Willy's Drawing
Mom's Obituary
Eulogy
Willy's Drawing
Mom's Obituary as published in the Kentucky
Post
Dorothy Corbett, homemaker, 81, enjoyed life at a leisurely pace
If Dorothy C. Corbett could have communicated to the hearse driver as he pulled away from her Fort Mitchell home Wednesday after her death there, her family is sure she would have told him: "Take the long way."
Mrs. Corbett, who was 81, was a firm believer that there was as much to be enjoyed in the going as the getting there, said her son, John Corbett, of Trumbull, Conn.
"So if she and my Dad were going to Colorado to see my brother, they would take the old highway, and they would eat at the local luncheonettes, and she would talk to the local farmers," John Corbett said.
Mrs. Corbett held that view on life as well as traveling. She believed in taking time to get to know people and to seeing the beauty that life had to offer.
"She had that bright-eyed, wonderful way that made people feel comfortable with her," her son said. "She enjoyed the little things in life. Almost everything she looked at she thought was the most beautiful thing in the world."
Her giving and lively spirit made her home the neighborhood hangout when her children were growing up. "She was open-armed and open-minded to our friends," John Corbett said. "We always had front-porch gatherings. People felt at home with Mom."
Her optimistic and upbeat approach to life helped her battle breast cancer to a stand-off for more than four years before the disease finally claimed her life, he said. "She was loved by her family and friends because she gave a lot of love, understanding and kindness in a special way."
Mrs. Corbett was a homemaker, a former library assistant at Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, a former member of the Covington Catholic High School Boosters and volunteered for church organizations and the Parish Kitchen in Covington.
Other survivors include her husband, Joseph Corbett; sons, Gary Corbett of Littleton, Colo., Tom Corbett of Wilder and Willy Corbett of Mount Washington; daughters, Mimi Jervis of Carbondale, Colo., and Terri Biggers of Lexington; a sister, Mary Margaret Carstens of Florence; and 13 grandchildren.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Blessed Sacrament Church.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Ronald B. Jones Funeral Home, Ludlow. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery, Fort Mitchell.
Memorials are suggested to St. Elizabeth Hospice Unit, 401 E. 20th St., Covington, Ky. 41014.
My Eulogy:
On behalf of my Dad, my brothers and sisters, each of our
spouses, all of our children, and Mom’s sister, Aunt Shea, we thank each and
every one of you individually for being here today to pray for the repose of the
soul of Mama Dot.
Sacred Scripture teaches us in Second
Machabees,
(Chapter
12, Verse 46) that:
“It is therefore a holy and
wholesome thought to pray for the dead,
that they may be loosed from sins.”
If we were to sum up Mom’s life in as few words as
possible,
it would be most appropriate to simply say, “She
prayed.”
Her prayers were mostly private. She did not make a big display of it. Indeed, if you were to catch her in the act of praying, you
might mistakenly think that she was taking a nap.
I remember so often as a little boy going into Mom’s room
late in the morning while she lay in bed. If
you’d stand there awhile or ask her something, she’s just lift up her rosary
beads as to say, “I’m not really sleeping, I’m praying.”
That’s how she taught me to pray the rosary, during our late-morning
nap.
One of the Fifteen Promises of Mary to Christians Who
Recite the Rosary as given to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan is that “Whoever
shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments
of the Church.” Another
of the promises is that “Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly,
applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be
conquered by misfortune. God will
not chastise him in His justice, and he shall not perish by an unprovided
death..”
Father Witte, we thank you for bringing the Blessed
Sacrament to our mother during her final days and for administering to her the
Sacraments of the Church. And
indeed for all of the support and encouragement you have given to each of us
during this difficult but wonderful time..
Mom was not one to preach.
She taught by example. She
often spoke of the “power of prayer” and when she did talk about how she
prayed, she would say that she prays for “All of my people, both living and
dead; all of Joe’s people both living and dead; each of her children and their
spouses and their families, all of the grandchildren by name.. The list just went on and on.
Dad would interrupt by saying, “Dot, spreading yourself
kind of thin, aren’t you?”
Perhaps so, but I rather think that the more she spread her
intentions the more grace redounded and increased.
Mom’s other great devotion was to Sacred Heart of Jesus.
It is interesting to note that Mom died on the morning of
the feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.
It was Saint Margaret Mary
who received a revelation from our Lord in 1675, which included 12 promises to
her and to those who practiced a true to devotion to His Sacred Heart,
The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His
Sacred Heart are:
1.
I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2.
I will establish peace in their families.
3.
I will console them in all their troubles.
4.
They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially
at the hour of their death.
5.
I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6.
Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8.
Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9.
I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and
honored.
10.
I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11.
Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My
Heart, never to be effaced.
12.
The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall
receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of
final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving
their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.
Jesus has kept His promises to Mom for her simple
devotions.
Mom also believed in the power of intercessory prayer.
She has her favorite saints:
Saint Joseph, Head
of the Holy Family, to whom she prayed daily for the grace of a happy death.
Saint Gerard, patron saint of cancer patients.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Anne the grandmother of
Jesus.
Saint John, the Apostle of Love.
Saint Jude, patron saint of impossible cases.
Saint Theresa the Little Flower who found great sanctity in
the small ordinary things of life.
Her own patron, Saint Dorothy, is the patron saint of
gardeners. I don’t recall Mom
ever planting a garden. But, she
did sow spiritual seeds. Usually,
she did so with a kind word, her nuggets of Wisdom, a listening ear, an
understanding heart, and with the giving of sacramentals.
For the un-informed, giving someone a Miraculous Medal, for example, may
seem silly or even downright superstitious.
But those who understand the spiritual aspects of life know that giving
someone a sacramental such as a picture of the Sacred Heart, a rosary, or a
scapular is a vehicle of great grace.
It was through her prayers and small actions that Mom
affected many lives as your presence here today testifies.
As for my own patron saints, Mom often reminded me that she
had named me after Thomas Aquinas – not the Doubting Thomas.
It is Thomas Aquinas and Francis of Assisi that she named me for.
When we think of “prayer”, too often we think of it as
a set of “nice words” a reverent petition to God..
But the word, “prayer” also means “pray-er” or “one who
prays” To Mom, they were one in
the same.
And so because of my middle name, I have been asked to read
The Prayer of Saint Francis. It is
the prayer that Mom lived and not just prayed.
Prayer
of
Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord,
make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
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