Words to Live By A Tribute to Great Moms of Estero
She was the first one to welcome you to the world, to care for you and to declare, “I love you!” Perhaps no one influences our lives as much as our mothers. To commemorate Mother’s Day, we asked a collection of people living and working in the Estero Community — young and old — to give us their mom’s “best advice.” Enjoy these nuggets of wisdom from a collection of marvelous moms!
Mother: Pat Newsham (Estero)
Daughter: Chris Patricca, Lee County School Board representative from Estero and adjunct professor at Florida Gulf Coast University
Mom’s Best Advice: You attract more bees with honey.
Life Application: “It has taken me most of my life to accept and implement this advice, and I certainly still struggle with it at times,” admits Patricca. Her mom lives down the street in Stoneybrook and enjoys visits with the grandkids, including 14-year-old Patti, who was named after her maternal grandmother and says her mom’s best advice is to “never give up!”
Mom: Karen Casey (Estero)
Son: Ben Casey, FGCU student and founder of Bahia Bowls at Grande Oak Shoppes
Mom’s Best Advice: The grass is always greener where you water it.
Life Application: In addition to emphasizing the importance of hard work, Ben’s mom taught him to “love many, trust few, but always paddle your own canoe.”
Mom: Karin Petrocelli, founder of the Southwest Florida Metsquerade benefitting METAvivor (stage four metastatic breast cancer research)
Daughter: Kristina Petrocelli, 19
Mom’s Best Advice: To each his own.
Life Application: “My mom always tells me to be Me,” says Kristina. “We’re all different and that is okay. Life is too short to worry about what other people think.” Karin learned from her own Swedish mother, Inga Enlund, who died from cancer in 2003 and left Karin this lasting advice: Presentation is Everything. “Back then I didn’t understand what that meant,” says Karin. “Simply put, if a gift is not very expensive but it comes in a nice package, it is more likely to be considered a really ‘nice’ gift; if you’re not an excellent cook but make the food look nice on the plate, people will eat it.”
Mother: Susan Lindenmuth, director of Public Affairs for Estero Fire Rescue
Daughters: Brittany Pernice & Krista McGee
Mom’s Best Advice: Choose to be kind and compassionate in everything you do.
Life Application: In today’s society, people are taken aback when they are shown any form of kindness. I have watched my mother show kindness in so many situations — from something as small as stopping traffic to help a turtle cross the street, to jumping out of the car to help at an accident. I’ve seen her hug a stranger and cry with them as their lives were crumbling. My heart broke as she realizedthe man she was doing CPR on wasn’t going to come back. She invites strangers who sit alone in restaurants to join our family, and she is always the first to volunteer for something no one else wants to do. “In my life there has only ever been one person I’ve wanted to be like,” says Brittany. “And that is my mom.”
Mom: Nancy Scott (Ft. Myers)
Son: Vince Modarelli, Major Gifts officer for Habitat for Humanity Lee and Hendry Counties & Chairman of the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Best Advice: Life is short. Buy the boat.
Life Application: That was a SeaRay Weekender back in 2001, but now I am on my third boat, a Robalo Center Console that acts as a “phone free zone” for my children, Vincent and Sophia.
Mother: Carolyn Keirnes (Fort Myers)
Daughter: Molly Grubbs, director of the Healthy Life Center at Coconut Point
Mom’s Best Advice: Wear sunscreen and eat your vegetables.
Life Application: I’m in the habit of calling my mom on my commute home to chat about my day. She listens to my challenges, celebrations, and everything in between. My mom has taught me to be classy and coordinated for every occasion. My mom was an accountant prior to retiring and is now a care partner for my dad who has Parkinson’s Disease. My mom is patient, strong, smart, private, organized, creative, supportive and generous.
Mom: Pamela Fernandez, vice president of the Estero Historical Society
Daughters: Jenna and Madison Fernandez
Mom’s Best Advice: Just ignore them, keep your head held high, and never let them see you cry!
Life Application: Jenna, 12, and Madison, 9, are cheerful volunteers alongside their mom at Historical Society events. Perhaps this is due to the advice Pamela’s own mother, Darlene Wrona, gave her on child-rearing: “Don’t let them do today what you don’t want them to tomorrow.”
Mom: Audrey Olsen (Bonita Springs)
Daughter: Bonnie Olson, president of the Board of Directors for Interfaith Charities of South Lee
Mom’s Best Advice: Follow the Golden Rule.
Life Application: I have tried to follow that advice (“Do unto others what you would want them to do to you.”) I am very blessed to still have my mom with me. She turns 93 in June.
