Our mother, Christine Ann Dumnich, was born June 7th 1962, to parents Dorothy Gydosh and George Dumnich. She was born and raised in the West Side of Cleveland. A very bright and independent child, she loved sharing her culinary skills at an early age with various concoctions of baked goods and unique sandwiches she would present to her parents, often experimental in her blends of herbs and spices. She would graduate earlier than her peers from John Marshall High School 1979 at the age of 16.
Such as Coronado or the frontier settlers in an antebellum America, Mother was driven westward once she had surpassed high school. She attended Arizona State University studying architecture, but eventually had found her calling as a nurse. She never let her artistic passion go. Her creative problem-solving, design, and do-it-yourself drive was apparent in her everyday life. Mom could look at a blank space or room and piece together something that was uniquely her style, often with touches of American southwestern charm, and rustic trinkets that paid homage to her rural self -sufficient lifestyle. She loved art and music, especially singing and dancing in the presence of her children, much to our embarrassment. Her lack of vocal finesse must have been inherited from her father’s side, but it never stopped her from singing her favorite tracks from the likes of Eagles, Journey, and Jon Bon Jovi.
Our mother envisioned staying in Arizona forever, soaking up the sun and vistas of the Grand Canyon State well into her retirement years. This dream would be put on hold November 20th, 1987 when she married her late husband, and our Father, Tommy Gerez. We often say the man must have had the charm of Frank Sinatra combined with the charisma of Jesus Christ himself to convince her to leave the almost never-ending sunshine sweeping over the mountain and desert landscapes of Arizona for a two story dilapidated structure at the fringe of Nelson township in almost-always cloudy Northeast Ohio.
She may have been an only child but she did not want that life for her offspring. She birthed and raised four children of her own. Toby, Jared and Alex, all infants of alarming size were brought into this world kicking and screaming. They came out as almost toddlers of 10, 11 and 12 pounds, respectively. When her last child came, a girl named Elizabeth; she anticipated the same amount of effort. The final child of Christine and Tommy was born two months premature after weeks of bedrest and very little strain in active labor, Mom’s surprised response as, “…That’s it?”
With a household as big as ours with many mouths to feed and care for, she never let us bear any burden, or know just how struggling it could be at times. We always had food on the table, six gallons of milk in the fridge and undying love and support for our passions and the things we wanted to pursue in and out of school. Mom threw herself into every extra circular activity, ensuring we would have the best experience she could offer.
Uniquely intelligent as well as absolutely determined, there wasn’t much Mom couldn’t do once she set her mind to it. The woman not only was an excellent nurse, she also was a proud small business partner and owner of the Weekly Villager, vice president and self-taught web designer for her mother’s consulting business and a skilled accountant for Winner Aviation. She was heavily involved in countless community events, and deeply dedicated to her late husband and her children. The woman taught herself twelfth grade calculus to ensure her middle son understood his class curriculum and also sewed costumes from scraps for her daughter playing the lead in her high school musical. She enabled her eldest son the opportunity to turn a once condemned century farmhouse into a modern living masterpiece and made sure that her youngest son had the means to attend medical school by funding him through the application process. She attended every football game, basketball game, band concert, play, and musical. She supported anything us kids would set our minds to, but with the stern reminder that she would support us in anything we chose to do, saying “finish something once you start it.” Mom was no hypocrite and decided to finish what she started by returning to nursing after a 25 year hiatus.
Our mother’s intelligence burdened her with a constant search for a challenge. This manifested in an uncanny ability to stir the pot. Whether it was her political musings, life philosophy or the necessity of taking vitamin supplements, she was always challenging any and all who opposed her views. After getting her opponent riled up, Mom loved to pose as a mental ninja and destroy her opponent from within, seeming to have always completed a dissertations’ worth of research even for the simplest of arguments. We do not know if she had telepathic abilities, and if she did we are disappointed that we did not inherit them. Somehow she would anticipate your every action, movement, and counter argument and give you the reaction you least expected just to catch you off guard and make you easier to take down. She will be well-remembered for her ability to get in the last word.
In her last weeks, with impending existential dread looming and many of life’s questions left unanswered, Mom would wake up in the night and be overcome with one of her biggest worries: Not knowing if Trump would ever make it back into the White House. It was small moments like this that made us appreciate who we had as our ultimate role model. There was never a dull moment, always a memory to be made…And …. all politics aside… Mother, we will always love and cherish every minute we had with you.
Mom was brought home to be cared for by her family, cherished and surrounded by love. She took her last breath in the evening of August 7th 2023 and passed peacefully. The modern lexicon usually declares that when one passes in this manner that they had “lost their battle” with cancer. As with all the fake news narratives these days we should not believe this as the truth. My mother was someone who would never allow herself to lose. So as the late comedian legend Norm MacDonald put it best “I’m pretty sure, I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure if you die, the cancer also dies at exactly the same time, so that to me is not a loss that’s a draw. You know what I mean?”
We leave you with this original poem, added by our grandmother.
I’d like to leave an echo
Murmuring softly down the ways,
Of happy and laughing times
And bright and sunny days.
I’d like the memory of me
To be a cheerful one,
Of happy recollections I leave
When this life of mine is done.
Smile because I lived
Think of the joys we knew and shared.
Be happy because of our yesterdays.
Cherish the memories
Smile. Be joyful. And go on.
