Grace F. Appelbaum

Grace Appelbaum Obituary

Appelbaum, Grace F. (nee Eckerle), fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, Sat., July 28, 2007, at the age of 102. Beloved wife of the late Sylvester W. Appelbaum; loving mother of S. William (Joan) Appelbaum of Baltimore, MD, Ann V. (the late William ''Bill'') Schlittler and John N. ''Jack'' (Carol) Appelbaum; grandmother of 20, great-grandmother of 45; and great-great-grandmother; dear sister of Virginia (the late Joe) Palazzolo and the late Josh (survived by Marre) Eckerle; our dear aunt, cousin and friend to many. Grace resided at Our Lady of Life Retirement Apartments for 23 years.Services:Visitation Tues., July 31, 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. at the KUTIS AFFTON Chapel, 10151 Gravois, then taken to St. Simon Catholic Church for a 10 a.m. Mass. Entombment Resurrection Mausoleum. Contributions appreciated to a charity of one's choice.

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Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch from Jul. 29 to Jul. 30, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for Grace Appelbaum

4 Entries

Ginny Ameiss

August 11, 2007

Grace Frederica (Eckerle) Appelbaum
January 23, 1905 – July 28, 2007
Age 102

I am truly humbled, greatly honored, and just a little intimidated to have been asked to eulogize my grandmother, Grace Frederica Appelbaum. When mom asked me to say a few words about grandma, my mind was immediately flooded with dozens of images of her, 57 years of images from my standpoint, images that can’t be expressed in just a few words, or in just a few minutes. But I would like to share a few of my thoughts and experiences with her, with all of you.

It is very hard to put into words my love and admiration for this woman. She lived her 102 years with “amazing grace” and charm, unquestionable love and understanding. She had a very quick wit and a great sense of humor. No one ever tired of hearing her tell stories about when she was little, about her teddy bear, “Teddy”, and about “Kitty”, her cat whose whiskers she cut off.

We call her our “matriarch” and she truly exemplified the title. She was the head of this family in every way. She, along with grandpa (Sylvester), Syl to her, raised their 3 children, Bill, Ann & Jack to be outstanding parents themselves, who extended the family to 20 grandchildren, and then in turn 45 great grandchildren and that generation is now extending the family tree to have added great, great grandchildren. To that number we must add a great number of spouses, some of whom have called her gram for longer than some of the grandchildren have even been around. Grandma loved us all, and we all loved her, so very much. She had many friends, and her best friend was her sister Virginia. They could talk non-stop for hours.

Later in life, grandma brought Ray to our family. I remember the day mom called me and said that grandma wanted to know if it was OK if she brought a friend to dinner. Suddenly, grandma looked ten years younger, with new clothes and a new hairdo. We all have our own special personal moments with grandma to remember, and we all have so many happy family memories to recall.

There were many, many holidays on Hartford Street, Brightling Drive, family picnics in Tillis park that grandma organized when we were growing up. Although the picnics were held in Bohrer Park in the later years, grandma was right there with the piñata and water balloons for the kids. She loved the kids. The holidays were always special with her there, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, summer barbeques.

July 4th parties were always one of my favorites. Grandma scared our entire family the year she decided to ride our wave runner down the river. She was 87 that year. She announced that it was her turn to ride, and she did, holding on to dad for dear life, since she couldn’t see where she was going anyway, but the wind was in her face and she had bugs in her teeth. After that incident she was awarded her own bedazzled lifejacket (at our Titanic Party) that went beautifully with her sequined tennis shoes. Grandma loved a party and she always made the day special. She liked to get in our pool, and even soaked in the hot tub. She said the hot water did wonders for her arthritis. Grandma, mom, Melinda, Katie and I, four generations sitting in a hot tub drinking martinis and wine. Can you picture it? When it was time for fireworks, gram was the first one with a sparkler in her hand. I will never forget that day.

