and hundreds and they gave up before they finished counting. You might be wondering, how many solar lights can fit in one single flower pot? The answer is 14! At 90 years old, while living in her Gingerbread house, we realized something was terribly wrong with our mom. Sadly, it was dementia and we wanted to keep her as independent as possible for as long as possible. For the next several years, we tried a variety of living arrangements and are thankful for the help of family and friends. She would split her time between Michigan and Texas and had to have someone with her at all times. As her illness progressed, it became necessary to get her into an assisted living facility that specialized in dementia patients. In August of 2019, we chose Downriver Estates Senior Living and we have been so pleased in the care they provided. As our mom lay in her bed during the final days of her life, so many staff members at the facility came in to tell us “Ola” stories. Many said they she was their favorite and many told us how much they were going to miss her. We are grateful to all the Downriver Estates staff members who treated our mom with such loving care and respect. Dementia is a terrible illness and it takes very special people to provide such quality care. The staff did just that over the 4 1/2 years that our mom lived there. A last great memory for our family was on Christmas Day, just this past Christmas. Granny participated (rather aggressively) in an indoor snowball fight after Christmas dinner with her great granddaughters, Claire and Elenor, and grand children Joe and Emily. We have video and will cherish it always! That was her last good day. Our mom had a great life and she was a wonderful mother. She loved all her daughters unconditionally and had unique relationships with each of her son-in-laws, Denny, Chuck and Greg. She was blessed with: 4 Grandsons: Joe Taylor Mike Beekman David Beekman Tim Roussey 2 Granddaughters: Emily (Taylor) Stopin Cindy Roussey 4 Great Grandsons Kyle Beekman Dylan Beekman Chase Beekman Josh Beekman 4 Great Granddaughters Claire Taylor Elenor Taylor Norma Beekman Samantha Beekman The family of Ola Dailey is grateful that you came today to celebrate her life.