Giving More Meaning - A Rewritten Obituary For Myrtle Richards Sundberg

 The obituary that appeared in The Mining Journal on January 20, 1989:

The rewritten obituary. This time with a photo!

Myrtle Lois Sundberg passed away after a long illness on January 19, 1989, two days shy of her 86^th birthday. Born on January 21, 1903 to Clara Jane (Millman) and Thomas Richards, Myrtle lived in the house her great grandparents purchased on Superior Street in Ishpeming after they arrived from Cornwall, England via Vershire, Vermont. This location gave Myrtle a busy life, from playing Bridge with her many cousins and second cousins to walking to the Wesley Methodist Church to bake her beloved pasties. In fact, when the Church moved to its current location off of Highway 41, many laughed as Myrtle and her husband Harold (Brix) Sundberg moved to Juniper Street and were once again within walking distance of the Church.

 

After high school graduation, Myrtle worked at various Ishpeming establishments until she married Brix in 1925 with relatives, Clayton and Inez Simons, as witnesses. Their daughter, Barbara, was born in 1929. Like many women of her era, Myrtle was a homemaker, seeing to her husband and child’s needs along with caring for her father and ailing mother who lived on the first floor of the family home.

 

Myrtle saw many historical changes during her lifetime, from women gaining the right to vote to the popularity of television and telephones. She could often be found sharing recipes and news with her many friends via phone. She prided herself on her ability to bake just the right pasty for each person, depending on their likes and dislikes. The family enjoyed spending time at their camp on Helen Lake where many happy summer days were passed playing cards, taking saunas, and eating the good food she prepared in the kitchen, which did not have a faucet, only a handpump. Cold food had to be stored in a true ice box as the camp did not have a refrigerator.

 

Despite being an only child, Myrtle surrounded herself with extended family, including cousin, Shirley Kellan and the Simons’ family. She was thrilled when her daughter married William (Bill) Hart. Bill became an additional chauffeur as Myrtle never learned to drive. She loved to tell the story of how she and Inez, sitting in the backseat of the car, were being driven to a picnic by her new son-in-law. They asked him to stop, run into the store, and buy napkins. The two ladies fell into fits of laughter when he returned to the car with Kotex.

 

Myrtle was always busy! She was an active member of the Order of Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters along with Bridge clubs and numerous Church societies. She enjoyed creating cookbooks with the various organizations to which she belonged.

 

Myrtle was excited to become a grandmother to Kathy and Claudia. She enjoyed weekend sleepovers with her granddaughters, teaching them to play cards and Rummy Royal. At Helen Lake, Myrtle loved to watch them play in the lake and kept a trusty box of salt nearby in case a bloodsucker attached itself to one of the girls. Myrtle continued to bake pasties and loved to tell the story of how she slipped on the icy driveway, fell under the car, but managed to hold up the tray of pasties. Not a single one was damaged!

 

Myrtle was again thrilled when her family expanded in 1982 and she became a great grandmother to Jennifer. A great grandson, Matthew, was born in 1986, and she was looking forward to the birth of another great grandchild this summer.

 

Myrtle spent the last month as a patient at the Valente Medical Facility. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband and is survived by her daughter, son-in-law, granddaughters, and great grandchildren.

 

Services will be held on Myrtle’s birthday, January 21 at 1 p.m. at the Bjork and Zhulkie Funeral Home in Ishpeming with the Rev. George Luciani officiating. Burial will be in Ishpeming Cemetery. Friends can call at the funeral home from 4 to 8 on Friday and from noon on Saturday until the time of services.

* I recently began a project to rearrange and organize the unfinished space in my basement prior to it being converted into a bright laundry space, puppy area, and neat storage. In doing so, I keep getting waylaid by the many genealogical “treasures” I have collected through the years. After recently writing my mother’s obituary, I was struck by the scarcity of details in my grandmother’s 1989 obituary. I decided to rewrite it and am providing the link for those relatives who may be interested. Now I’m on a mission – rewrite the obituaries of those who have passed on – the obituaries that appeared before the detail-laden ones we Mining Journal aficionados see today. It is a way to provide meaning for the dash between birth and death.