Maggie French finished breathing Thursday evening, December 12. It was cancer. Mom was in her own home when she died, sharing a bed with singing, crying, and story-sharing family.
Years ago, she left us notes for this day. She didn’t want much of an obituary other than to “please put my expression of faith in God & His Dear Son — a life I tried to live as best I could with God’s help.”
“By the world’s standard I’ve accomplished very little.”
Mom was born in Hungary, immigrating through Ellis Island in 1938 and settling in New Jersey in a family effort to avoid World War II. She was a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence who, once married, worked to make her own home safe and loving. After graduating from David Lipscomb High School and barely starting college, she chose to wed the kindest and smartest man ever made, John French, when she was just 17. They had the first of us when Mom was 19 and their final of four when she was 42.
Together, Mom and Dad said they saw 50 states — all but one by ground or boat because of her not-insignificant fear of flying. Even so, she would remind us kids that if we ever needed her she’d jump on a plane in an instant. That scenario never presented itself, but she did return to Hungary once to visit extended family, flew to China, and also to Hawaii when Daddy won a trip through his work!
Mom craved a crowded table — frequently hosting coffee gatherings and holiday parties in her home. At this time of year, the void is deep and loud. She had an unconventional attachment to Christmas that morphed into a year-round theme in her home. She said it was to make up for past unhappy seasons. She surrounded herself with anything she found beautiful and expressed extreme gratitude for her possessions in her final months.
Over her 89 years, the thing Maggie committed to most was her Christian faith. A lifelong member of the Church of Christ, she was never afraid to express her understanding of scripture and enforce her beliefs — even when it strained, or even severed, close relationships. She was a woman who knew grief, who was well acquainted with suffering. Yet, at the same time, she carried an effervescent eagerness for life, empathy for people in pain, and rare and infectious curiosity for her neighbors.
Her children, Kim Cannon, Karen Yarbrough, Mike French and Tasha A.F. Lemley are surviving her absence. Her grandchildren and other family and friends are also just beginning to understand what it means to be here without her.
Mom’s funeral will be at Mayfair Church of Christ in Huntsville, Alabama, on Sunday, December 15, at 2 p.m. Wear all one color if you want.
