Sheila Bakotic

Mom,

It has been a year and I still really miss you! I am going to print this out for the girls so that they can enjoy this for years to come. There are great entries from your friends and family. Your granddaughters talk about you often and include you in the many things that they do. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you and wish you were here. I know that you are with me and the girls watching over us. Tomorrow is Mother's day and I hope you know how much...

Grandma Tucson is our Guardian angel!

Every day and every night
When you feel the need
to hold me tight,
Just blow a kiss into the sky
For I will be that close by.
In the heavens throughout the day,
I watch over you and hear you pray.
I see you smile and shed a tear,
For you know that I'm still near.
I'm the angel of your eye,
Your angel in the sky.

Author unknown

Grandma's Eulogy

My name is Julie Beebe and for those of you who do not know me, I am Sheila’s middle daughter. My older sister’s name is Lynne and my little sister’s name is Shari. She was our mother, but held important roles in the lives of others. She was a wife, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a teacher, but at the end of the day she was just my mom and my best friend. My mom taught me many things and I wanted to share some of those lessons with you today.

She taught me...

Grandma's Obituary

Bakotic, Sheila (maiden Arendt), 56 of Tucson, Arizona passed away on April 22, 2008.
She was born April 26, 1951 in Detroit, Michigan to Steve and Veronica Arendt. She taught gymnastics and dance in local schools. She and her husband moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1992, where she had her own gymnastics and dance instruction business. After retiring from teaching, she and her husband established his medical practice and she continued working in the business...

Some Fond Memories of Sheila

We first met Ray and Sheila at a Cinco de Mayo party at their house given to meet their new neighbors on Placita Diaz (or the “Court” as Sheila called it). We were their next door neighbor down a long “scary” driveway (as Sheila later named it because of a snake or two waiting to scare her when she walked up it). This also happened to be near her 50th birthday when Julie surprised everyone with a cake for her Mom. I thought then there was a special...

Julie and girls,

I made those fluffy baby blankets for grama to give the girls when they were born. I remember the first one I gave to Ray to send to your sister when she had here baby. I received this beautiful note from Sheila thanking for the soft baby afgan. A few months later, Ray asked me to make one for Sheila, which I made for her birthday in colors to match her den at home. Shortly, after, I had a note from Sheila could I make one of those soft afgans for Julie, she...

Jordyn and Caylee-
On one of her dog walking trips with Beamer, Sheila stopped at our house to talk with my wife, Lee, who was at our front lawn. That went into a conversation and ended with both in the house.
Sheila wanted to see what our house was like inside as she llived on the same street in the same model as ours. This was the beginning of our friendship as both woman took a kiking to each other and both seemed to have common interests. One was of knitting of which Lee...

Jordyn and Caylee-
These memories and wishes are for you to remember what an amazing grandma you have watching over you from heaven. She always would have a smile on her face and made sure she laughed at least 10 times a day. She made sure that every last detail of the day was complete and everyone was happy. She would make sure you were by listening by ending statements of detail with dot..dot..dot to make sure she never forgot something. She never passed up a moment to tell anyone...

Ray, Julie, Lynne, Shari and Sheila’s beautiful grandchildren, I don’t know how many times I have started writing about our memories of Sheila, only to stop, reminisce and never finish writing.

It is nearly three years since Michael and I met Ray and Sheila at the airport in Rome. After we introduced ourselves, Sheila said that they had been to Queensland (Australia) for their honeymoon. We couldn’t believe that they had spent their honeymoon on the same island that we had –...