Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Mom's Eulogy Part 1

I wanted to share with you all my mom's eulogy. My family asked me to write it for her memorial service and I was quite nervous about it. It turned out quite long buuuut it's MY MOM, how could it be short. However, i'll be dividing it up over several days this week. I hope that you enjoy it and that my mom's life can be an inspiration to you all! God Bless.
.My sweet, sweet, SWEEET lil Momma!!!
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
We are here today to celebrate the life and home going of Frances Theresa Ginty, a woman that truly loved God with all her heart, soul and might. Frances was born February 20th 1953 and passed away February 17th 2016, at the age of 62, three days before her 63rd birthday. She left behind her husband Joseph, her daughter Theresa and her daughter Mary Jo, her son Joseph, his wife and his children Justin, Joseph, Juliana and Jeremiah. Her daughter Mary, her son John, his wife and their daughter Bethany and her son Abraham and his wife. Frances Ginty, known to most as Franny or Sister Fran, can be described best as a loving, faithful, servent of God.
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Frances was born in New York City to the parents of Joseph and Nancy Mangino and grew up in an Italian family. She was the middle child of her parents three children, Her older brother Micheal and younger brother Joseph. Growing up, Frances attended public school in New York City from kindergarten thru 6th grade. In high school she attended a All Saints High School in Brooklyn till she graduated. After graduation she attended community college where she recieved a scholarship for school, she then moved to Arizona and enrolled in the Arizona State University where she went til she completed a Master's degree in special education.
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After getting her first job and teaching for a little while in Arizona, Frances decided it was time to move back to New York City and get married. Even though she wasn't actually in a relationship with him at the time, she was planning on marrying, her childhood sweet  heart, the Irish boy that lived one block away, her best friend's brother, she always said, "he was just so good looking!" Frances was successful in her plans and on July 8th, 1979, she married Joseph Patrick Ginty, the only man she ever loved.
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After getting married and becoming a Ginty, Frances began persuing a teaching job in New York City. It was hard for her to find a teaching postion there because she had been certified in Arizona. She finally got a job at a private school for kids that had been kicked out of all the public schools in NYC. Her specific position was teaching the teenage boys. These were the kids that nobody wanted; but she said she loved being their teacher. She always said It was like deep down inside there was goodness about them that she could help bring out. she said, You had to let them see what was inside themselves. Let them see their own self worth. She loved being their teacher, it was very enjoyable and fulfilling to her.
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"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:" (Deuteronomy 6:6) It was always in Frances' heart to do good. Even as a teenager her close friend, now sister-in-law, Lizzy says that Franny was always so kind. She says that they would ride the "A" train to high school, (which even back in the 70's was a tough train.) and Franny was always stopping to help people and talk to them," She says, "and I would be yelling at her, "we're gonna get mugged!"
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And she did that kind of stuff her whole entire life. She always took time for the people that no one else wanted or got on other people's  nerves. There was a time for several years that she would pick up a smelly elderly man that was known as the neighborhood bum and bring him to church and not only that, she would bring him meals, teach him Bible studies, and take him to appoinments. Thats just the way she was. She would find the worst behaved or homliest child and would spend time with them, tell them that they had worth, that they were good not bad, that they were beautiful and that Jesus loved them. She was always buying things for other people, clothes, toys, hamburgers, she was just always giving. Frances never had a lot of money, but it didn't matter if she did, she still would have died poor because she was always spending it on someone else.
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With Frances, it didn't matter if you were the president of the United States or a bum on the street, she always treated everyone with the same respect. Frances' talked to EVERYONE! Grouchiness, snootiness, shyness, rudeness never bothered her, Frances just continued talking to the person and before you knew it, they were talking with her as well. Her kids recall a time, just a few years ago at a church conferance in Fresno California, they were in the van getting ready to leave and her one son was packing up her wheelchair in the back of the van. Theresa noticed that there was a homeless man that was about to walk by the van and she whispered to everyone else, lets see if this man can walk by the van without mom talking to him. Sure enough, as he aproached the van, Frances saw the man and to no one's surprise, the next thing everyone heard was their mom greeting the homeless man like he was an executive business man, "Good evening sir, how are you?" and everyone in the van busted up laughing, thats just the way she was.
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It also didn't matter if you were the president of the United States or a bum on the streets, she also wouldn't hesitate to give you her oppinion or let you know if she didn't agree with you, it didn't mean that she didn't like you, she was just letting you know how she felt. Frances was not just outgoing, she was also intimidated by pretty much no one but God. Anytime someone was scared to go talk to someone or ask someone something, she was always willing to go do it, she would say, well you know, they're not God! Frances' was friends with everyone, even if she didn't agree with you, somehow she always managed to give her oppinion and to still win their favor most of the time. She was loved by many people that had different oppinons in politics and world views, because even despite the differences, Frances never stopped loving the person.
Part 2 tomorrow...
♥Mary Frances :)