Mother: Chris Esposito (Fort Myers)
Daughter: Tiffany Esposito, CEO of the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce & executive director of the Bonita Springs-Estero Economic Council
Mom’s Best Advice: Keep still.
Life Application: I am one of four kids and my mom always watched my cousins when we were growing up, so there were a lot of children around. The things that always come to mind are the things she told us to keep us still — like “don’t shake the car when you’re pumping gas or it will blow up!” As adults we think this white lie is entertaining, but it was the only way she could keep us all still and in our seats when she stopped to get gas!
Mom: Jan Saxton (Estero seasonal resident)
Son: Doug Saxton, BikeWalkLee Estero representative & Blue Zones advocate
Mom’s Best Advice: Always do the right thing.
Life Application: I will never forget an instance when, as a small child, I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. Upon completion, the receptionist pulled out a box of trinkets and told me to pick one. I proceeded to take more than one. When we got home and my mother found out, she drove me straight back to the dentist’s office and made me apologize. Embarrassing as it was, it taught me a valuable lesson, one that I will never forget.
Mom: Laura Barham (Naples)
Daughter: Miranda Hartlieb, owner of Nine Resale Boutique and wife of former Everblades star Ernie Hartlieb
Mom’s Best Advice: The greatest gift you can ever give is LOVE.
Life Application: Miranda’s mom helps her run the resale boutique, which gives all its profits back to the community to help local families in need. Barham always modeled a “pay-it-forward” philosophy to her daughters.
Mom: Catherine Tumbleson, fourth grade teacher at Three Oaks Elementary School
Daughters: Maci & Ella
Mom’s Best Advice: You’re worth more than gold.
Life Application: Maci, 10, is full of confidence and is mom’s classroom helper, especially after school in the Good News Club. Six-year-old Ella says the advice she most often hears from Mom is: “Clean your room!”
Mom: Kim Thomson (Bonita Springs)
Daughter: Heather Trautman, Young Professional and marketing & communications coordinator for TLC Marketing & Creative Services
Mom’s Best Advice: Be like a Spree: tough on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside.
Life Application: My mother has taught me to always walk through life prepared to love and forgive everyone. She also taught me to always say “thank you” to your significant other, even if it’s something little like making the bed or folding the laundry. These are small things that have helped me start and end each day with a smile and with gratitude.
Mom: Margaret Kinley (Estero)
Daughter: Victoria Kinley, Estero High School graduate (2016), Florida State University student and founder of the Green House App
Mom’s Best Advice: Life is an adventure.
Life Application: My mom has given me great advice on all sorts of things, but I think the most influential advice she’s given me was not something she said, but how she lived her life. While living in Poland, she met my dad who was living in America. She had to make the decision whether to finish out her college degree or to come to the United States. She chose the latter. My mom was always strict with me growing up so I thought that I got my free spirit from my dad, but looks like I inherited it from both parents. Through that decision in her life, she taught me about the adventure that is life. Sometimes we just have to take risks and be spontaneous and see where life takes us. We’ll end up in amazing places we never dreamed we would be.
Mom: Sandy Huser (Estero)
Daughter: Kristi-Leigh Lyon, speech-language pathologist and founder of Estero Speech & Language Services
Mom’s Best Advice: Try your best and be yourself.
Life Application: My mother led by example. She supported all of my endeavors whether they were academic, athletic or social. She instilled a strong work ethic and commitment to family, friends and community.
Mom: Elaine Leishman (Tennessee)
Son: Dr. Aaron Leishman, Estero dentist
Mom’s Best Advice: Never be afraid to do the right thing, even if it means you have to stand alone.
Life Application: She wanted all of her four boys to be successful in life, and she instilled the principle of integrity in all of us. I am grateful to her for helping me to understand this valuable lesson, and it has served me well.
Mom: Lyne Graczyk, owner of LWG Business Solutions & co-founder of the League of Courageous Women, aimed at empowering girls
Daughter: Kayla Graczyk, 13
Mom’s Best Advice: Never give up!
Life Application: When Kayla was struggling with a school transition, her mom encouraged her through the tears to keep her confidence and persevere (which she did). Lyne learned from her own mother, whose best advice was: “Always believe in yourself.”
Mom: Betty Shelor (deceased)
Daughter: Katy Errington, sole female member of the Estero Village Council
Best Advice: 1 Corinthians 13:13
Life Application: My mother died in 1997 from a glioblastoma brain tumor. She was a woman of very strong and deep faith. She never quite quoted to me, but she did share that in life, “There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.”