[The following eulogy was delivered in Saint Raphael Catholic Church on Saturday, October 2, 2010, by Jan Lea Campbell, Leatrice Meucci’s daughter.]
Thank you all for coming – I know each of you had a special place in my mom’s heart.
The historian Will Durant said that “civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with people stealing, shouting, and doing things historians record, while on the banks unnoticed people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, and write poetry. The story of civilization is what happens on the banks.”
Leatrice Thompson — Leat, Lea Meucci, Mom, Granny — was one of millions of moms who lived on the banks.
She didn’t do anything huge or press worthy… she just did thousands of small things with determination, grace, and love… that brought life into focus for her family and friends.
A high school athlete, a Wartime working girl, a friend, a sister, a devoted wife for 64 years, a mom to twins before baby monitors, car seats, and nanny’s – my mom could work circles around anyone I knew.
She taught my brother and me the value of responsibility and the dignity of work and the importance of family tradition.
She viewed her role as homemaker and mother with pride and unselfishly put us and our needs above her own.
The legacy she left was huge… a family tradition.
She created rituals for us all and made sure those were passed down to my brother and me, and now we pass those down to our children. Lea and my dad were a huge part of Noni and Emma’s [granddaughters] childhood, and for that I am truly grateful.
So… in closing, I can say that when faced with any decision, Granny stopped and took stock.
I can’t count the times she sat on my bed and answered my question, ‘what are we going to do?’
She always just smiled and said, “Janet, here’s the situation…. first we’re going to get up.”
She got up everyday, did her work, took care of her family, made people laugh – thousands of small things, all linked into one beautiful life.
So, Mom – here’s the situation — we’re going to miss you.