For two local sisters, Mother’s Day is not just one day in May. JoAnne Runion and Ellen Fitzwater are keepers of the flame of their mother’s memory.
It’s not hard to do, because pieces of Edith Hoover Runion’s handiwork are displayed throughout the sisters’ beautiful homes.
JoAnne remarks, “This is a tribute to our mom. She was a remarkable person, really. She was a loving wife, and surely a loving mother. She was pretty much a homemaker, didn’t work outside the home. After my dad got out of the service, they lived at Cootes Store, all their lives. Edith’s brother owned an operated Cootes Store for many years.”
Born at Cootes Store in 1917, Edith Hoover married Joe Runion in 1942. He was in the service, and she traveled around with him, as they moved around the country, for a while living in San Diego. After the service, their dad was in the excavating business. After Joe passed away in 1971, Edith continued, alone for 42 years.
Although Edith lived alone, she was never idle. She doted on her 2 daughters, cared for her home, and was a prolific seamstress and gardener. After her husband died, Edith got interested in quilting, making an endless number of quilts, some of her own design, hand quilted, and always perfect. JoAnne recalls her mother’s perfectionism in her work, “she was VERY particular” – if there was a stich out of place, Edith would rip it out and re-do it!
Their mother sold many of her quilts all over the country. Hand pieced quilts were just part of her creativity. She enjoyed many different crafts. Early on, she crocheted and sewed beautiful baby outfits for her girls, several of which are lovingly displayed in JoAnne’s home. Ellen recalls how her mother made all of their clothes while they were growing up. Both Ellen and JoAnne’s homes are filled with things their mother made – “and we love it!”
Ellen shared her mother was “very creative, and very self-reliant. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t tackle for herself and in everyday life. She kept her house up – she was still mowing when she was 90 years old! She had a garden. Her favorite flower was the iris, and at one time, she had over 300 varieties. She had huge beds, and she sold and gave away flowers, for years and years. “
JoAnne chimed in, “When you think about 42 years of being alone, Ellen and I were pretty much her whole life, after our dad died. Mom was outgoing before he died, but after her husband died, she didn’t really want to go out and do things. Over the years, she had a broken shoulder, broken hip, and a broken femur. She survived all of them in her 80s. She had some issues with eyesight later on, and then had a stroke near her 95th birthday, passing away 14 days after the stroke.”
In the 1980’s, Edith discovered fabric yo-yo’s – not the toy, but the little circles of fabric that were used in table runners, toys, and many other decorations. Yo-yos were popular in the 1920s, made from sewers’ scraps of material, and came back into vogue in the 1980’s. They seem to be coming back again now. What goes around, comes around! Edith would sit at night, while watching tv, and cut out different sized circles in coordinating colors- when she decided what her next yo-yo creation was, she could just go to her stacks and stacks of fabric circles and pick and choose! Yo-yos are made by stitching around the outer edge of the circle and drawing it up, creating a little shirred rosette. The sisters estimated the yo-yo collection to be in the thousands!
JoAnne still has a small box of these circles, most have been gifted to her friend, Betty May, who is now making yo-yo’s. JoAnne has made many yo-yo creations. She has a holiday tree in her living room, decorated with ones she made herself – pumpkins, turkeys, trees. She also makes brooches out of her mother’s older yo-yos and has a box of holiday themed ones.
Edith made yo-yos until a month before she passed. Creative to the end, her hands were never idle!
Ellen has a king-size hand stitched and appliqued quilt on her guest room bed, made by her mother, which is Ellen’s pride and joy. Before Edith even finished a quilt, her daughters are sure she was already thinking of her next project – she never stopped. Both sisters’ homes are filled with their mother’s handiwork- from wall hangings to pillows, and yo-yo table toppers on every surface! All tastefully displayed, JoAnne’s home could be right out of Country Home Magazine, as is Ellen’s, no doubt! Their mother, Edith, was very self- motivated, patient, and precise, traits the women laughingly say they did not inherit!
Houses full of memories, with creations of their beloved mother displayed, make Mothers’ Day a daily occurrence for sisters Ellen and JoAnne. Edith Hoover Runion had a life well lived, and her legacy continues in her daughters and handiwork.
