Celena Jane Clinesmith

CELENA JANE CLINESMITH 9/10/1931 – 7/14/2020 Our mother, Celena Jane Clinesmith was born on September 10, 1931 in Sweetwater, Tennessee the fifth of seven children of Sam and Jessie Wilson, and the only girl. Jessie traveled to Tennessee to give birth to each of her babies even though the family lived in Highland Park, Michigan. Sam, like so many other southerners, had moved his family north in the 1920’s to work in the auto factories. Mom’s two olde brothers did not survive infancy. But she was very close to the next oldest boys, Tom and Harold and her younger brothers Bob and Benny. Surrounded by four brothers, Mom was “Sis” to them and all their friends, and she loved it. Growing up during WWII had a profound effect on her. Her older brothers joined the service. Tom in the Army Air Corp and Harold in the Marines. Mom was incredibly proud of their service and would vividly recall when Harold was injured on Saipan in the Pacific Theater. Her stories of the family getting the initial telegram about Harold being wounded, then the third-party letters from the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital (often a month or so delayed) describing his injuries and slow recovery were heart wrenching. After the better part of a year in the hospital, Harold, who had refused to come home until he could walk, finally arrived at Willow Run Airport. Mom re-lived the moment every time she described her family seeing him come off that plane, slowly walking with the aid of a cane. Her family’s intimate experience with the sacrifice for freedom instilled a deep patriotism that never left her. Mom loved growing up in Highland Park, rated as an “All-American City” back in the 40’s; and she was a graduate of Highland Park High School and earned her Associates Degree from Highland Park Community College. Her family attended Highland Park Baptist Church, where she was active in the high school youth group. It was there that she met a handsome young man, one year her senior. She and Rollin Clinesmith soon became an item. The summer before his junior year at Gordon College in Boston, they married and moved to an apartment on the Boston Commons, where they lived until he graduated. Their two years in Boston provided many happy memories, and she enjoyed learning to speak a little Bostonese (“did ya pok da cah at da conuh?”). Her new initials also gave her a new nickname, CeCe; which then became Aunt CeCe, Grandma CeCe and Great-grandma CeCe. Soon after returning to the Detroit area, her family started growing. Geoff was born in February of 1954, Ken in February of ’55, Debby in January of ’57 and finally, Tim in January of ’59. Mom loved being a mother to us four, and we all enjoyed life centered around family, church (Strathmoor Judson Baptist) and Mom and Dad’s best friends, Don and Sue Moore. Many a weekend were spent at their cottage, where all seven kids would hope the four parents did not notice how late it was getting, and it would be decided that we could just spend the night. Life was good. Then in December of 1970, after months of not feeling well, many doctor visits and no clear explanation; Dad had a stroke, from which he never really recovered. He died on January 30, 1971 of a very rare disease, not found until the autopsy. Mom lost the love of her life and our family’s world was turned upside down and changed forever. She would tell you that it was only her deep faith in God and the ongoing prayers and support of her church family that enabled her to endure the loss and rise up to care for her children. Mom, at that time only working Mondays and Fridays as a bank teller, suddenly had to go into survivor mode to keep the family safe and provide for four teenagers, ages 12,14,16 and 17. Dad didn’t have much life insurance, which unfortunately, was all too common back then; so Mom soon found a better paying job as the office manager at a nursing home. Impressed by her drive and enthusiasm, her boss encouraged her to go to Wayne State University and get a Nursing Home Administrators certificate. By going to classes at night, she completed the studies within a year and earned the certificate. After being the administrator at two different nursing homes, she landed at a facility in Westland, Michigan called Westland Woods. WW was owned by a visionary who realized that with our aging population, there would be a need for senior housing fostering independence, offering quality in a safe and compassionate environment. He had the vision and the means and Mom had the background and the experience, so the first American House was opened in 1979 in Royal Oak, Michigan and Mom was the first administrator. Many of the original systems and innovative ideas that live on today in the more than 40 AH facilities around the country were born of Mom’s experience in the industry and at that first American House. This was a brand-new concept and she embraced it fully. Mom left American House after about 5 years and wondered what was next. She loved working with seniors, but without a bachelor’s degree, many job opportunities were outside her grasp. Family encouraged her to consider going back to school, as she was interested in a relatively new field called Gerontology (the study of aging). Nearby, Madonna College offered such a program, but Mom was concerned that she would be too old when she graduated. Daughter in-law Maureen pointed out that “you will be 56 anyways, wouldn’t you rather be 56 with a degree?” Working full-time and attending classes nights and weekends, she got her degree in July,1988 at age 56. Soon after graduation, she started working at the Veterans Hospital in Allen Park, Michigan, and was tasked with the job of setting-up a unit based on a relatively new concept known as Palliative Care. Not immediately embraced by many physicians, Mom worked hard to educate and win them over. Fortunately, her boss and mentor, Dr. Jacobs, believed in the compassion and power of palliative and end-of-life care, and championed her ideas as she struggled to win acceptance from the physicians and to make the very small little unit a reality. A few years later, when the new Veterans Hospital was built in downtown Detroit, Mom was asked to set-up a much larger Palliative Care and Hospice Unit from scratch, which she then directed until her retirement on December 31, 2000. Retirement did not slow her down much though. Having been a committed member of Ward Church since 1980, she volunteered in the pastoral care office and hired on shortly after working till age 80. She dearly loved her Ward Church family and the position was a great fit. She also served at Angela Hospice and enjoyed reading to her granddaughter Erin’s kindergarten students, who all called her Grandma CeCe. As committed as she was to her career serving the elderly and sick, she was even more devoted to her 5 grandchildren; Erin Rymerson and Kate Minnema, the children of Ken and Maureen, and Timothy, David and Michael Clinesmith, the children of Tim and Robin. It was her greatest pleasure to host them overnight and take them on outings. She often cared for them when their parents traveled and she attended numerous dance recitals, sporting events, concerts and honors assemblies; always showing enormous enthusiasm for their accomplishments. The grandkids will tell you how she taught them to memorize all the presidents and state capitols. She holds an incredibly special place in each of their hearts and her legacy will live on in them. Over the last few years, Mom’s health slowly declined, yet she still cherished being with family. She especially enjoyed attending three of her grandchildren’s weddings in 2016, and the birth of three great-grandchildren within 6 weeks of each other in November-December of 2017. Those three great-grands: Owen Rymerson, Maverick Minnema and Evie Clinesmith, were always the center of her attention whenever they were around. While they will most likely not remember her, they will certainly know all about her and how much she loved them. Mom aged but never really grew old. She had a wonderful sense of humor and was always a lot of fun. She took up downhill skiing in her 40s. She enjoyed traveling, often visiting her family in Washington DC, taking cruises with Debby, and even visiting the granddaughters in Phoenix and San Francisco. A month after her 80th birthday, granddaughter Erin took Grandma CeCe to Paris and London for a week. They had a ball. We loved hearing her describe walking down a side street in Paris, turning a corner and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the very first time. Mom loved life and she showed us how to live with joy and enthusiasm even when faced with heartbreak and difficulties. With her death, she showed us how to die with grace and peace. We will miss her but never forget her. Memorial donation can be made to United World Mission or organization of your choice. United World Mission PO Box 602002 Charlotte, NC 28260 ID# 27599