MOM'S PASSING
My mom passed away yesterday morning at 4:15 a.m. at 102 years old and 6 months. We joked recently that you count months at the beginning and at the end. I'm sure many of you met her over the years; for those of you who did, you know she was a social butterfly and the genetics behind my communication talents.
I'm going to post the official obituary, but want to give a bit more detail leading up to her passing. We took her car keys away in February, 2020 (yes, covid was the result of us taking mom off the road). She was 97 at the time and had gotten a Christmas card from the local auto body shop thanking her for her loyal patronage--that's when we knew it was time to take the keys away. Three fender dings in a year. You don't want to get patronage cards from the local body shop.
She's had a slowly progressing decline over the last five years and we've been committed to caring for her here in her own home next to the original farm house, where Teresa and I live. Mom and Dad moved out once we had two kids; we moved down from the attic and took over the old farm house while Mom and Dad moved out a mobile home my Grandma (Mom's mother) had put in when she came to live with us when I was about 15. Theres was twice the size and much nicer. Our family is serious about mobility, including houses. Ha!
Every mother would want a daughter-in-law like my wife, Teresa, who doted on her, bathed her, cleaned her up from messes, cooked her meals, did her laundrey. Our goal was to keep her here in her own home to the end, but Thursday evening last week she suddenly nosedived. We think she probably had a stroke, immobilizing her legs and left arm and creating very slurred speech. Within two days we realized we could not handle her with our crude set-up and limited understanding.
We had called hospice a month ago to give us some relief. Sunday hospice moved her into their temporary care house to let us catch our breath. I got her in a wheelchair to get out of her house, then onto a gurney to the transport van. Once she was in and buckled down, in a moment of lucidity, she woke up, smiled at me (I was standing in the back before the doors closed), raised her right arm in a wave, and said "Bye-bye." In my heart I knew that would be the last time I saw her or heard her. It was.
At the hospice house, she never really regained responsiveness and passed early Wednesday morning. She was ready to go and eagerly anticipating Heaven. We weep but also rejoice. She was quite an institution, spreading good cheer and enthusiasm wherever she went. You'll notice out last memorial is a celebratory evening here at the farm with live fire, hot dogs, s'mores, and good times. Mom always loved a party, so this one will be our final tribute to her extroverted personality; ya'll come. Here is her official obituary:
Lucille Salatin
SWOOPE – Naomi Lucille Salatin, 102, passed away Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
Lucille was born in Wooster, Ohio on December 11, 1923 to the late Clarence and Bessie (Wile) Pope.
Lucille received a master’s degree in health and physical education from Indiana University, and while working on her degree, met William Thomas “Bill” Salatin. They were married in 1950. Lucille became the first female physical education professor at Bob Jones College in Cleveland, Tenn. (The college relocated to Greenville, S.C. and is now Bob Jones University). Bill and Lucille moved to Venezuela and eventually purchased a farm in the Equatorial Highlands. Following the coup d'etat of 1958, militants chased the American ex-pat family off their land. The Salatins left everything and were forced to flee the farm they had started. They returned to the U. S. on Easter Sunday, 1961, and purchased a property in Swoope, Virginia, determined to start over. In 1982 she and Bill, along with son Joel and wife Teresa, co-founded Polyface Farm.
Lucille was employed as the girls’ health and physical education teacher at Buffalo Gap High School from its inaugural year until 1984, when she retired to care for her mother, and then for her husband. Lucille’s retirement years were active and full; she served as an officer, board member, and volunteer in more than a dozen local nonprofit organizations with an incredible capacity to give of herself for the benefit of others. Some of the organizations she enjoyed supporting included Weekday Religious Education, the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum, AARP, American Red Cross, the Retired Teachers Association, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton Visitor Center, Frontier Culture Museum and others. One of her favorites was Happy Notes, a group that brought encouragement through song to nursing home residents.
She was a member of New Covenant Community Church.
Lucille was preceded in death by her husband and parents; and a sister, Dorothy Miller.
She is survived by three children, Arthur “Art” Salatin (wife Donna Whited Salatin), and Joel Salatin (wife Teresa Wenger Salatin), all of Swoope, and Loretta Sheets (husband David Sheets) of Carrollton, Tex.; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 14 at Bear Funeral Home, Churchville.
A private burial service will be held on the family farm in Swoope.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on June 30 in New Covenant Community Church, Weyers Cave. A celebration of Lucille’s life will take place on the farm from 4 – 8 p.m. on July 1.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Gideons International; to the Kenya fund of New Covenant Community Church (Lucille sent hundreds of letters and handmade dresses to encourage orphaned Kenyan children); or to Hospice of the Shenandoah.
Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.bearfuneralhome.com.
