We celebrated Grandpa's 84th birthday with some healthy snacks at the birthday boys request! We love him so much and I wish we could spend more time listening to him instead of chasing our lil ones around.
Some things I want to remember from this year:
TJ brings him the leftover soup from work a few times a week, he writes the date on the jar and puts it in his fridge and then throws away anything over 2 weeks old. At least once a week we both get a call to check if it's still good, even if its only a few days old, and then continues to tell us if it wasn't for the soup we have been bringing for almost 3 years he would be dead. Then the phone call goes on and on until you have to go and basically hang up after saying I love you ten times. Sometimes it drives me nuts but most the time I love it, he always make you feel so important to him.
If we have leftovers from dinner I will call him and ask if he wants them, I have never heard no :)
I stop by once a week to check up on him when no one is living with him, some memorable moments:
Playing dead, yep he is "asleep" in his bed at 4pm and you can poke and yell but nothing, until you say, "I am gonna have to call the ambulance." then he wakes right up, heaven forbid you spend money on the ambulance :)
Working out on his exercise bike, cracks me up
eating lunch and you cannot even tell what it is
Helping him with yard work, pulling weeds and such and you get whacked in the head with his cane when he is showing you another spot, he swears its not on purpose :)
Happy Birthday Grandpa, we sure love you lots!
Sadly he lost his sister the night before
Alice Bentley Holland
ST. GEORGE - The sunshine which so characterizes Utah's Dixie dimmed just a little on January 3, 2011, a tribute to the passing of one of its treasured daughters, Alice Bentley Holland. It is fitting that Alice died in her own home located equidistant between the classic red sandstone of the St. George Tabernacle, her childhood LDS meetinghouse, and the incomparable St. George Temple, which dominated the landscape of her life and which she faithfully attended until her death. Alice was as strong as the stones with which both buildings had been built by her pioneer ancestors and she never wanted to live in any city, state, or nation that could not provide her a view of her beloved Pine Valley Mountain.
Alice was born October 20, 1915, the first of six children to Herbert Roy and Leonora Snow Bentley. She attended local schools where she was an exceptional student sitting at the feet of remarkably devoted teachers, two of whom were her parents. On September 7, 1936, Alice married Frank Dennis Holland who, with his Irish charm, swept her off her feet. She found her deepest joy and truest sense of mission in mothering three sons and a daughter, Dennis (Jean) of Placerville, California, Jeffrey (Patricia) of Salt Lake City, Utah, Scott, who died in infancy, and Deborah Holland Millet of St. George, Utah. Her joy has been magnified in her senior years by twenty-five grandchildren/grandchildren-in-law, thirty-six great grandchildren, and two great, great grandchildren. Her husband, son, parents and two sisters, Erma Sandberg of Washington, Utah and Mildred Dailey of Granite Bay, California preceded her in death. She is survived by one sister, Helen Nisson Jolley of Washington, Utah, and two brothers, Herbert S. Bentley of St. George, Utah, and Marion J. Bentley of Provo, Utah.
Alice served in all the auxiliaries of the LDS Church, with perhaps her happiest years being those she served with her husband and daughter as a missionary in England (1962-63) and California (1963-64.) After the death of her husband, she served faithfully as a volunteer telephone operator in the St. George Temple for nearly twenty-five years.
The family wishes to thank the host of friends, neighbors and professionals who loved and cared for Alice in her declining years. Special mention must be made of Ana Mitchell, her live-in care giver in the final months of her life, Dr. Clark Staheli, her physician, and the devoted employees of Applegate Home Care and Hospice. Her granddaughters, Heather Holland Adams and Rebecca Holland Ganowsky, also gave special care to Alice for many years.
Appreciation is expressed to the members of the St. George Fifth Ward for their loyalty and compassionate service to Alice and her family in this time of loss.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in the St. George East Stake Center immediately east of the St. George Temple. There will be a viewing held Friday, January 7, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to the service, both visitations held at the Stake Center.
In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make donations to the LDS Missionary Fund or a favorite charity of your choosing.
Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, St. George, UT, (435) 673-2454. Friends and family are invited to sign Alice's guest book at www.spilsburymortuary.com.
