Landa Mowery



Let me begin by saying that the children, grandchildren and other family members of Landa Mowery want to express our gratitude to everyone helping us celebrate her life this morning. We know the temperature is rising by the minute, and we promise not to keep you out here very long.

Also, we would like to thank Sherrie Conn for making the Hearne Community Center available to us for lunch after the services. To those who donated something to the dinner, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please drop by and eat with us when we are done here.

And now, let’s talk about Mom.

Landa was born in Portsmouth, Ohio on December 29, 1948. She was 62 years old at the time of her passing, which was Wednesday September 28, 2011. She had been a resident of the Hearne Health Center for approximately a year and a half, and the family is so grateful for the wonderful care she received from the loving and caring staff during her stay. Thankfully, she was surrounded by family when her time came.

We are so happy that Mom’s older sister, Toni, could be here with us today. Toni is battling cancer for the second time, and we pray for a speedy recovery for her. She certainly has the family’s love behind her.

Mom’s younger sister, Kim, is also here with her family. Mom thought the world of both her sisters, and as her children we take comfort in knowing that the feeling was mutual. They were a tight bunch, for sure.

Mom had six children- Glen, Teresa, Rob, Jay, Shannon and Raymond. Jay couldn’t be here with us today, but thankfully the rest of us made it- as did our father, Glen Wilson, all the way from South Carolina. We thank him so much for being here in our time of need.

Sixty two years old sounds young, doesn’t it? In our minds, we picture ourselves much older when we die- mid ‘70s at least, maybe even beyond that. But don’t fool yourselves. Mom lived enough life for all of us. In fact, you could almost say she lived several different lives.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this- Don’t look back on yesterday, or you’ll get depressed. Don’t worry too much about tomorrow, or you’ll get too anxious. Live for today, and you’ll always be in the moment. And I agree with that saying 99% of the time.

But I have to believe that when Mom looked back on her past, she had to do so with pride. I say pride because she overcame so many challenges and obstacles, demons and ghosts, struggles and hardships.

I was nine years old when Mom went through a divorce and once again became a single mother. With her chin held high, she worked her fingers to the bone night and day to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. I can remember more than once when she held down two jobs to make ends meet.

I don’t mean to make it sound like she was all work and no play. Mom knew a good time when she saw it, in fact a good many of you here now probably remember some of those times. She loved to share a beer or two, had a quick smile that she showed often, and would dance the soles right off of her shoes.

A few years ago she had a very serious car wreck. As these things sometimes do, it changed her life drastically and forced her to re-evaluate her priorities. Family became even more important to her, she dedicated herself to working even harder than before… and she found religion.

Oh, she was serious with her religion, too. If you ever stopped by to check on her when you were in a hurry, you’d find out just how serious she was about it. She’d talk your ears off about Jesus, and unless you had a good excuse for getting away, you were just going to hear it.

A quick story about that: A few years back my boss took me for a ride in his small airplane. Now, I had never been on a plane before, and I was scared to death. This thing was small, not much more than a soda can with wings. But once we got in the air I really enjoyed it, and the first call I made back on the ground was to Mom.

“Mom,” I yelled. “It was so smooth and peaceful up there, I couldn’t believe it.”

She let out a long sigh, and sounded like she was dreaming when she said “Son, just think how it will be in Heaven.”

I chuckled to myself when she said it- I just wasn’t used to her newfound religious views yet. But today I know she’s on the smoothest, most peaceful ride that she’s ever been on.

And that’s what we’d like for everyone to remember about our mother- she was several different women in her lifetime, and we are here to celebrate all of them.

Some of us here knew the wild and crazy Landa, some of us knew the conservative, devoted Christian Landa. But we all remember the loving mother, grandmother, sister and friend that worked tirelessly and stayed fiercely independent and hard-headed till the end.

And if you don’t believe that last part, just ask the nurses who tended to her these last few days. At least one of them is glad that Mom didn’t have her dentures in anymore.

Again, thank you all for being here. It warms our hearts to know so many people thought that much of our mother.