Delores Trimble, 1929-2011

DELORES E. TRIMBLE
CUMBERLAND —

Delores Eleanor Trimble, 81, of Cumberland, passed away Tuesday, March 29, 2011, at the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center.

Born Nov. 17, 1929, in Cumberland, Mrs. Trimble was the daughter of the late John Winfield Stephens and Hilda (Jones) Stephens.

Delores retired from Peskin’s Shoe Store as their bookkeeper. She was a life member of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church.

Delores is survived by her husband of 59 years, Russell L. Trimble Sr.; her sons, Russell L. Trimble Jr. and his wife, Ann, Bolton, Canada, Leslie D. Trimble and his wife, Marsha, Cumberland, Steven G. Trimble and his wife, Gretchen, Ashburn, Va. and Gerald L. Trimble and his wife, Linda, Cumberland; as well as 15 grandchildren, Jonathan, Melissa, Ashley, Tia, Brooke, Garland, Andre, Stephanie, Jeremy, Jordan, Justin, Joshua, Shannon, Marcus, and Martika; five greatgrandchildren; a brother, Donald Stephens Sr., Indiana; and two sisters, Juanita Smith, Toledo, Ohio and Georgia Martin, Somerset, Pa.

Friends will be received at the Adams Family Funeral Home, P.A., 404 Decatur St., Cumberland, (www.AdamsFamilyFuneralHome.com) on Friday, April 1, 2011, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

A funeral service will be conducted at the funeral home on Saturday, April 2, 2011, at 1 p.m. with Presiding Elder, Goodwin Douglas officiating.

Interment will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.

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Mike Burke's column
4/3/2011 Cumberland Times-News

Since I was young, there has been a short list of people in my life not to cross, not to try to con, or not to try to get one over on:

1. My mother.

2. My uncle Mort and my aunt Sue.

3. Charles E. Lattimer.

4. Delores Trimble.

Excuse me ... that’s Mrs. Trimble. Mrs. Russell Trimble, who was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon.

Since the days when she measured and weighed the kids at Johnson Heights Elementary School, when she was my uncle’s bookkeeper at Peskin’s Inc. and through our entire lives as we grew up with the Trimble sons, Russell, Les, Steve and Gerald, there is nobody I have respected more than Mr. and Mrs. Trimble.

Very few days went by when we didn’t see them both, because they were everywhere, supporting their children and their grandchildren, be it school, Cub Scouts, band, baseball, basketball, track, soccer or football. And nothing provided Mrs. Trimble with more pride and joy than supporting her own, seeing them do their absolute best, picking them up and supporting them even more through difficult times, and sharing in the happiness of their splendid successes.

On any given weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Trimble would attend Russell’s football games at Juniata, Pa., Les’s games at Frostburg State, Steve’s games at the University of Maryland and Gerald’s games at Fort Hill. Nobody understood how they could be everywhere at once, yet they always were, just as they were there for their grandchildren’s activities at Fort Hill, Bishop O’Connell High in Arlington, Va., and West Point.

How did they do it? It’s the power of love.

Mrs. Trimble was just an amazing person. She had a true presence about her and was a grand lady, but a lady of few words. She didn’t need many, for she engendered great respect by simply being there. When she was there, you knew it. If you didn’t see her, you knew she was there because she and Mr. Trimble were always there, so you didn’t bother to look.

And while she was a lady of few words, those words carried plenty of weight. When I was a kid trying to visit my uncle at work I first had to get past Mrs. Trimble:

“He’s very busy right now. Is something wrong? Well, just try him a little later.”

If he was between appointments, I was not to “make a day of it.” If he was free, I was free “to go on back.”

Once I returned to Cumberland and took the job here in the sports department, she also had a few words for me one day in the front lobby of Peskin’s. In no uncertain terms she told me what was expected of me because she knew what I was capable of. Why she felt that way, I had no idea. Nor did I ask. I simply said, “ Yes, ma’am.”

Nobody questioned Mrs. Trimble, including — no, particularly — my uncle Mort.

Since that day, Mrs. Trimble stayed in touch with me. Not often, mind you, which made her messages all the more meaningful. I would see her in the market and we would exchange our greetings before she might happen to mention this or that in passing. Then, a week or so later, I would receive a card or a note from her at work, telling me I had done a “fine job” on something I had written.

Again, she was a lady of few words, but the cards she sent were cards she clearly spent time looking for to fit the occasion. And always they were signed, “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Trimble."

The day she sought me out on the sideline at Gwynn Park High School on Nov IS, 2000, while I was covering what would be her grandson Marcus' final high school football game, remains one of the great days of my life. As always, she was direct and to the point But her message had power because it was sincere and it came from the heart.

As she and Mr. Trimble walked away, I stood dumb founded, overwhelmed, in fact, with my mouth hanging open (which she wouldn't have approved of) and a friend who knew the Trimbles and who happened to be standing nearby and over heard the conversation, said, "Coming from the matriarch of Fort Hill football, that is high praise indeed. You should be proud."

I was very proud, because knowingly or unknowingly, you always want to gain the approval of the people you have enormous respect for, and everybody who ever knew Mrs. Trimble had such respect for her. She was one of the strongest, most honest and kindest persons we have ever known.

She possessed a drive that is both endearing and enduring, for her values and the values of Mr. Trimble were passed down to Russ, Les, Steve and Gerald, who, in turn, have passed them on to their children.

Growing up, I had a tremendous fascination with the Trimble family, because those guys could do anything and do it well And while it appeared they did things so effortlessly, they tackled all of their activities with hard work, determination and enthusiasm. The key was to be involved, and to be involved meant doing it to the best of their ability. But in the end, the most important thing was to be kind, account able, humble and giving.

Those guys are all of that and more and it goes far beyond their athletic skills. You couldn't find better team mates than the four Trimble brothers, because you couldn't find four brothers who were raised to a more powerful degree of family and what family is meant to be.

For that, we have Mr. and Mrs. Russell Trimble to thank.