We love you Deer!

Our beloved grandmother “Deer” passed away this past Saturday, February 19, 2011.  Sadly because of a neurologic disorder we have in a sense felt that we’ve been missing her for awhile now.  It’s hard to lose someone that you’ve been very close to your entire life.  Yet I just feel so blessed to have had such amazing grandparents.  And I feel happy for Payton because I know that she too has three grandparents who love her very much. 

This is what I read at Deer’s funeral:

I would like to tell you a little about my grandmother.  Most people knew her as Melba but to my brothers and I, she has always been known as Deer.  When I was a baby and still living in Michigan, she and my grandfather came to visit.  While they were visiting us she read stories to me, including the story of Bambi, and my grandfather built a deck on the back of our house.  I was just learning to talk at the time and liked to repeat the last word that my parents would say to me.  So after my grandparents returned to Texas my mom would say things like, “Remember your grandmother who read you the story about the deer” and I would say, “Deer” and she would say, “And remember your grandfather who built us the deck” and I would say, “Deck”.  And so they became known as Deer and Deck.  Maybe I’m a little biased since I came up with the names, but I’ve always thought they fit them perfectly.  Deck was always building something and when I think of a deer I always picture an animal that is beautiful, calm, peaceful…  And that was Deer, beautiful on the outside but even more beautiful on the inside.

They say the best way to lead is to lead by example and that is exactly what Deer did.  She set an example for us on how to be a wonderful wife, mother, sister, aunt, friend, and grandmother.  God was first in her life followed closely by the deep love that she had for her family and friends.  I never once questioned her love for me and I always prided myself with being her favorite granddaughter.  It didn’t matter to me that I was her only granddaughter. 

Deck was mine and my brother’s playmate while Deer was the one who took care of us when we were with them.  And like the wonderful grandparents that they were, they didn’t hesitate to spoil us.  If Deer was making something for dinner that she thought my brothers and I wouldn’t care for, she would also fix us a chili dip to have instead.  She would put my hair up in curlers so that I could have some curl in my hair like she had.  She would scrub our backs in the bathtub and scratch our backs when putting us to sleep at night. 

Once I remember I was spending the night at their house and when being put to bed I told Deer that I was hungry so she brought me a piece of key lime pie to eat in bed.  Another time we were at the Cotton Bowl watching the Aggies play.  It was extremely cold out and she spent pretty much the entire game rubbing my feet to keep them warm.  Deer used to make dresses for me and once took me to a craft store and let me choose which fabric I wanted for a dress.  I chose a fabric with teddy bears on it. 

It was all of the little things that she did for her family and friends each and every day that showed how much she cared and let us know how much we were loved by her.  I feel so blessed to have had Deer as my grandmother and although I miss her very much, I know that right now there is an amazing celebration taking place in Heaven for she is once again with Deck, whom she loved very much, as well as being again with her parents, her sister Betty, her other friends and family members who have gone before her, and with Jesus her Savior.  It is hard to stay sad when I know that she is once again healthy, happy, and that I will see her again one day.

Deer’s Obituary:

Melba Grey Rains Bartschmid, 1924-2011, left to be present with her Lord Jesus Christ, on February 19, 2011, after long enduring and disabling neurologic condition. She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Albert Henry Bartschmid, Jr. She is survived by her two children, Betty Rains Bartschmid, PhD of Blacksburg, Virginia and Albert Henry Bartschmid III, MD of Georgetown, Texas.

She was born in Grand Bayou, Louisiana, daughter of Theodore L. Rains and Nellie Skinner Rains and moved to Naborton, Louisiana at an early age. She graduated from Mansfield High School in 1941. She attended business college in Shreveport, Louisiana. During WWII she worked in Shreveport while she corresponded with her sweetheart, “Buddy”, who spent 36 months overseas fighting the war.

After the War, in 1946, she and Buddy married, residing in Shreveport, where Melba worked for Texas Company and Buddy and his father, Albert, opened a machine shop, Bartschmid Oil Well and Machine Works.

With her first child’s birth (Betty) she became a full time mother and housewife. The family moved to Austin, Texas in 1963 where they lived for the next 28 years. They were active members of First Evangelical Free Church.

Melba supported her children’s activities, being an active parent for the McCallum High School Band and Blue Brigade. She was also active in the Aggie Mothers Club, several bridge clubs, the Austin Garden Club and community Bible study. She and Buddy attended countless Aggie football games, traveled in their RV, and enjoyed a memorable trip to the Holy Lands.

Also surviving are three grandchildren, Rebecca Ann Falgout of Galveston, Texas, Albert H. Bartschmid, IV of Fredericksburg, Texas and Kyle Thomas Bartschmid of Georgetown, Texas. She left two great-grandchildren, Payton Ashley Falgout and Albert Henry Bartschmid, V., her brother, Ted Rains of Golden, Colorado, sister, Nelwyn Stuart of Metairie, Louisiana.

Melba was preceded in death by her parents, husband and sister, Betty Rogers.