In Memoriam: A Birthday Tribute to Ms. Molly

BY MARICEL FESER
FOR THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

It is with great honor that I write this tribute for a wonderful friend on what would have been her 44th birthday. Happy Birthday to Molly Ibietatorremendia, a woman, dedicated to her husband, her three children, her surrogate children and their families, her extended family, her friends and the community.

With that 17-letter last name that nobody can pronounce, Molly was known around the Natomas community for her never-ending volunteerism. What started in her daughter’s kindergarten classroom in 2007, evolved to being room mom for many classrooms; a few years on the Heron School PTSA, planning events, running them tirelessly, being it’s president for a few terms and helping it reach its California Distinguished School status in 2011.

Molly’s drive to help, and her ability to laugh, gained her many friends along every step of her volunteerism journey. Everybody loved being around Molly because of her sense of humor. She greeted you with a smile, which would always develop into laughter because in any situation. No matter how bleak, there was always something humorous to get you through it.

What’s great about Molly is that she was everyone’s friend, but even in the time since her death, she has brought together her high school friends, her work friends, her neighbor friends, her volunteer friends, her mom friends. We realize that although we are different in so many ways, we are also quite similar and we thank Molly for bringing us together.

It wasn’t just fun being around Molly. She was also someone to admire. At a young age, she gave birth to her first son whom she gave up for adoption. In her later years, she became a surrogate mother, not to one, but four children; bringing a selfless gift to her best friends and two other families.

From the moment she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017 and given a 9% survival rate, she battled it head on, in typical Molly fashion. She immediately researched all treatment possibilities and reached out to many in the medical field in different parts of the country. As sick as treatment made her, Molly could still be seen at football games flipping burgers and even until this past 4th of July, she took the night shift at the Inderkum High School fireworks booth.

“Ms. Molly,” as she was best known, was touched by the hundreds in the community filling her cul-de-sac with Christmas spirit, posting “Molly Strong” signs on their front porches and helping out with the Meal Train. In Ms. Molly fashion, she took advantage of the time limit pancreatic cancer posed and she lived life the way it should be lived, making her a hero to many, reaching those near and far.

Molly is missed by everyone that she has touched. The funny thing about Molly is that she hated being in the spotlight. Little did she know that just by being her, she was in the spotlight.

— Forever, Molly’s Warrior