Father August (1883-1921) Mother Amelia (1886-1945) Anita Grunwaldt (1933-1935) Clarence Neuhauser (1916-2009) Ottilia Neuhauser (1916-1993) Lenore Puckett (1947-1993)
An English garden from the Great-Grandkids.
Tim takes a photo of where his mom is laid to rest on his phone.
Gramps was my last living grandparent until last week. We would visit him at my Dad's house, where he lived for as long as I can remember. My Grandma Neuhauser died in 1993, but she had cancer. My Grandma Warren died suddenly just before Jillian turned 1, in July of 2001. Her husband, Grandpa Warren, died when I was 8 I believe, just 4 days after Christmas. My Great-Grandma Sanders died about 1 year after Grandpa Warren. I wasn't that close to them, but I was glad for the "experience" I had to prepare for losing loved ones as an adult.
Gramps was a WWII vet, so he had a flag on his coffin. I picked out flowers that would match and still be colorful. We didn't have many people there, but I still wanted something nice for my Grampa.
I cried when I got the call from my dad on my cell phone on the way to church that morning. When I saw his number, I was almost certain it was "the call", and unfortunately I was right. We still went to church, but I cried through parts of the sermon as I thought of my grandpa and how my dad was taking things. I did what I could to help--there was so much to do even though the arrangements had been made 3 months prior to him entering the nursing home, as they suggested.
An English garden from the Great-Grandkids.
I helped Dad with some of the arrangements (pastor, flowers, music, getting my older brother here from Arizona, getting readers for the actual funeral, meeting with Pastor Todd, picking scripture passages) so I was pretty busy Sunday and Monday, then the visitation and funeral were Tuesday morning at 10 and 11 respectively. I was SO thankful to see some friends come--just their presence touched my heart so much I began to cry. 
Stephanie (Hopperton) Perry was the first one there, with 2 kids in tow to boot, who were very well behaved I will add. Later, Sarah and Nathan Lindquist (they are brother and sister) who are friends with Brooks and me, came and I was so blessed by their presence. I doubted anyone from 129 would come due to the timing and late notice, but they did. 
Katie Stephen came and played piano so I could sing a hymn for the funeral. She was there for most of the funeral, as were Sarah and Nathan. She is such a dear friend (like Sarah) so I was glad to see her as well. Our Pastor Todd Augustine, who performed our wedding and Elliott's dedication, did the service and shared the Gospel with my family, some of which do not know Jesus as their personal Savior from Hell and Lord of all Creation. We were so thankful to have him there.
Stephanie (Hopperton) Perry was the first one there, with 2 kids in tow to boot, who were very well behaved I will add. Later, Sarah and Nathan Lindquist (they are brother and sister) who are friends with Brooks and me, came and I was so blessed by their presence. I doubted anyone from 129 would come due to the timing and late notice, but they did. 
Katie Stephen came and played piano so I could sing a hymn for the funeral. She was there for most of the funeral, as were Sarah and Nathan. She is such a dear friend (like Sarah) so I was glad to see her as well. Our Pastor Todd Augustine, who performed our wedding and Elliott's dedication, did the service and shared the Gospel with my family, some of which do not know Jesus as their personal Savior from Hell and Lord of all Creation. We were so thankful to have him there.
We processed about 45 minutes from Wheaton to Forest Park. It just started to rain when we arrived at the burial site, which is actually for Grandma Neuhauser's family, Nickel. Her parents, one of her 2-year-old cousins, and her daughter were all buried there, and now Gramps. 
Pastor Todd kept it short, but then the rain subsided. Mark and Tim, my cousins, sons of my deceased Aunt Lenore, visited their mom while we were there. The grave stone was covered by the turf, so Dad asked the guys to go ahead and lower the coffin, so we got to see all that. It was very emotional for the guys, especially Tim, who was 12 when she died. I tried to be a comfort, but I hadn't seen him since her funeral 16 years ago. Mark had been close to Gramps since he was young, so he was probably the most emotional there. Dad was most emotional when he was on the phone with me, since I started crying of course.
Pastor Todd kept it short, but then the rain subsided. Mark and Tim, my cousins, sons of my deceased Aunt Lenore, visited their mom while we were there. The grave stone was covered by the turf, so Dad asked the guys to go ahead and lower the coffin, so we got to see all that. It was very emotional for the guys, especially Tim, who was 12 when she died. I tried to be a comfort, but I hadn't seen him since her funeral 16 years ago. Mark had been close to Gramps since he was young, so he was probably the most emotional there. Dad was most emotional when he was on the phone with me, since I started crying of course.
Brooks was a paul-bearer with my cousins, my brother, and my dad, and Tim Hultgren from the funeral home.
Jillian and I got our picture taken by my niece, Lauren.
The part you usually don't see.
The part you usually don't see.
Tim takes a photo of where his mom is laid to rest on his phone.
We drove back to Warrenville for dinner at the Courtyard, and we had a really nice time together as a family, catching up on careers and hobbies. 
The Neuhauser family: (L-R)Tim Puckett, Susan Locke, Mark Puckett, Gail Chambers, Jillian Locke, Dean Neuhauser, Lauren Chambers holding Elliott Locke, Katie Chambers, Brooks Locke, Judy Neuhauser, Dennis Neuhauser.
It was really amazing.
Mom with Dean and Gail.
After the dinner, we went to Dad's to look through Gramps' stuff and take things that we wanted. My sister, Gail, and I both took the last boxes to sort through later. There were a lot of old pictures and important legal documents, like death certificates, for family members. I have the Bible that was given to my grandparents at their wedding, Gramps' wedding band, and a hymn book that was my grandma's. After that, Dean and Gail, their mom, and my nieces all came over to our house to visit, eat pizza, and play a game of Imaginiff. 
Dean, Tim, Me, Gail, and Mark--The Nickel/Neuhauser cousins
It was so nice to be together as a family! Karen (Dean and Gail's mom) may not be my family by blood, but I sure do like her, and I'm glad I get to visit with her when she comes to Illinois and when we go to Arizona. She's like one of my aunts, all of whom I am very fond of. :) I took a lot of pictures, since I like photo journalism, but I posted just a few. This posting has been very theraputic for me. Thanks for reading.
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