VIRGINIA S. BROCK, 88 yrs of age, wife of Kenneth R. Brock (deceased) passed Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at her home, Dolan House, Frontier. She leaves her children Kathy Brock, Karen Brock, Tamara Smith, and Todd Brock; four grandchildren.

Ginny graduated from Niantic High School, worked for AE Staley in Decatur, IL, then retired early from EKI in St. Louis to travel the world with her husband.  She was a wonderful mother and friend to all.

Services:  Visitation 1-3 pm at Ortmann Stipanovich Funeral Home, Creve Coeur, MO on Saturday, September 28, 2024 with a Celebration of Life service immediately following.

MY MOM'S EULOGY

I can unequivocally label our Mom, Virginia (Ginny) Sue Brock, the Bravest, Wisest and Sweetest woman we have ever known.  Let's begin with Brave …

On every one of our numerous family vacations, Dad would encourage us kids to take part in all manner of risky business (legal and illegal) – climbing "do not climb" hills, swimming in "no swimming" bodies of water, etc. – while Mom stood by terrified at what was happening right in front of her eyes, but biting her tongue and trying to keep her head from exploding! Quite honestly, a certain degree of bravado was required if you were going to hang with Dad, and Mom learned that early on.

I think most everyone here knows our Dad was not much of a rule follower, right? But, in case you were thinking that Mom was dragged kicking and screaming into his shenanigans, you would be wrong! Seems I recollect hearing about Dad picking Mom up with a couple of his buddies who were all drinking and smoking while Mom was hunched over in the floorboard hiding from … not sure ... But Mom was aware of how the evening was going to unfold as this was not an isolated incident

Although Mom could not swim and was afraid of the water over her head, she taught all of us kids to swim, always keeping her fingers crossed that we would never discover her secret.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Mom not only supporting Dad's love of biking, but eventually training so they could bike through parts of Germany together. She also joined him on one of his RAGBRAI runs – a 500-mile ride from the Western to the Eastern border of Iowa. While on this ride she was involved in a fairly serious bike accident, which resulted in her being hospitalized for her injuries. But like the trooper she was, Mom was not going to let those injuries stop her from completing the entire ride. So, she kept after the hospital staff until she was released in time to finish the ride and legitimately collect her patch.

All of us kids thought we were really pulling the wool over Mom's eyes when we thought we were getting away with something. However, as we would come to discover, whether it be immediately following the "indiscretion" or later in life, Mom seemed to always know. We would joke and say that Mom knew what you were going to do before you did it!

Not only did Mom have that intuition locked in, but she also had so many very wise words for all of us. I don't have the space here to give them all a mention, but suffice to say, had we listened to and followed a few more of those wise words, we all could have avoided some pretty undesirable, expensive, and sometimes heartbreaking, consequences. But Mom never said," I told you so."

Despite us not always taking Mom's advice, she continued to patiently, and always with great kindness, offer it up, hoping that as much as possible would eventually sink in. The number of times one of us kids has said, "You were right, Mom!," cannot come close to being counted!

Mom was funny, smart, creative, talented, and loved to laugh – even at herself – and LOVED to sing, which she was really good at! She could sit down at any piano, hand her any piece of music, and since she could read music, all you had to do was give her 30 seconds to see the key and she would own that piece.

Mom would sometimes allude to the fact that she wasn't smart, which could not be further from the truth, because she didn't have a college degree. In fact, she was above-average in all areas of her studies, but she made the decision to trade where that potential might have taken her for being Dad's wife and our mother.

Mom was the sweetest and most giving woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. When you experienced Mom, she touched you and you remembered. Our Mom was truly "The Best," and we are so incredibly fortunate to have had her in our lives as long as we did.

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