EATON TWP. — The night Holly Dembie died, she sent an email to friends and family saying “I love you and you are my sunshine,” her mother told a crowd that gathered Thursday for the dedication of Holly’s Memory Garden.
A sign at Holly’s Memory Garden, which was dedicated Thursday at Midview West Elementary School. (CT photo by Steve Manheim.)
It was typical of how Dembie, a special-needs instructor for Midview Schools, lived her life, said her mother Cheryl Foldes.
“My daughter was sunshine to me,” Foldes said. “She was the light of my life.”
One by one, co-workers, friends and relatives explained how Dembie had made their lives brighter.
“I am so very fortunate in this life our paths crossed,” said Patricia Hamilton, her principal at West Elementary.
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The crowd smiled as Hamilton reminisced about how Dembie would make her laugh by singing songs from the ’60s or demonstrating “silly karate moves.”
Planning for a garden at West Elementary was already in the works when Dembie was killed last month. Her husband, former Lorain County Jail guard William Dembie Jr., is facing charges including aggravated murder in her Aug. 11 death.
The school community decided to name the garden, which was funded through a grant from Ross Industries, in Dembie’s honor after her death, Midview Superintendent John Kuhn said.
Kuhn’s voice cracked as he recalled Dembie’s “contagious smile” and sense of humor that just made him feel better when she was around.
Kuhn said that he can close his eyes and “play little movies” of his exchanges with Dembie — just like he can with his grandparents, father and aunts and uncles who also have died.
Annette Marsaw, a staff member at North Elementary, where Dembie also had worked, presented her family with a handmade shawl “made with love and prayers” by members oft North Eaton Christian Church.
“The one word I can use to best describe her is sunshine … The glass was always half-full,” Marsaw said.
Sunshine was definitely the major theme of Thursday’s garden dedication, which also was attended by her stepfather, Michael Foldes, her 4-year-old son, William, and her brothers, Michael Foldes and Nick Foldes.
Cheryl and Michael Foldes are caring for William, and Cheryl Foldes said, “I’ve been teaching the little guy ‘You Are my Sunshine.’”
In Dembie’s honor, everyone sang the song, some wiping away tears.
After the ceremony wrapped up, Michael Foldes smiled and recalled the many happy times his stepdaughter hosted impromptu cookouts for her family, who lived a few doors away in Grafton Township.
Foldes said his stepdaughter never failed to save food for her husband, who was often at work at the county jail.
Foldes said it was a difficult marriage, but she still cared and thought about him.
“She was very caring for Bill, and when we had cookouts, she always said, ‘Make sure and leave something for Bill,’ ” Michael Foldes said.
Dembie’s aunt, Diedre Ashman, said William is doing the best he can, although “He always asks for her.”
“My sister tells him ‘Mommy’s in heaven looking down at you.’ ” Ashman said.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
