My Mother was born in Cherry Lane in 1918 but had to move to Winston-Salem with her family due to a tragedy in 1925. She was the daughter of Lonnie and Sarah Kate Crouse Irwin, sister of Zollie Mae Irwin Welborn and Posie Oliver Irwin. Most of her grandparents and great grandparents are buried here at Antioch as my family included the Esteps. She was a very strong woman and proved that many times. Like her father she was blessed with many talents. She made my clothes as a young girl, she worked side by side with my dad in the service station and knew how to change her own oil and even upholstered the seats in her own car. She attempted secretarial school for almost a year but her heart was not in it. She dreamed of being a nurse. After giving birth to 4 children and working at Taylor Brothers she started nursing school at the age of 49 and graduated with honors. She went on to take a second course at NCBH in Winston-Salem and after completing that course with honors she began working for Baptist Hospital where she worked until she reached 65 years old. With no thoughts or retirement she went to work every night on the graveyard shift until she began to stagger and have trouble with her balance. After testing a large non cancerous tumor was found and removed in a 7 hour surgery. But, after 4 years it returned and she again had to undergo surgery from which she never truly recovered due to issues with the doctors. She fought that tumor until 1990 when she fell and sustained a blood clot. Again she was subjected to more surgery and was then transferred to a long term care facility. It was very hard watching her lying in bed being fed by a feeding tube without her beloved books in her hands. She, like her father, was an avid reader and she passed that love down to her daughter and her granddaughters. Her love of knowledge was also inherited by her children and their children. She has a daughter who is a retired nurse, two granddaughters who are nurses, a granddaughter who was a teacher and a great granddaughter who is a nurse. She would have been very proud! We miss you Mom!
My Mother was born in Cherry Lane in 1918 but had to move to Winston-Salem with her family due to a tragedy in 1925. She was the daughter of Lonnie and Sarah Kate Crouse Irwin, sister of Zollie Mae Irwin Welborn and Posie Oliver Irwin. Most of her grandparents and great grandparents are buried here at Antioch as my family included the Esteps. She was a very strong woman and proved that many times. Like her father she was blessed with many talents. She made my clothes as a young girl, she worked side by side with my dad in the service station and knew how to change her own oil and even upholstered the seats in her own car. She attempted secretarial school for almost a year but her heart was not in it. She dreamed of being a nurse. After giving birth to 4 children and working at Taylor Brothers she started nursing school at the age of 49 and graduated with honors. She went on to take a second course at NCBH in Winston-Salem and after completing that course with honors she began working for Baptist Hospital where she worked until she reached 65 years old. With no thoughts or retirement she went to work every night on the graveyard shift until she began to stagger and have trouble with her balance. After testing a large non cancerous tumor was found and removed in a 7 hour surgery. But, after 4 years it returned and she again had to undergo surgery from which she never truly recovered due to issues with the doctors. She fought that tumor until 1990 when she fell and sustained a blood clot. Again she was subjected to more surgery and was then transferred to a long term care facility. It was very hard watching her lying in bed being fed by a feeding tube without her beloved books in her hands. She, like her father, was an avid reader and she passed that love down to her daughter and her granddaughters. Her love of knowledge was also inherited by her children and their children. She has a daughter who is a retired nurse, two granddaughters who are nurses, a granddaughter who was a teacher and a great granddaughter who is a nurse. She would have been very proud! We miss you Mom!
Inscription
She walked through our lives and left footprints on our hearts
