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Obituaries » Gilma K. Softas

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March 27, 1934 - September 7, 2020

A private family memorial service has taken place at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. Donations in Gilma’s memory may be made to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan or Grace Valley Assisted Living, c/o the funeral home.

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Tia (Aunt) Gilma will be one of the best people to have ever lived in our family, I heard so many stories about her and her life and how she gave it all for her family..how incredibly kind she was and how incredibly intelligent she was, especially with juggling between 3 languages and 3 cultures.. I saw her in person so long ago when I was just a small boy in Medellin, but I remember her very vividly, as a matter of fact, My most favorite memory of her is of her scolding my mother for not letting me eat a little more ice cream at her sister Violeta's house in Medellin, Gilma was a saint with a big golden heart..She had the honor of living a good and long and full life. Aunt Gilma, You were amazing..we'll all miss you very much, You have shown so much strength the past few years. Thank you, for being a good person. You're now in heaven with your husband Kimon and your siblings Javier and Hernando and My Grandfather Fabio and Violeta and Fabiola and Consuelo and your parents, I'm sure they were very proud of everything you've done, I hope you have a happy eternity of peace and serenity, we'll all see you one day. but until then, we'll keep your story alive for generations to come. Rest your weary head now, I'll never forget you. I Love you Gilmita, We All Love you, Rest Well.

Posted by Alejandro Estrada on September 13, 2020

I had the honor of meeting Gilma and spending time with her and our beloved Fabiola! What an incredible wonderful family!!!! My deepest condolences to the whole family!!! Renée

Posted by Renée Hamad on September 12, 2020

Gilma was such a kind woman. As my parents "adopted" Lia as their third daughter, I always felt that Kimon and Gilma "adopted" me as a sixth child. She certainly scolded me like one of her children, when I got sunburned in Athens in the summer of 1978. To those who are grieving the loss of this wonderful mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother, think of the extent of this grief as a mirror of the special relationship that all of you had her.

Posted by Karlotta M Davis on September 11, 2020

Gratitude for our mother Gilma Softas Estrada who passed away at the age of 86 Dear mother, querida madre, Gratitude is the feeling of appreciation for all you gave us and showed us in life. We ask your forgiveness if we did not always express this appreciation being busy in our fast paced lives. Nevertheless, we now want to express our appreciation. We feel gratitude for bringing us to life and thank you for we would not be in life without you, Gratitude for giving us brothers and sisters, Gratitude for your patience, kindness, and playfulness as you were raising us. Thank you for all the games we played, like playing scrabble, even if it was not clear what language you were using. Gratitude for your endurance as you raised us with dad in three countries and three languages, Gratitude for your patience and gracefulness with our dad, your husband of 61 years. You were always there for him, and followed him wherever his work or wishes took him to, Gratitude for packing and unpacking, setting up a nice home in many places and countries, and thank you for being so welcoming and hospitable to family and friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends. So many people reached out to us when they heard you were gone to say how kind you were to them, and remembering your smile, and good nature. Gratitude for cooking so much for us, cooking for our friends, for our spouses and partners, cooking for our children. You fed a great number of people, and always came up with great meals planned or unplanned, whether you felt like cooking or not, you came through and fed many. Gratitude that you tried to instill faith in us and took us to church as we were growing up, for modeling the importance of faith in life and going beyond earthly life, Gratitude for providing with our dad a nice home to be in. Thanks for all the clean clothes, for giving us time when we were growing up to be carefree and do so much for us, Gratitude for modeling being unconditionally accepting of others no matter who they were, Gratitude to have seen you love dancing, and how graceful you were, for loving music and fun, You were beautiful, graceful, and never pretentious, You taught us lessons of honoring your parents and your family of origin, lessons of love for your siblings, and for your nieces and nephews. We feel gratitude for your quiet presence that was strong and always there for us, not imposing, giving us space to be, Gratitude for creating a family with our dad of 5 children, 6 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, you left many behind to remember you and cherish your memory, Grateful that despite the hearing loss, the dementia, the mobility issues, that you did not give up. You endured, persevered and modeled resilience. We are grateful to our sister Carmen for taking care of you while we were all in other states and countries. We, the three sisters were blessed to have been with you the last three weeks of your life. We are grateful for the person that you were. We hope to follow in your footsteps of kindness and generosity. Be assured you have done your best to instill in us the importance of being kind and a good human being. We all owe you a lot and you have set the bar high. We are grateful to have had you in our lives for as long as we did, may you rest in peace. You live in our heart and memories. We love you and appreciate you, Valla con Dios 9.8.2020

Posted by Basilia C Softas on September 10, 2020

I have fond memories of several social events with her and Kimon. She was a gracious hostess.

Posted by William Stein on September 9, 2020

I had the fortune of meeting Gilma whom I always affectionately call "Gilmita" for being the sweetest and most loving person I have ever met and whom everyone adored. Thank you Gilmita for the moments together and for the strength you gave me when Maritza left this world. God bless you. My sincere condolences to her children and to all Softas family.

Posted by Gustavo Parra on September 9, 2020