Lenore D. Mulford

Lenore DiGirolamo Mulford (August 5, 1918 – February 28, 2016)

Finally at rest after a long life rich with extended family, many friends, vivacious laughter, and gifted hands and heart is Nora Mulford, beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Nora was born in Blue Anchor, New Jersey, to Anna Laccavarra DiGirolamo (1888-1955) and her husband, Carmen (sometimes spelled Carmine, 1884-1957). Nora loved the family farm but had to leave it behind when her father moved the family to the city of Philadelphia. There, Nora's intellect blossomed among the books in the library she happily visited every Saturday. Nora retained her love of reading throughout her life.

Nora's charming ways – she was both vivacious and shy at the same time – caught the eye of many a would-be beau. Nora married Richard Lott Mulford (1910-1993) in 1939 and settled with him in the Drexel Hill area of the city. The young couple moved as they created a family. The changes must have been a challenge for Nora, whose native intelligence was insufficiently tasked by learning how to cook, clean house, and become a wife and mother – all things she eventually embraced after a rough start during the war years that informed their adult lives as members of the greatest generation. As the wife of a Navy man, Nora had to move to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Richard entered into officer training at Harvard University. They eventually returned to Philadelphia, where Richard served the Navy Yard and where they remained immediately after the war. They moved in 1950 to northeastern Pennsylvania. Here they raised their four daughters, played many a hand of bridge, took care of a summer home at Lake Winola, and developed deep and lasting friendships.

Small but cheerful, spirited (indeed, tenacious) in her views but generous in her sentiments, Nora possessed culinary skills in sweet yeast breads that were unsurpassed, as were her abilities in the arts of houseplant growing, sewing, tailoring, game-playing, card-playing, and laughing. Her infectious laugh, her quick wit and high intelligence, her willingness to lend a hand – these are the things most memorable about Nora. Whether she was playing bridge or London Rummy, puzzling through the crossword or the daily jumble, potting plants or working in her yard, stitching yet another hem on a dress or knitting a sweater, making sour cream twists (a favorite at the Waverly Community House bake sales), apple pie, or cheesecake, Nora put all of her vast array of skills to work, every time, tirelessly and without complaint. She sewed hats, skirts, shirts, neckties, coats, pants, and prom dresses. She read every book she could get her hands on in support of her favorite political party. She loved Joe Paterno and Penn State football. She loved welcoming each new grandchild to the family fold, and by the time her grandchildren Jenny and Andy were born, she was finally free of raising her own daughters and could enjoy caring for her grandchildren. Later in life, special pleasures arose when she attended the many events involving her great-grandchildren Gino, Dominica, and Chessa.

Nora loved her family and friends, and she loved life. Nora leaves behind four daughters and their extended families, including many grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Irene Lehmann, Nora's first daughter, enjoys with her husband Ted Lehmann many different activities, especially bluegrass music and the bands that perform it. Irene and Ted are parents of two sons: Richard Lehmann, whose children are Alexander and Peter; and Alexander Lehmann, married to Sandra Rog Lehmann, whose children are Anna and Luke. Nora's second daughter, Ellen Clendenning, took her mother's skills in sewing to a new level, creating in northeastern Pennsylvania her own successful drapery and home goods business, which she still owns. Her longtime partner is Jerry Fallas. Ellen's and Jerry's children are William Clendenning, who is married to Daryl Merenich Clendenning, and father of Douglas and Cole; Heather Clendenning, mother of Gino, Dominica, and Franchessa Bianconi; Sharon Clendenning Bove, married to John Bove, whose children are Nicholas, Roman, and Stella; Patty DeMoss; Arielle Fallas; and Andrea Fallas. Nora's third daughter, Marjorie Gardner, an accomplished gardener and once a high school guidance counselor, has fully embraced the métier of her husband, John Gardner, a master photographer, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Their children are Jennifer Batchelor, who is married to John Hosey; Andrew Batchelor, husband of Stephanie Carter Batchelor and father of Noah and Leah; Benjamin Gardner; and Maggie Gardner. Nora resided for the last nine years of her life in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in the home of her fourth daughter, Carla Mulford Conklin and her husband Ted, who in 2008 invited Nora to live in the old house he has spent his life restoring. As Carla Mulford, her last daughter became a historian and Penn State English professor. Carla was the daughter who embraced Nora's perpetual inquisitiveness and bookishness.

Nora used to say she didn't like change, but her life gave witness to her significant adaptability, curiosity, joy, and goodwill, even in the more recent years, when she faced the increasing onset of Alzheimer's disease. In her last half-year, she awoke each day to the new recognition that she could not use her right arm and leg and could no longer stand up. Even so, abundantly so, she met each day with a smile, in cheerful gratitude and love for all who helped make her life better. Would that each one of us might reach an end so gracefully.

Nora's family is celebrating her life on Saturday, May 21, at 1 PM, at the Clarks Green United Methodist Church, 119 Glenburn Road, Clarks Green, Pennsylvania, with an informal service by Pastor Brent Stouffer. They welcome Nora's and their own friends to join them. Local arrangements have been entrusted to the Lawrence E. Young Funeral Home, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.

To honor Nora's memory, please hug your family and your pets, and quietly watch and feed the birds near you. If you'd like to do something more, join your local Alzheimer's Association for a Walk to End Alzheimer's, or donate to their organization in some other way. If you would prefer to honor Nora's love for wildlife and birds, please watch the live feeder cams available online via the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, as she did in her last weeks, or participate in the FeederWatch project organized by the Cornell Lab.