In Memory of Mary Josephine Navarre Hoffpauir....also known to many others as Taunte Joe

There's a place in heaven I know,
For a lady we call "Taunte Joe".
To everyone her had she extends,
And makes every stranger a friend.
No matter what color, creed or race,
She always has a smile on her face.
She lives down the road about a mile or so,
But if you need a friend, I'd advise you to go.
Her door is like her heart, it's open wide,
To share all the love she has inside.
To many a mother she has been,
To many others she is a friend.
Some of her dresses are tattered and torn,
And her hands may be rough and worn.
And Lord knows she has troubles of her own,
But you'll never catch her looking forelone.
She'll pick up your cross with a smile,
And help you walk that extra mile.
To best describe her, there are no words,
At least none that I've ever heard.
Yes, she walks through this old world with a smile,
And someday with Jesus she'll walk the last mile.
Well, her dresses may be tattered and torn,
And her hands may be rough and worn.
But she'll fly to heaven in a gown of pure gold,
And be rewarded with wealth untold.
Because there's a place in heaven I know,
For this wonderful lady we call "Taunte Joe".
But when the Angels come and take her away,
Those of us who are left will cry and pray.
For her there will be great joy and happiness,
But for us there will be great sadness.
She will leave precious memeories in our hearts and minds,
That will stay with us until the end of time.
We will remember her warmhearted smile,
And our visits with her for a while.
The memories of the love and warmth she possessed,
And how many of us she brought happiness.
We'll remember the sharing, the love and the caring,
But most of all we'll remember the smile on her face,
Because nothing else can ever take it's place.
Yes, there is a place in heaven I know,
For this wonderful woman we call "Taunte Joe".

This poem was writen to Taunte Joe in the summer of 1965. She loved life and everything about it. The old addage of when handed lemons, you make lemonade held true with her. She never wanted more than she had. I think the one thing that I remember most about her was the fact that she was real. She was someone stable and real in a world that went to fast. She didn't have running water in her house and she ran a miniture farm. She grew a lot of what she ate and liked doing it that way. Going to see her was like walking back in time about one hundred years.

She was an incredible woman. She had cancer in both of her legs and had to have them both removed, but she never complained. Up until the very end, she never once complained about her own pain and told us to rejoice in the fact that she got to see us all. She will always be with us in our memories and will never be far away from us. We only hope that we can become half of the person that she was. I hope that I can become at least half the person she was. She was the light of my life. I will miss her very much.

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