PULLMAN, Mich. — Dora Dailey lived in Pullman as the proud mother of sixteen children, 66 grandchildren and at least 120 great-grandchildren.
Dora's granddaughter Kathy Hoffman described Dailey as, "cheerful, happy, loving, caring for everyone wanted to make sure everybody in the community was okay."
Eight of Dora's sons served in the U.S. military, six in World War II and two in Korea - one of whom, Ralph Dailey Jr., did not return home.
Her community of Pullman honored her family with flags on Memorial Day to symbolize her sacrifices as a mother. The flags were decorated with seven blue stars for the sons who served and made it home, and one gold star to honor the son who did not.
"It's awesome, I was just overwhelmed today," Hoffman said.
"We're so grateful for this today," Hoffman said. "It's such an honor for my grandma."
Members of the Blue Star Mothers of Michigan said they found out about Dailey through her family.
"I wrote an article on Facebook, on how we came to be the legacy state, and how [Blue Star Mothers] came into existence through what they did in the Flint Journal newspaper," Blue Star Mothers of America member Joyce Fabian said. "To my shock and awe, the granddaughter, Kathy Hoffman, she contacted me through a text message and she said, 'My grandmother had 16 children,'" "And I'm like, 'Okay.' And she said, 'Well, she had eight sons that served.' And I went, 'Excuse me?'"
Fabian is the third vice president of Chapter 180 of the Blue Star Mothers - one of four chapters that attended Monday's event.
"Blue Star Mothers is a specific support group," Fabian said. "For any mother, grandmother, stepmother, anyone who has raised a child that's in the military."
The sacrifice of these mothers, she said, is a unique one, shared only by their fellow mothers.
"You talk to any military mother, I don't care who they are, and they're going to tell you the same thing," Fabian said. "Everybody looks up at us 'I know how you feel. Oh no, you don't. You have to wear those shoes."
She hopes more people will come to recognize not only the willingness of her organization to help, but the sacrifice, struggle and resilience of all blue and gold star mothers like Dora Dailey.
"We do what we do for not ourselves," Fabian said. "We do it for the military and we do it for our children."