Happy 89th Birthday Mom, You Are Not Forgotten – November 15, 2019

Mom died July 31, 1997 at age 66. This post is to honor her memory. She was a very private person so I won’t share too much of her life. You can read some of her story on her Find-A-Grave memorial. I have only been to her grave once in person. The service was done at the Biloxi National Cemetery and I didn’t realize she would be buried next to my step-father as she had a spot reserved next to my father after he died. I think because she was married to my step-father when he died, that’s why the V. A. placed her next to him. In addition to Mom, Dad, and my step-father, a niece is also buried in the same cemetery. I expect my sister and brother-in-law will be buried there as he was in the Air Force. My brother will be buried there as my niece was his daughter and he gave up the second spot for her.

Since she’s buried 900+ miles away, I am thankful graving sites like BillionGraves – https://billiongraves.com/supporting-record/Iva-R-Hartman/99532440, Find-A-Grave – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/762560/iva-ruth-hartman, and MississippiGravestones.org – https://mississippigravestones.org/view.php?id=27271  are available to visit her grave in a virtual sense. If you are so inclined, please leave a flower or token on her Find-A-Grave memorial. I am appreciative of those who photographed her headstone on the graving sites.

I don’t have any photos of her as she disliked having her picture taken. I lost it in a move many years ago, but she gave me a photo of her as a gift shortly before she died. I need to ask my sister if she has any photos of her as Mom tended to be the one taking the pictures so she wouldn’t have to be in the photos.

As I have said before, it was Mom talking about my half-sister Lorraine is how I got interested in genealogy. Mom was not into genealogy and I didn’t know her parents’ names. We visited her father’s grave a few times, but that was before the genealogy bug bit me. She got some details wrong about Lorraine which is why it took decades for me to find Lorraine. From the beginning, I had a sense of peace about finding Lorraine. It may sound like a fool’s errand, given this was pre-Internet, but I was confident I would find her.