Geraldine B. Wichman, age 86, passed away Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at Windsor Medical Center in North Canton.

Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania to Guido and Pauline (Ceverna) Ercole, Geraldine grew up in Glassport, PA. She worked as an office manager with her husband Bob in the Tallmadge Agency, retiring in 1994 and previously was the office manager for Dr. John Massoud Dental Practice in Tallmadge. She has been a Hartville resident since 2005.

Geraldine was a devoted wife, mother and friend to everyone she met. She loved to travel and had been actively involved in the Tallmadge community where she had been a member of the Welcome Wagon, Business & Professional Women's Assn. (BPW), a book club with friends, and a ladies golf league.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Robert J. Wichman in 2009. Survivors include daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Richard Folk of Hartville; sons and daughter-in-law, Mark and Linda Wichman of Hartville, Thomas Wichman of Corbin, Kentucky; sisters and brother-in-law, Laraine and Craig Smith, Patricia Clarke; grandchildren, Andrea, Stacey and Allison; several great and great great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

The family extends their deep gratitude to Windsor Medical Center and Crossroads Hospice for their dedicated and compassionate care.

Friends are welcome to join the family in a virtual Memorial Service that will be Monday, February 8, 2021, 11:00 a.m. Fr. John Zapp and Fr. Ed Wichman will officiate the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are requested to Holy Spirit Catholic Church 2952 Edison St NW, Uniontown, OH 44685 or Lake Township FISH (Faithfully I Serve Him food pantry), P O Box 611, Hartville, OH 44632. Condolences may be left for the family at www.arnoldfuneralhome.com

GERRY WICHMAN EULOGY as written by Mark Wichman

Our Mother, Gerry Wichman, endured an extremely difficult final 4 years on her journey to her "end of life". The medical challenges she had to confront and adapt to were often overwhelming, both for her and for Karen and Tom and I.

As difficult and overwhelming as these last 4 years have been for her and for us, we hope that everyone who knew her and loved her will remember her for the special person she was throughout her 86 years, and not just the most difficult time at the end.

There is so much that I could talk about, so many memories and stories that the three of us and all our family and all her friends could share. But I think there are actually four simple themes which characterize best what mattered the most to her, and into which most of the memories we all have can be captured.

Theme 1: How lucky we were to be blessed with Gerry and Bob Wichman as our parents…

From the late 1950's through the 1960's and mid-1970's, Mom's primary focus was raising 3 kids in a rapidly changing world, in partnership with Dad, but as was typically the case back then, she handled most of it on behalf of the both of them.

Mom and Dad always modelled genuine love and respect for each other, and for us, and they tried their best to treat everyone they encountered with the same dignity and respect and courtesy and consideration as they themselves would like to be treated. They taught us by their example as well as their words.

Mom and Dad were not affluent, nor blessed with any unique personal or family advantages, but for the most part they still managed to provide the three of us with a pretty classic Ozzie and Harriet family life and childhood. At the time we thought that's how it was for most kids, nothing unusual or special about it, that is how growing up was supposed to be – and Mom and Dad made sure it was, at least for us.

It was only after we got older, college age and beyond, that we really came to understand that so many families and kids were nothing like that, e.g. with so many divorces, and single parent situations, and in more extreme and sad cases substance abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, and foster home situations. It was only then that we realized that we were actually so very fortunate to have had the parents and home life and childhood growing up that we did.

Theme 2: Gerry's working life and Dad's equal business partner…

Dad loved Mom as his wife and the mother of their children, but he also had great respect and appreciation for her intellect and judgment, and for her business acumen and management skills in making the business he started in the early 1980's, Tallmadge Agency, successful.

Dad was all about business development and their lending sources, and to enable him to focus in these areas he relied heavily on Mom to manage their office staff and internal business processes, and to handle many sensitive day to day external business relationships.

There were many times when day to day issues with dealers and customers would try Dad's patience to the point where he would hand Mom the phone and say "Ger, please talk to this guy and see if you can solve his problem before I blow him away!" And she always did…

Dad said many times over the years that Mom was truly his equal business partner, and that they could not have been as successful as they were without her dedication, hard work, and professionalism.

At the end of the day, they retired in the mid-1990's after selling Tallmadge Agency to a large nationwide company for good value, enough to see them through in retirement to the end of both of their lives.

