My beautiful mother, Donna Jean Dreyer, let go of her life a little after midnight on March 5. Her mind and body had been slowly shutting down for months, a transition she weathered with grace and dignity. Her body was kind enough to show signs that the end was near, so she had some extra visitors on Wednesday and I was able to be in the room with her when she stopped breathing. The lovely people of Yancey House and Compassionate Care were never far away. It was quiet and peaceful in the middle of the night.
She was a great person: kind, modest, good humored, sensible, with a
keen intelligence and an ability to get to the heart of things. She
spent her life in service to others—her working life included stints
with the American Friends Service Committee, Penland School of Craft,
the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Carolina Theater
Company, and Spruce Pine Community Hospital, and she served as a
volunteer and advisor to many other organizations.
She was devoted to her family: her husband Bill Dreyer, her three children and their families, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, her parents and siblings, Bill’s parents and siblings (and one special cousin), and her many nieces and nephews.
She was a friend and mentor to many, and her house was always a place of tea and sympathy, not to mention good advice and the occasional hard question. In her latter years she was given help, care, and attention by many of those friends and relatives, and Tammy Hitchcock looked after her in hundreds of ways.
Mom and I were in it together for the long haul. I don’t know when I’ve had a better friend.
(Those last words are from Gordon Lightfoot.)
We’ll have a memorial later in the spring. And special thanks from our family to the folks who helped her for many years through the "laying on of hands": Liz Peverall, Margot Rossi, Astra Coyle, Rachel Swinney, Tom Kaluzynski. Healers, all.
She was devoted to her family: her husband Bill Dreyer, her three children and their families, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, her parents and siblings, Bill’s parents and siblings (and one special cousin), and her many nieces and nephews.
She was a friend and mentor to many, and her house was always a place of tea and sympathy, not to mention good advice and the occasional hard question. In her latter years she was given help, care, and attention by many of those friends and relatives, and Tammy Hitchcock looked after her in hundreds of ways.
Mom and I were in it together for the long haul. I don’t know when I’ve had a better friend.
(Those last words are from Gordon Lightfoot.)
We’ll have a memorial later in the spring. And special thanks from our family to the folks who helped her for many years through the "laying on of hands": Liz Peverall, Margot Rossi, Astra Coyle, Rachel Swinney, Tom Kaluzynski. Healers, all.
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