BIG BLOG
Loretta E. Gavin, Inductee in the Mother’s Hall of Fame
BY JEFF REDMON/BREAKTHROUGH IMPACT GROUP
I had the honor and privilege of attending the celebration of Loretta Gavin’s 100 years of life. What a life it was!
Ever faithful to her God, she raised 14 children, had 30 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.
Born in 1920, she attended Holy Angels Academy in Minneapolis and earned her degree from the College of St. Catherine. A woman born in 1920 had a life expectancy of just over 54 years. She seized life and held on living independently until her last weeks in her home near her church, St. Mark’s where she was an active member for over 60 years. Not that many women born in 1920 graduated from college, she was a trailblazer.
Loretta’s eulogy shared by my dear friend, middle son, Dan Gavin was full of memories and evidence of her unanimous induction into the Mother’s Hall of Fame. Dan bragged that Loretta maintained her faith despite raising 14 children. All her kids came home for grade school lunch. Dan calculated that she prepared over 20,000 lunches just for her kids while in grade school.
I remember Loretta fondly as our family shared many festivities with the Gavin family. Our kids were a similar age to Dan and Jan’s children, so our families shared many great times together. Our son, Tom, and their daughter Annie made the front page of the local newspaper riding Pokey the pony as Robin Hood and Maid Marion in the Roberts Good Neighbor Day’s Parade.
Thank you, Loretta, for giving and sharing with us such a beautiful family, your legacy has not gone unnoticed. A life well-lived. I’m sure you are exactly where you expected to be.
If you have not honored your mom, alive or deceased, be sure and do so.