Mary Loyola Brantley (nee Gorman), lover of all things sugary, consummate storyteller and flirt, bargain hunter, bacon enthusiast, world traveler, known as Lola to some and Grandma to most, passed away July 19, 2014 surrounded by her family. Born in Wagner, SD on March 1, 1926, Lola was the youngest of five children of Frank & Alice Gorman. She attended Austin High School in Austin, MN where she met and married Gerald (Jerry) Brantley. Lola and Jerry had five children who were the light of her life. She was blessed with 12 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren over the past four decades and became an honorary grandma to everyone she met – including gaining the unofficial title of Band Grandma to the Folsom High Marching Band. She found a love of travel at the age of 80 and spent the last 8 years of her life seeing the world. From kissing the Blarney stone, to having an audience with the Pope at The Vatican (and by audience, we mean she saw him from very far away), to picnicking under the Eiffel tower, to going all Augustus Gloop at the Chocolate Factory in Cologne, Lola became a great adventurer with a passion for trying new things, seeing new places, and charming new people all over the world. Lola was loving, generous, supportive, tenacious, mischievous, fiercely loyal, and a million other adjectives that wouldn’t begin to convey the hole she will leave behind. Lola is survived by her daughters Geri Harp, Debi Arnold, Teri Brown, Tami Ramone, son James Brantley, 11 grandchildren Kevin Harp (& Julie Anne), Tabatha Richard (& Chuck), Wendy Anderson (& Scott), Keli Arnold (& Chris), Christopher Brantley (& Sarah), Kimberly Golynskiy (& Misha), Jackson Ramone, Jeffery Brown, Sara Ramone (& Alan), Nick Brown, Emily Ramone, 8 great-grandchildren Kayla Richard, Chloe Dowe, Kylee Dowe, Ryan Richard, Charlee Dowe, Collin Harp, Mila Golynskiy, Ellerie Anderson and numerous acquired grandchildren, friends, and her loyal canine companion BeCea. She was preceded in death by her parents Francis Lee Gorman and Alice Veronica Gorman (nee Mitchell), two brothers Clifford Gorman and Raymond Gorman, two sisters Arline Gilman and Gladys Hughes, son-in-law Bruce Arnold, and granddaughter Jamie Lynne Dowe. There will be a celebration of her life everyday so long as someone remembers her and smiles. Lola wished to have her ashes spread into the ocean to rejoin her husband and son-in-law. A date is not yet set for the memorial, but everyone who may want to attend will be contacted well in advance, because nothing pleased Lola more than a party in her honor. People often write that a loved one would prefer a donation to a charity in lieu of flowers, but in all honesty, Lola would have enjoyed the flowers and taken 800 pictures of them. Her family however, who never let her have any fun, kindly requests that instead of flowers you commit one random act of kindness in Lola’s honor.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 00:44:28 +0000
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