Women's History Happens Every Day

On International Women's Day, I always think of my grandmothers who played such an important role in helping me become the woman I am. Grandma would have been 98 today and my boys and I miss her and NaNa very much. I'm grateful for the trails they blazed and the love they shared. A couple years ago, I wrote about them for the Journal Gazette's Sunday edition.

The History of Everyday Life

Inspirational stories are not just for notable women

Women's History Month celebrates the contributions of women and their impact on this world.

However, not all women's stories make it into the history books; some stories live only in the hearts of their loved ones, like those of my grandmothers.

Marion Spirer was born in 1925, the youngest of Abraham and Anna Smith's four children.

She began her career as a clerk for her family's business, A&B Smith Company, working on a contract for the federal government to support war efforts by creating maps for top-secret missions.

While her brothers were groomed to take over the business, she was forced to forge her own path and worked for 35 years as a bookkeeper and department manager at a men's clothing store in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Marion also raised two sons with her husband Albert.

After she retired, Marion became a dedicated hospital volunteer, greeting patients and their families as they arrived early in the morning each day for 14 years.

Two states away, Helen Ruth Haines was a "city girl" raised in Monroe, Indiana, who married Dick Martin, a "farm boy" from rural Adams County.

He knew she was the one for him when she could back up a trailer without any assistance. A consummate bookkeeper, she refused to lend him money for one of his barns that had burned down until after they wed.

Having graduated valedictorian of her high school class, Helen worked as a deputy clerk in the county courthouse until their marriage was announced several months after they eloped.

Though she didn't receive an outside paycheck, Helen also was a working mom before the term came in vogue as she helped manage the farm operations, feeding farmhands while raising their daughter and son.

Health issues, including Dick receiving one of the first heart transplants at the old Lutheran Hospital, forced them to retire and move to Decatur.

Dick never knew a stranger, but it was Helen who transformed those momentary exchanges into lifelong friendships.

My grandmothers profoundly shaped who I am today, subconsciously instilling in me a "Women can do anything" mentality even as they faced synchronic limitations.

I grew up living near Grandma Spirer, but chose to live my adulthood near NaNa Martin.

Grandma was probably my first example of a woman working outside the home. NaNa taught me the importance of family, finances and faith.

Both grandmothers showed me how an ordinary woman could make a real impact by simply looking out for her neighbors.

As the world shut down last spring, I lost precious time with my grandmothers, and our interactions were limited to calls trying to connect them with their young great-grandsons.

In the past year, within six months, I lost them both.

After surviving breast cancer and and countless surgeries, as well as burying one of her sons, Grandma passed away at the beginning of this year from COVID-19 as my family and I sat vigil at her bedside via Zoom.

Grandma would have been 96 on International Women's Day last week.

After my dad died a decade ago, Grandma became the source for stories about his upbringing, but I never knew about her war service until after she died.

NaNa passed away last summer. Cleaning out her house helped provide closure while also prompting questions I would have loved to have asked her, including why did they wait those months to announce their marriage?

NaNa was a walking encyclopedia of family history, not just her own, but especially for my grandfather's side after he and his 14 brothers and sisters passed on.

How I wish I had recorded their stories to be able to share them with my children. The closest I came was having NaNa record storybooks for each of my three sons. Though she never personalized the one for my youngest, it's one I'll always hold dear: "NaNa's Love is Forever."

During Women's History Month this year, celebrate a lesser known foremother who has made an impact on your world. If they're still living, don't wait to let them know. And record a story or two for someone else whose chapter you might help write.

Stephanie Crandall is director of intergovernmental affairs for the city of Fort Wayne.