Woman pens obituary on behalf of her sassy, 91-year-old grandmother

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Courtesy Melissa Falter (POWELL, Ohio) — An Ohio woman has penned an obituary on behalf of her vivacious, 91-year-old grandmother before her death earlier this week.

Melissa Falter, granddaughter of the late Jean Oddi, wrote the humorous tribute that she said captured her grandmother’s sassy personality.

“She’s laughing,” Falter, 45, told ABC News. “She’s probably saying, ‘See I told you I was funny and everybody loved me!’ [I] think a lot of people are craving this great story and here’s this woman who’s 91 years old and got to travel, loved her family and friends and was comfortable in her own skin…she was very positive and I think lately this world has been very negative and divisive and maybe it’s a new thing to have an uplifting mourning period to celebrate her life.”

Oddi was born on Sept. 7, 1925. She was married twice and is survived by one daughter, Casey Clark, one grandchild, Melissa Falter, and two great-grandchildren, Griffin Falter, 16, and Nicholas Falter, 13.

In January, Oddi broke her hip and injured her head from a fall. She was admitted into the hospital on Feb. 13 and was declared unresponsive on Valentine’s Day. Oddi died on Feb. 20, her granddaughter said.

“I will miss just being in the room with her because she changed the room whenever she was in it,” said Falter of Powell, Ohio. “She had an answering machine..it’s hysterical. It’s kind of like, ‘Hi, this is Jean, my number is…’ and she starts to give her phone number and says, “Oh, you have my number, oh well, then leave message!’ Just random times of day I would be in the car and I know she’s not going to answer, but I’d listen to her message and I’d laugh.”

“The three of us were almost ridiculously close,” she added of her, her mom and grandma. “There were no topics that we couldn’t discuss. My grandma was my matron of honor when I got married.”

When Oddi, aka “Majean,” took a turn for the worst, Falter decided to write her grandmother’s obituary in “her voice.” Falter took out a full-page column in The Columbus Dispatch, which cost $1,250.

In cheeky language, Oddi’s obituary is written in a first-person narrative, describing who she was as a person and all the things she loved.

“I was a crazy teenager, a loving wife, a hard worker, a loyal friend and a hands-on grandmother,” it said, in part. “I would like to thank my darling daughter Casey, who I adore, who cared for me, shuttled me around to my doctor’s appointments, managed my pills, cleaned up after me and apologized in my wake for far too many years. I wasn’t always nice, but I did, and always will, love you…Don’t cry because I’m gone, instead have a drink and be happy you knew me.”

A representative at Brookdale Senior Living Inc., where Oddi lived, said she will be missed.

“But as advised, the people at Brookdale Trillium Crossing will not be sad about losing her (after all, someone else has to win in cards), but instead we will cheers [sic] to a wonderful life and a vivacious personality,” the company said in a statement. “She left a Jean-sized hole in our hearts.”

Services honoring Jean “Majean” Oddi’s life will take place tomorrow at Brookdale Trillium Crossing Senior Living in Columbus.

Oddi’s favorite food — White Castle, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and pizza — will be served.

As for her obituary, Falter’s happy it made people smile. She said, “I love it all and I love that people think she wrote it. To me, that is a tremendous compliment that [you] hear her in every word. She loved attention and she was the life of the party. The bigger the crowd, the more on she was.”

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