In Ojibwe culture, when a person dies, their spirit spends four days walking west to begin a new, happy life in the spirit world. Thus, when someone passes, we commonly say that they have “walked on” or begun their “journey.”
Grita Gidner, 91, of Renton, Washington, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, began her journey on the morning of September 8, 2024, following several years of declining health.
Grita was born Grita LouAnn Goerke in Topinabee, Michigan, on August 13, 1933, the only child of Marguerite and Lewis Goerke.
A 4-H scholarship allowed her to attend Michigan State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree, graduating in 1955.
In 1952, she met Dick Gidner at a dance in East Lansing, MI. They were married in 1956, and moved to Dayton, Ohio, where Dick was in the Air Force. In 1958, Grita had her favorite daughter, Dawn Gidner (Kerry Hodnett), and in 1960, saving the best for last, had her favorite son Jerry (“E.G”) Gidner (Amy Sosin). In April 2024, Dick and Grita celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary.
After the family left Ohio, Grita lived, and worked as a Registered Nurse, in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and finally, Washington State, where Dick and Grita have lived for the past 41 years.
Over the course of a long and meaningful life, Grita was a square dancer, 4H leader, and talented craftswoman. Grita sewed, knitted, and embroidered. Later in her life, she developed a love for Brazilian Embroidery, and became a well-known and much-loved practitioner and teacher of the craft. She hosted weekly “stitching” meetings at her house for the last several years, up until the time she entered the hospital in mid-August, 2024. Those meetings have continued since then, and will continue in her memory into the future.
Grita was a voracious reader. In every home she had, the bookshelves sighed under the weight of the thousands of books that lived with her. She gave both Dawn and Jerry the love of reading and the quiet curiosity that accompanies it. It is hard to think of a better gift that a mother could give her children.
More than anything, maybe, Grita loved animals. She almost always had cats and dogs or other pets in the house, and they have been a great comfort to her and she to them. Her granddaughters, Reiss Gidner (Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, Class of 2025) and Sadie Gidner (University of Vermont, Animal Science, Class of 2025), obviously inherited this love. And not only did Grita love animals, but she was such a good person and pure soul that every animal that ever met her, loved her as well.
She was a quiet, kind, and strong woman, and the world will miss her.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite Brazilian Embroidery group and/or animal shelter, hug someone, pet a dog, scratch a cat’s ears, or just be kind.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIOCOMPARTA
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