Theme 3: Love for Family and Friends

Family, both on the Ercole side and on the Wichman side, was always very important to Mom and Dad. Mom loved her Sisters and their families unconditionally. Mom also adopted and loved Dad's sister and brothers, and all our cousins, as if they were her own. Aunt Gerry and Uncle Bob were beloved by all our cousins, as they have spontaneously told us over the years, and even to this day.

Our grandparents and our aunts and uncles and cousins were always part of our lives growing up. As Karen and Tom and I grew older and progressed through our adult lives, Mom constantly reminded us of the importance of staying in touch with each other, and with our Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. Over the years, there are times when we have been better at this than others, but when we fell short it was always on us, and not for lack of emphasis and reminder from Mom.

Mom also made so many good friendships, so easily and naturally, and she always amazed us at how she managed to stay in touch with most of her friends throughout her life. She always placed a high value and priority on her friendships, and she seemed to know instinctively what it meant to be a good friend, e.g., demonstrating genuine interest and concern for other people, really listening to what was on their minds, and engaging on what was important to them rather than herself.

Some of Mom's best Family and Friends memories were:

Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary celebration dinner at the church in Akron; Mom's 80th birthday celebration at the Bistro of Green restaurant; Mom's European river cruise vacation with Linda and Tom Jones and Aunt Patty; Mom's visit to Alaska with Aunt Patty in 2013 to enable Aunt Patty to experience it while Linda and I were still living and working there – Mom insisted on making this trip in spite of some pretty severe pain in her hip (which required replacement a few months after she returned home), as she was determined that she would not let Aunt Patty down.

Last but not least under the Family and Friends theme, throughout Mom's stay at the Windsor, it was truly remarkable how many of her friends, as well as family, continued to treat her as part of their community, even in her challenged condition, often holding book club meetings and game days at the Windsor so she could participate, and just kept calling and visiting to talk like they always did before. Karen and Tom and I will be forever grateful to all of you who did so, for the social and spiritual uplift you provided to her during this most difficult time in her life.

Theme 4: Living at the Windsor, Adapting to Life with Severe Medical Challenges

As I mentioned previously, Gerry endured extremely difficult and overwhelming medical challenges in the last 4 years of her life, from Dec 29, 2016 when she first lost the use of her legs due to a syrinx (essentially a cyst) on her spinal cord; to later developing severe debilitating COPD as an after effect of pneumonia in October 2019, through to finally going to be with God in Heaven on Feb 3, 2021.

By all accounts, her courage and mental toughness, her "pragmatically positive" outlook on life, and her consistent and genuine interest and concern for other people rather than herself over those 4 years was remarkable and rare.

She always treated her care givers and fellow residents with kindness and respect and courtesy, remembering all their names, and making friends so naturally with nearly all of them; and she was always interested in who they were and what was important to them as people, and how life was going for them and their families.

She always impressed the Windsor staff and administrators and other residents with the way she always tried to make the most of the capabilities she still had, especially her strong sharp mind; and with how she always wanted to do as much as she could independently for herself, rather than dwelling on all her afflictions and complaining about what she couldn't do and how frustrated she must have been.

At the end, during the first two days she was in hospice, there were many many Windsor staff and administrators (15 to 20?) who came to see her and pay their personal respects. Resident friends could not visit due to COVID-19 restrictions, but they sent messages with Windsor staff and posted condolences and memories on Mom's Facebook timeline.

These visits by Windsor staff were not insincere "courtesy" farewells for a long-term resident "customer", in hopes that their family would recommend Windsor to others.

These visits were about genuine expressions of love and respect and appreciation for who she was and what she meant to them as a member of the Windsor "family" while she was in their care living at the Windsor.

Karen and Tom and I will always be deeply grateful to the Windsor care givers and administrators for their dedicated and compassionate care and friendship to Mom during her 4 years living there.

Closing:

For the avoidance of doubt, Karen and Tom and I are heartbroken and sad that Gerry, our Mother, is gone; but we are also relieved that she is no longer suffering; and happy for her that she is finally with God in Heaven, along with Dad, and all of our family and friends who have gone before her.

Thank You, again, to Father Ed, and to Father John, for their prayers and scripture readings in the first segment of this Virtual Memorial Service.