She was a very determined and generous lady. When we first moved into our house on the hill mom and dad brought grandma out to look at it. At the time it was a firetrap with very scary plumbing and electric. But grandma thought it was the most beautiful house she had ever seen, and she wanted to see every square inch of it. She climbed up the attic steps because she saw the trap door and wanted to know what was up there, and she had to see for herself. She had to climb the steps in the stable to see the top floor there too. She saw the potential and decided we needed a flag, so she bought us a flag and a pole. She loved the wishing well in the yard and thought it was the most romantic place she had ever seen. The butterfly garden was like a park to her. She loved to sit on the bench and feed the fish. Grandma had a way of making you feel like you were her only grandchild and you were very special.

Vacations at grandmas were always the best. We had our own apartment in the rathskeller, complete with private bath in purple violet décor, and a fully stocked bar with all the coke or 7 up we wanted. It was awesome. All grandchildren entering high school were taken on a shopping spree for cool high school attire. On my shopping trip, grandma bought me my first bra and my very first lip stick. As I said, grandma was awesome! Grandpa just chuckled!

There have been so many weddings, where we watched grandma walk down the aisle, and she always looked so beautiful. She loved to dance at weddings, and she did so just two months ago. She said music just made her feet move. She has been there for all of the Baptisms, birthdays, graduations & funerals. If she wasn’t there in body, she was always there in spirit. There was always a card, a gift, a thank you note. And she never visited without bringing a “hostess” gift. Grandma was interested in what all of us did, how we felt, always asked about our children and our spouses. And to the bitter end, she asked me every day how my cancer treatments were going, and how was I feeling. She kept me going. She was always aware, and always concerned with the welfare of her family.

What kept her looking so young? She would tell you it was butter. She ate butter when she was a girl and said it made her skin beautiful and youthful. She never, ever looked her age. It was also having a regular cocktail hour. She used to crack me up when she was living at moms. At 4:00 gram would walk into the kitchen and just sit down in her chair at the table and wait for her martini. Many times she would be sitting there with her big white sunglasses on just waiting for the party to begin. You gotta love it!

Grandma wouldn’t want tears today. She would want laughter, hugs, and cocktails all around. She would want us to be celebrating her life, and she would want us to remember all of the good times. There were a lot of good times. She would want us to rejoice that she was with all of us for so long, and that she lived for 102 years. She would want us to continue with tradition and to remember her with love. Live each day. That’s what she did.

Years ago I found a poem that was transcribed from Sanskrit to English that I keep in the top of my jewelry box. I read it every morning, and I think it’s a philosophy grandma lived by, and maybe we should all live by:

“Look to this day,
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today, well lived,
Makes yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day. “

Ginny Ameiss
July 31, 2007

Katie Sarniguet

August 10, 2007

I miss my grandma! Gram was always gracious, charming, witty with a good sense of humor. She always wanted to help out her children, grandchildren, and great granchildren. She left one more gift for me that I discovered at her funeral. To my amazement I found out that I have 2 little cousins in my preschool class that are related to me.My mother's great grandma and the cousin's great grandfather's great grandma were sisters.Gram would be laughing now saying "Isn't that something?" We will all miss her and her rootbeer floats.

Nancy Beth Leon Benson

August 9, 2007

I had the good fortune, pleasure, and honor of interviewing Grace, of blessed memory, for an article on her being a Centenarian, for the St. Louis Times newspaper. I found her charming, witty, beautiful - as Graceful and classy and elegant as her name. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to have met her, and to have shared her story with others. My husband went with me to visit her one time in the course of doing the inteviews, and was so charmed by her, I heard him tell his 82 year old mother on the phone later that "mom, she didn't look any older than you!" A sincere compliment to a lovely lady, which, unfortunately, my mother-in-law took the wrong way. Grace would have appreciated the gaffe. Heaven will indeed be "graced" by her presence.
Fondly, Nancy Beth Leon Benson

Jamie and Dan Appelbaum

July 30, 2007

GG was a great overall person. Her humor and sincerity will truely be missed. She lived a full life but she will be missed. Everyone is in our thoughts and prayers.

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