Mildred Courts 1909 - 2000 It is unfortunate that Mildred Courts (Gene and Rita's mother) passed away early on June 26th, 2000. She was 90 years old and blessed many of us with her long and healthy life. She will be greatly missed.

Mildred, Matt, Brady, Britney, Ashley, Cara, Emma, Jordon

Below is the Eulogy Gene delivered at the funneral...

Eulogy of Mildred Catherine Moon Courts

Dear Family and Friends of Mildred Catherine Moon Courts This is not a time for grieving, but rather a time for joy. All of you know Mother is in a better place. She has gone to meet her Lord, her husband, her parents, 3 sisters and a brother. Last Friday morning when I went to see her in Mercy Hospital she was jabbering in letters, not words, speaking faster than usual when I said to her "Mother, I'm here!" and she replied "Oh Daddy, you've finally come to get me". Even then, she knew where she was going.My sister Rita reminded me that Mother was an excellent speller and could quote the alphabet backwards just as fast as she could forward. She worked crossword puzzles up until the last couple of years. I guess that explains speaking in letters, rather than words.

Mildred Catherine was the second of six children of Elmer and Emma Stratton Moon. She was in the 10th generation from James and Joan Burgess Moon, Quakers who came to Bucks County, PA from Bristol, England in 1682, the same year that William Penn made his first trip to the New World. In the early 1800's the Moon Family moved to Martinsville, OH, just a few miles south of Wilmington, and so began their history in Brown, Clinton, and Highland Counties in Ohio. Mother's great-great-great grandparents Joseph B., Ann Brown Moon, and great-great grandparents Samuel and Martha Routh Moon are buried in the cemetery behind the Newberry Friends Church in Martinsville.

Her great grandparents David and Margaret Smith Moon are buried in the cemetery alongside the church at Five Mile, just a few miles from here. Her grandparents Leonard and Lavina Kennedy Moon are buried in Buford, OH cemetery and her parents Elmer and Emma Stratton Moon are buried in the Mt. Orab cemetery. Mother and a number of us have visited those gravesites over the years. Mother's sister Blanche Bowen passed away in 1981; sister Violet McKinney died later the same year. Her sister Doris Mathews died in 1991, and her brother Carl Moon passed away in November 1998. I can tell you that Mother was affected by the losses of her sisters, but the loss of Carl hit her especially hard. She was weaker by then and we could all tell that she had a 'turn for the worse' shortly thereafter. Her brother Paul Moon, wife Betty and Carl's widow Hazel Moon are with us today, they are the remaining members of Mother's generation.

Mother married Lynn M. Courts in 1939 and set up housekeeping in a small home on Hamer Road between Brownstown and Georgetown, OH. Lynn was drafted into the Army late in WWII and when he returned in 1945, they moved into the old Mt. Orab hotel apartments. Soon thereafter, they bought a farm near Bardwell that became the site for many family get-togethers of all the brothers and sisters and their families. There were 18 cousins to have fun with, and only 1, Dean Wylie, has passed on. Many of the cousins are with us today.

Mildred named her son Milton Eugene, but always called him Gene. I felt the love of my Mother, through good times and bad, she was always there for me. Rita Carolyn came along in 1946, she loved having a little girl and it was fun being big brother to my little sister. We moved back to Mt. Orab again in 1954 and her father Elmer Moon died in 1955 in Alpine, TN where he had gone to build and open new churches. Her Mother Emma Stratton Moon died in Mt. Orab in 1976 after a long illness and my Mother has had a very similar pattern leading to her death this week. Mother worked at Cahall's Department Store in Mt. Orab for nearly 30 years and knew everyone in town. When her husband Lynn Courts died suddenly in 1970, Mother lived the last 30 years of her life enjoying this church (where she belonged for nearly 50 years), her Women's Club, Grace Circle and her ever popular Bingo Club. Many of you know that Mother was the town's seamstress, she could sew most anything, including wedding dresses, coats, pants, and hemmed all my suits up until a couple of years ago.

But the real love of her life was seeing her 2 kids get their education, grow into adults, marry….and then came the grandkids. I had 3 boys, Todd, Bari, and Darren, and Rita and Dave Potrafke had Karyn and Mike. Mother would baby-sit those grandkids anytime for us, sometimes for a week or more at a time. I don't remember a time that she could not come to stay with my boys; I'm sure Rita felt the same way. When I married Joyce Carroll in 1982, my boys gained 2 stepsisters, Lori and Leslie, and Mother never missed including them in with the other grandkids. Now the grandkids have grown up, gotten their education, married and the great-grandkids are coming along. Bari and Carolyn have Matt and Cara, Darren and Heather have Jordan, Karyn and Jimmy have Brittany and twins Emma and Ashley, Mike has Brady, and Leslie and Matt have Hunter with another on the way. When the twins were born prematurely 3 years ago, Mother loved holding those tiny babies and rocking them to sleep. She loved her great-grandkids just as if they were her own children, I just hope some of them are old enough to remember her.

That brings us to the present time where Mildred Catherine Moon Courts was a well-loved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was well known in this village and had many friends who have generously sent flowers and /or donations to the church in her honor. She will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. The family thanks you for paying your final respects to a fine lady. I would like to close my part of this service by reading an "Irish Blessing" to my mother:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May He hold you in His hands,

May God hold you in the palm of His hands.

Thank You.