Wednesday, February 8, 2023
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"When Kevin first asked me if I would do a eulogy, I didn’t know if I could, especially without crying. I still don’t know if I can.
Marguerite Grella Franzen was born in Glen Cove. She had two brothers. She graduated from St. Patrick’s Catholic School. Later Marguerite was involved at the Church of St. Rocco, where she loved working at the Feast for many years. She had told me that her uncle Dominic donated the two angels we have here on the altar.
Marguerite had a passion for horses that went back to the days her family owned a horse farm. She loved golf and watching Tiger Woods on TV.
I wasn’t always friends with Marguerite. We’d see each other around and were ‘friendly’, but she wasn’t someone who I thought would want to be more than just an acquaintance to me. You see, Marguerite was 15 years older than me, though you’d never know it! She was beautiful and lively and had a lot of energy.
I didn’t know much about her, until we got close.
I have to thank Lucille Johnson for hooking us up.
Though Marguerite seemed like she was always happy go lucky, she, in fact, had suffered greatly in her life. She could be an emotional roller coaster and not easy to deal with, at times.
There was this one particular time that Marg was going through ‘something’. For some reason, Lucille asked me to talk to her, hoping that maybe I could be helpful. It must have been Divine intervention, because Marguerite and I clicked right away!
It wasn’t always a bed of roses though. She had a hard time trusting people, because many had abandoned or hurt her throughout her life. We had our ups and downs, mostly because Marguerite always said I was ‘too good to be true’.
When she finally came to trust me….we became the best of friends…..like sisters! I told her I always wanted an ‘older sister’, but she didn’t like to be reminded of her age, and preferred ‘BIG sister’.
Marguerite was a very intelligent, ‘common sense’ lady. She was fun and funny! She was honest and if you wanted her opinion, she’d give you her best! She loved to shop, especially for clothes and always looked so good when she dressed up. Her skincare routine prevented her from having wrinkles, even in her 80’s! Marguerite loved children, though she didn’t have any of her own. She was married to Kevin for 43 years.
She especially loved to tell stories of her past, some good, some bad and some very sad. Stories of growing up in the Orchard and what fun she had, in the good old days. Stories of her parents, and her brothers, whom she loved and missed so much. She told these stories over and over though some parts were very painful to re-live.
She was also amazingly strong. I would call her Superwoman!
I learned that Marguerite had breast cancer…..two separate times in her life.
I remember her telling me this story. She was working for Greenvale School at the time. While carrying a heavy box, she crashed into a file cabinet, bruising her chest. When she went to the doctor to check it out, they found the cancer! I think God or her guardian angel had a hand in that!!
Some years later, she got cancer again, resulting in another mastectomy.
In January of 2019, when I found out that she was diagnosed with lung cancer, I just couldn’t believe it! Not again!
One of the first things she said to me, was “Kat, I don’t want to lose my hair!” She was a fuss pot about her hair and it was finally the way she loved it….she didn’t want to go through treatments and possibly lose it. They assured her, she wouldn’t, but she did!
Unbelievably, she even survived Covid this past Christmas!
This ‘superwoman’ always had a way of surviving whatever life threw at her!
Through it all, she fought and fought with all her might. She never gave up hope! I really thought she was going to beat it!
I stood by her side, always encouraging her and supporting her in whatever was necessary.
She would call me ‘her angel’.......now she is ‘my angel’.
Rest in Peace, ‘big sister’!
“I love you MORE”!
