Mrs Ohtobe: Profile

All you could ever want to know about Mrs. Oh but were afraid to ask....

Yeti, Boo and Mrs. Oh - 1968 Oscoda, Michigan

Mrs. Oh was born the middle child of Tsgt. and Mrs. Boo Radley. As a young girl she traveled the world with her family living in such places as the Philippines, England, Georgia, Michigan, California and Minnesota. Upon her father’s retirement from the Air Force the family returned to Valdosta, Georgia which was not only Mrs. Oh’s birthplace but her mother’s as well.

Yeti, Matt and Mrs. OhMyLordy Look At That Collar!

Mrs. Oh graduated from the same high school as her mother before her and went on to attend Valdosta State College on a Debate Scholarship. Mrs. Oh, being the middle child and all, debated throughout high school and college and defeated teams from Dartmouth, Redlands and Stamford. It has been said Mrs. Oh loves a good argument but others says Mrs. Oh is just so spot-on with her analysis of everyday life that she has a duty to spread the word and try to Mrs. Ohtobeyify the world.

Christmas 2004

Then not long after graduation Mrs. Oh met and married and started a family which would consist of first a son and after many heartbreaking miscarriages she then had a set of identical twin boys five years later. While Mrs. Oh longed for a daughter it was not to be at that time. A cancer scare at the young age of 32 ended with Mrs. Oh having a hysterectomy and all dreams of pigtails and black patent leather shoes with ruffled stockings went out the window. Or so she thought.

Our Wedding Day: November 26, 1999

Years later, after her first marriage floundered Mrs. Oh met the handsome and charming Ohtobe. While on a simple quest to climb the lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida, she discovered her one. Her only. Her Tobey. And life was never the same again.

Honeymooning at the beach!

They combined their lives and in doing so made one amazing, yet crazy, family. Ten years later and more in love than ever, they have their eldest son married off and attending college, along with both of their daughters in college as well. The youngest boys are still in high school but after they graduate high school next year they will have 5 children in college.

The Newlyweds

Upon moving to Florida and prior to working for the City, Mrs. Oh owned a graphics design company and contracted with the local school board as their webmaster. Mrs. Oh was instrumental in assisting the local schools establish a web presence. She was also a Pinellas County Schools Volunteer of The Year for the web/graphic work she donated to her children’s’ school. Both of her daughters went on to win the same Volunteer of the Year award and Mrs. Oh is very proud that they followed in her footsteps and believes that everyone should volunteer their time in one way or another.

Mrs. Oh, Chewie and Nappy on Bring Your Child to Work Day 2009

While Mrs. Oh toils daily as a bean counter at the City of Clearwater, Tobey telecommutes as a software developer with Verizon. And while they don’t get a discount on their cable or phone bills, they have been able to visit some awesome cities while Tobey travels the world on business trips. Just not Paris. Yet.

Did I mention I am 6' tall - look at how I am dwarfed by the twins.

During the time that Mrs. Oh became employed with the City – her mother became terminally ill. The Ohtobe’s then packed themselves up and temporarily moved back to Valdosta to take care of Mom with the help of Mrs. Oh’s brothers Matt and his wife Martha, Yeti, Boo and the wonderful folks from Hospice. They arrived back in Valdosta from Moffit Cancer Center on the eve of Mrs. Oh’s 39th birthday but her Mom wouldn’t survive another 4 weeks before the Lord called her home.

I love that this wonderful man was a witness for my Mom.

Tobey, who fills in for our preacher and teaches adult bible classes at our church, delivered Mom's eulogy. And she had the most touching, sweet and hilarious funeral on record in Valdosta. In addition to Tobey's eulogy, Frodo and Butter sang Amazing Grace, Matt read a poem and I said a few words too. For the most Mrs. Oh just puts her faith in God and Christ to guide her through this trying time of life-without-Mom. Sometimes she wins and sometimes she loses but she is content in the knowledge that while her Mama rocks her babies in heaven – that she will see her again one glorious day. And she persuades herself daily that God understands why she is so upset with him for taking her Mommy away.

Our last family picture - two weeks before Mom left us for a much better view.