It saddends me to say that we lost our Aunt Lou a few weeks ago. She got a blood clot in her leg that the doctors were not able to treat. She passed away peacefully shortly after. Our family is still terribly sad but we are so grateful for all of the wonderful memories we shared with her. My sister wrote an amazing eulogy for her funeral. I'd like to share it with everyone.Lou Ellen Ragan was the Matriarch of our family. As our parents and grandparents passed away, Aunt Lou took us in, making us her own children and grandchildren. Everyone was made to feel special and loved.
She had one son, Jimmy, one daughter-in-law, Maria, one grandson, Jeremy and one granddaughter-in-law, Linda. However, in total, she took in 3 nieces, 6 great nieces and nephews, 11 great-great nieces and nephews and one great-great-great nephew and made them all her own.
Aunt Lou was gregarious. She never met a stranger. A few nights ago, she laughed as she described herself in her father’s terms. “You’re just like your Aunt Gladys. Always loud mouthed and talking” he told her. She loved having fun, doing new things and meeting new people. She and JD met while she was a young teenage girl. He was wild in comparison to her tame upbringing and she loved being wild with him. He was the love of her life. He taught her to jitterbug and how to love life and have a roaring good time.
When JD was in the service during World War II, she said she traveled anywhere they’d let the wives go. She got to live with him in Alaska for a time and traveled to far off places to meet him whenever he had leave. She left Alaska to return home and have their only son, Jimmy.
Jimmy was the light of Aunt Lou’s life; the best son anyone could ever have, she often said. She told me that Jimmy would do things that any other man would never do for their mother.
But then came along a third man in her life: Jeremy. When he was a toddler, he rode on a little wooden chair in between Lou and JD in the bench seat of their El Camino. When Jeremy went to college, he lived with his Granny for a while. She fussed over him constantly as only a doting grandmother could do, making him breakfast every morning.
When Jeremy and Linda married this summer, Aunt Lou was over the moon. At the wedding, she wound up staying until the very end. I believe she said she got home about 1:30 in the morning and told us all the wedding stories for quite a while.
Lou worked for 30 years. When JD passed away, she moved in with her mother to take care of her. Aunt Lou’s niece, Nita, called her every day for the rest of her life, just to check on her.
Hilari remembers that she always kept cheese balls and Danish cookies at the house she shared with her mom. While we were working close by, Melinda, Sonja and I would often stop in for lunch. You were always welcome and never needed an invitation. Aunt Lou loved being the weigh-station for all of our comings and goings.
When her mother passed away, Aunt Lou moved into an apartment right next to my grandmother. She and Mema had a lot of good times. They played lots of Skipbo, took many Dan Dipert tours together and took several mini vacations with Melinda, Hilari and John. On one of those trips, Aunt Lou tried to teach John how to use a bow and arrow. I never knew she could shoot but then she was always full of surprises. Aunt Lou and Mema also enjoyed having sleep-over’s with Hilari and John. Aunt Lou would take them to the grocery store and let them buy whatever they wanted for dinner.
Aunt Lou had a fantastic sense of humor. She always made us laugh and was sharp as a tack with her wit. She’d throw out phrases like “I’m nervous as a pregnant nun” and “my mouth is dry as a heel” and have us all in stitches. We’ll all miss laughing with her.
She loved to be in the middle of her family, no matter the reason. Whether it was peeling potatoes for potato salad or packing up yet another one of us to move, she was involved in it all.
The lady loved hot sauce; she would eat habanero Rot-tel tomatoes straight out of the can. In fact, her last real meal was brought to her in the hospital by Hilari and Melinda. She ate a taco and 3 tubs of the hot sauce, just with a spoon.
She loved the Cowboys, and she would have been put out that they played so badly this past week. She had lots of Cowboys paraphernalia including a Cowboys mat in front of her recliner and she watched them faithfully. Dad would call her every game to make sure she had the TV on the right channel and was watching. When we were in the ER last Friday, she told me to tell Dad on the phone that her leg was hurting because she kicked too many footballs during their game the night before. She said that she didn’t watch all of that last pre-season game as she was not pleased with their performance.
Her wonderfully tacky gifts she gave all of us were the highlight of every birthday and Christmas. We could all spot an "Aunt Lou" gift from a mile away. Hilari enjoyed the singing sunflower and Blaine loved a ceramic tennis shoe with little soaps in it. If she went “serious” on us with a gift, we were somewhat disappointed.
You could also count on receiving a card for any occasion with a cut out butterfly taped to the front of the envelope. Even the younger cousins like Grant & Asa, Ethan and Hailey could recognize her birthday cards without opening them. She LOVED butterflies. She had them cut out of magazines pasted to her refrigerator door and in every room of her house.
Her love for sparkly things, especially jewelry was right up there on her favorite list. I’m not sure if the jewelry or the butterflies would get top billing but a sparkly butterfly pin would be the best possible scenario.
Aunt Lou loved chocolate and it held healing powers for her. A few months ago, Aunt Lou could not be awakened. John worked his magic nursing skills with little results then Hilari broke out the chocolate. She put it in Aunt Lou’s mouth and Aunt Lou started chewing, woke up and said, “That’s good”. She continued to recover from that illness and she was on her way out of the nursing home into assisted living just two weeks ago.
We were broken-hearted to see that the chocolate didn’t work this last time. She stayed with us for a week so that we could adjust and all get to say goodbye.
As much as I’m going to miss Aunt Lou, I know that Jimmy has a hole in his heart right now that is different than mine. As Aunt Lou did for us, we will hold you tightly. Know that we will continue that bond long after today.
Aunt Lou loved each and every one of us with her whole heart. She wasn't just my Aunt, she was my friend. I am so happy that God chose her for our family.
In the days and months ahead, we can remember what a beautiful lady Aunt Lou was. We will comfort each other with the knowledge of what a loving, supportive and close-knit family we still have. Our family will continue on long after now because of the strong and stable roots that she and Uncle JD, and Mema and Dadaddy planted and nurtured for our family.
