Treva Ann Rath Obituary (1946

My mom loved to laugh. She really loved it. Many times I would find something funny and she didn’t even have to understand the joke — she would just start to giggle. And if you laughed at her giggling, all the better. It would build until everyone involved had a side ache from laughing. Mom loved to make ordinary days special. Most days she tucked a note into the lunch she packed for me, reminding me that I was special or that today was a wonderful day just because. She made our birthdays significant events every single year — a tradition all three of her kids still carry on, perhaps excessively. We adore birthdays. In midlife, she went back to school to become a nurse, which was truly her calling. Mom loved helping people, and her patients loved her right back. She received so many letters and notes filled with gratitude, people thanking her for making their hospital stays more bearable with her thoughtfulness and extra bits of kindness. She loved animals, and they loved her. Once, on the lookout at a yard sale, a little Yorkie named Adrian became so attached to her that the woman who owned her simply gifted her to Mom. Adrian adored Mom. When Mom was recovering from an injury in a large assisted living facility, we brought Adrian to the front door and set her down. She wove through corridors, past different wings and dozens of identical doors, and went straight into Mom’s room. No one was going to keep Adrian from her person. Mom had a soft spot for strays, so there was always a pack of dogs enjoying life on her little farm. She had peafowl — both peahens and peacocks — and chickens, who didn’t always appreciate the stray dogs the way Mom did, but that was her farm: open to all animals. I think there was even a horse there for a while. After sweet Adrian left for the rainbow bridge, Mom welcomed another little Yorkie named Walter, who picked up right where Adrian left off, staying close to her at all times. Shane, her son, loved to go yard saling with her — two treasure hunters out together. He also loved to garden, and Mom especially appreciated the salsa he could make straight from the garden. It made her proud to see what he could grow with his own hands. When my sister Tara had her daughter Olivia in 1996, something deepened between her and Mom. Watching Tara become a mother opened a new chapter in their relationship. When she was little, Olivia began spending summers at Mom’s farm, and Livy loved being there. Those summers became theirs — full of animals, long days outside, and time together that shaped them both. Mom and Olivia shared one of the closest bonds of her life. That love carried forward to Olivia’s daughters, Freya and Lucy, her great-grandgirls whom she adored. In her final days in the hospital, she insisted on watching and rewatching videos of them playing. Mom is survived by my sister Tara, my brother Shane, and me, Angela. Her heart was especially tender toward the ones who needed it most — her patients, her strays, and her family. She insisted on looking for the bright side of things. We will carry that forward. By Angela Freebird Brookside Funeral Home is caring for the family. Memories and condolences may be shared at: www.brooksidefuneral.com