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Missing my Gran August 2018	Back to Home Page

Wanda Weuleah Doyle was born January 3, 1925. She acquired that middle name from an Indian midwife. Wanda was the 7th of 12 children born to Caswell Thomas Doyle and Bertie Mae Clinton Doyle. She was married and became Wanda Morton on October 25th, 1947. She had two sons, Larry in 1948 and Leon in 1950. Larry married Glenda Faye Vaughn, together they had Deana and Brent, my cousins. Leon married Marcella West, who had me and my younger sister Desirae. Deana had two sons, Storm & Forrest; Brent had one daughter, Caitlyn, and Desirae had one son, Brodie. Wanda went home to be with Jesus on August 18, 2018. That is Gran's basic family history in a few sentences, but there is so much more to a life than that. My Gran was the only grandparent I had a real relationship with, and we were close. She kept us cousins at her house many weekends when we were growing up, all the way into our teens. We were unmercifully onery back then, but she put up with all of it. She taught me to love old country and Elvis music, as well as Abba. She taught me my love of quilting and the joys of a good game of Scrabble. Together with her sister Vi, they demonstrated how to dig into the Bible and really talk about what they read. They didn't just read the Bible, they labored over it. Gran also patiently told me stories of the past whenever I asked, which was often. She was a great cook, a loyal supporter, my prayer partner, and my friend. On this page I have placed just a few of my memories of this lady who meant so much to me.


Three of Gran's siblings died as young children, and her mother also passed away when Gran was around 6th grade age. Here are the remaining nine children.	Gran as a young girl


The nine siblings a few years later than the family photo above.	Gran with her sister Vi, who was like a second grandmother to us.


Gran looking very pretty. She is where I got my curly hair!	This picture of Gran includes her flamboyant, pre-marriage signature.


Siblings - Pearl, Vi, Ed, and Wanda	Gran looking pretty again


Now married and expecting first baby Larry. I don't know the other lady in this picture.	My dad Leon, and Uncle Larry



Gran was very proud of her two boys



And here I am, fresh on the scene.	I had a bit of a drooling problem, but it didn't stop Gran from cuddling with me. This goes: Deana, me, and Brent.



We liked to take these "Gran with the grandkids" group shots whenever possible. And you thought I was joking about the drool, didn't you?!	Ready for Christmas. I guess Aunt Vi probably took this picture, I can't remember.


Me & Gran, she lived about 3 blocks away at that time so I got to see her a lot.	Grandkids with Gran again, this time with me in a very lady-like pose.





	These are the last three I'll share, I promise! By these years, Brent was growing into his role as the onery one. He was always up to something funny. My biggest memory from this time is Brent yelling out every single morning, "Granny, will you fix me some hotcakes?" Also of her trying to park in a parking lot while all three of us yelled (while pointing in different directions), "There's a spot over there Granny, there's a spot!" Poor Gran.



	The same four siblings shown by the car in the photo above, but a few years later: Wanda, Ed, Pearl, and Vi
Sisters - Vi, Gran, and Pearl


Uncle Shorty was a bit of a card, and so was Aunt Vi - they could be a fun pair.	Here's a more serious look at the three of them in Gran's house.

Gran's Quilts It was during these years that Gran was in her heyday of making quilts. Here I share pictures of just a few of them, ones that she gave me over the years.
	All of her quilts were hand-pieced and hand-quilted.
This is a double wedding ring, I love the scalloped edge.

The back of the double wedding ring, showing the quilting
	A Dresden Plate quilt. I love the colors on this one.





A silk crazy quilt. The best part of this quilt is that some of the fabric came from old dresses that I remember Gran and Aunt Vi wearing years before.



	A flower basket quilts featuring tulips. Another pretty set of colors.


I love the quilting on this one.

	I also own this Lone Star of hers that is a work of art. I got it for my High School graduation. Here it is when I entered it in the Eureka Montana Quilt Show in 2016. It is all hand-pieced and hand-quilted.
	I am so grateful that I have these pieces of her legacy to hang on to. I remember watching her sit and piece them for years. Quilting was such an important part of her life.


Along comes Brodie! He was born March 6, 2012. Here Gran welcomes him to our family.	This was back when he would hold still long enough for her to hold him. That didn't last.

	Brodie loved being outdoors always, so here we were on a golf cart ride, about to head out to explore the woods behind my parents' house.
We aren't "mouth kissers" in our family, but I guess Brodie didn't know that yet!



Each time we were together, we played games. Gran was such a good sport. She would try to play any game we wanted to play.	Each round of game playing would end up with at least one session of uncontrollable laughter.


Gran's absolute favorite game was Scrabble. Now Desirae and I love it too. Here she does her signature move, tapping a tile on the table when it is your move.	Gran & Desirae went on many "junking" trips together to all the thrift shops and junk stores nearby.

Gran trying on a tiara at an antique store
	Gran also loved to go out for Mexican food. She would always order, "enchilados."
Gran knew how to play a guitar but she didn't own one. Here she tries one out at a junk store with Desirae.	Gran was always up for some joking around. Here she tries out a "mask" at Desirae's.

Gran & Dad, smiling at Desirae's house
	Gran with Brodie at her house, she always made him Peanut Butter cookies.


She told me to take this picture of her pretending to be afraid of one of Desirae's Halloween decorations. She loved Desirae's parties!	Here she let's Desirae use a Snapchat filter on her.
We have Desirae to thank for two rounds of family photos we had taken over the years. Those two sessions are the source for these next few photos.








Gran's hands That sister of mine just keep proving herself to be the smartest cookie in the box. She also had the idea to take photos of Gran's hands, which are such a memorable part of her. I'm so glad we have these now.

This is a beautiful shot of Gran's hands with Brodie's baby hands.	This shows her lovely fingernails, they were always like this.


	In January of 2018, Gran had to be moved to a care facility. She remained in care until she passed in August. Here she looks lovely after a visit to the beauty shop. I bought her this shirt at an estate sale and she just loved it. What a great find!


	This is one of Gran's most beautiful quilts, "The Bird Quilt" is what she always called it. It's an embroidered quilt with 50 blocks, one for each state. It includes the state bird and state flower and the state's name. We placed this quilt on her casket, and several more of her quilts around the funeral home. It was a lovely way to honor Gran's unique talents and life.






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