Person Sheet

Name Orsola Blanche MARNEY Birth 21 May 1927, New Mexico (LDS says Idaho?) Death 22 Feb 2005, Grants Pass, OR Occupation Housewife Education completed 8th grade(?) Religion Christian Father Homer Melvin MARNEY Mother Cora Beatrice (Bertha) HAWKINS
Spouses:
1 James Covington NEWTON Birth 20 Jan 1935, Big Rapids, MI Death 10 Feb 2003, Williams, OR Occupation Clock Repairman, Inventor Education Big Rapids High School 1953 w. honors; Orange Coast College Religion agnostic Father Roy NEWTON Ph.D. (1904-1974) Mother Dorothy Vernon CRAMMOND (1905-1981)
Children: James Michael (1964-)

Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2002 (she had been slipping for years before that) and placed in foster care at Fairview Nursing Home, Grants Pass, OR. She had not recognized anyone for years before her death so her passing now is more of a relief, although it does remind us of her loss.

That specific nursing home has repeatedly amazed me with the loving care and respect offered it's residents. When I have visited, they have shown such caring for her and knowledge of her likes and dislikes that I find it difficult to believe any of the standard horrer stories about nursing homes could apply to this one.

When she was first taken there by my Dad, she looked like death warmed over. I was stunned by the picture I saw. Dad couldn't get her to eat and she was really wasteing away. Somehow, they got her to eat and she gained weight, color and strength in short order. When I was able to visit, she looked much better. And I remember the place had NO smell of urine or feces which, I'm told, are common at such facilities.

I didn't contact the home until after my father passed in Feburary of 2003. When I did call, they made sure I knew details about her that only a son would know before they would even confirm that she was with them. They were polite, but I had the distinct impression that they were ticked that I had not contacted them earlier. Dads care of her hadn't been up to their standards and they made sure I knew what was involved in case I decided to try to care for her at my home. After seeing all they did for her, I knew she was in the best place she could be.

They made sure she had good warm clothing, they let me know what she needed so I could feel involved. Kris, the director, was so positive about her; Mom never really showed any signs of being aware of me or others, but Kris seemed to have a rock solid faith that mom was in there somewhere and knew what was going on. When I sent a boom box and old time gospel music CDs they played them for her and told me that they knew she enjoyed them. How, I have no idea. One of the girls asked if she could keep a picture of mom, taken when she was younger, to remember her by.

She was a loving wife and mother and I have missed her for years. She was a good christian woman, but she never let that get in the way of being kind or doing the right thing. She loved painting, quilting and gospel music. +And for some strange reason, she loved my dad.

August 1962 cover of Electronics magazine. In the photo, she is (I believe) attaching bondout wires to a transistor or possibly an early integrated circuit. These are tiny (hence the microscope) gold wires which make the connection between pads on the silicon and the pins that extend out of the case.

This was at Hughes Aircraft - Semiconductor division where my father worked and they met. The article inside is about the automation he designed (although he is not credited) to help with alignment. In the setup of that new system, he needed to work with one of the "girls" on the line to ensure the roll out would go smoothly, and mom was picked because she was a top performer.

Based on her recollection, the other women weren't really trying; they spent their time sleeping of hangovers between the bosses rounds or just doing the minimum to collect a check. She was regularly the target of their ire for throwing off the production curve. LOL. Mom had that midwest farmers daughter work ethic

Mom with some of her paintings. The covered bridge still hangs in our home.

Mom with the O guage steam train Dad made. I belive this was taken at the house in Chino.

A young Zola in the Jaguar KX-140.

See also:

• /techref/idea/websites.htm Her condition was the inspiration for the massmind website.+
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMEJXFCGRHI Husband JC and his brother Glen singing with a recording of Glen playing the piano and Orsola singing the chorus of a hymn.
• Paintings by Mom and others close to her.
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=:3160384&id=I620008241

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