Sophie DeLoughry - In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Sophie Marie DeLoughry 1916-2009

By Jim on Mar.17, 2009, under Uncategorized

In the early hours of St Patricks Day, 2009, my mom, Sophie DeLoughry was called home to heaven. She waited for my sister to fly in from New York , and then she left us. She was 92 . She joined her husband, brother, and mother and the rest of her family in paradise.

My mom was a person of faith and life. She was deeply religious and gave a wonderful Catholic tradition to her family. She loved the world and the world loved her in return. She was a wife and mother and a professional secretary for many years for one of the largest ad agencies in the world, J Walter Thompson. She loved what she did and even though she was working, riding subways and buses and taking care of her family, she never complained . I am who I am today in large part because of her love, her encouragement and her sacrifice.

She spent the last four years of her life at the Mt St Francis Nursing Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While there, she brought joy and love to staff and other residents through her words, and actions. As she was preparing for her final journey home, it was an awesome sight to have person after person come to her room with tears in their eyes to say goodbye. This was a special woman, and I am proud to say she was my mom.

I learned many things from my mom, among them: always look for the bright side of things, don't complain, never forget to say thank you, be grateful for what you have, love god, and be kind to animals, especially deer. The deer were her favorites, and at Mt St Francis, she was surrounded by a large herd of them. She would always stop in wonder and talk to them, and I swear they knew what she was saying. I know the deer will be sad tomorrow knowing that a special person is no longer on earth.

She loved Lawrence Welk and Andre Riu and in her time loved to dance, especially the Irish Jig. She was unable to walk for the last six months, but now she is able to dance again. How ironic that this wonderful Irish woman would be called home on St Patricks day , one of her favorite holidays.

She loved to read and to travel to visit me at my various Air Force Assignments. She looked with wonder on the places we visited from the castles in Heidelberg, to the beer halls in Munich, from England to Italy and throughout America . She took it all in with wide eyes and an infectious spirit of excitement. It was a joy to travel with her. I will miss that too. When she couldn't come to visit , she would write letters. While I was in Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield for five months, she wrote every day. I still have her letters.

One story among many that shows the kind of person my mom was, occurred many years ago when we went to an air show where the British aero team the Red Arrows were performing along with the US Navy Blue Angels. I happened to get a decent picture of the British team in formation and my mom thought it would be a nice idea to send it to the queen so she could see what a good job her people were doing . So she did. To our surprise, two months later she received a letter from Buckingham Palace. It was from the Queen’s Lady in Waiting stating that she had been instructed by Her Majesty to write to my mom and thank her for the picture and the kind words she had written. We still have the letter. This was just one of thousands of examples of the kind of person my mom was . She was a totally innocent soul in a world filled with cynicism and distrust. How nice it would be if more were like her.

This little article falls woefully short of describing my mom. Words are inadequate … you had to know her. But her memory lives on in all who had the privilege of getting to know her. She is survived by myself and my sister, our spouses, her sister, and two wonderful grandchildren. We all loved you mom and will miss you more than you can know. Please say hi to dad and Jesus for us and thank you for being the best mom in the whole world. I love you.

Your son, Jim