Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Eulogy for Jeannie
Although given the name Jean at birth, she preferred to be called Jeannie.
A devout catholic, Jeannie saw God's hand in everything, especially in the beauty of nature. She delighted in trying to capture that beauty and wonder, and attempted to share it with everyone else though her photography, painting, sketches and poetry
Jeannie's poetry literally flowed from her effortlessly. The birth of a grandchild was all she needed as an excuse to let the literary skills run free. Copies would be made and these would be hand decorated with colorings of flowers, feathers, birds and nature. One of Jeannie 's proudest accomplishments was receiving the World of Poetry, "Golden Poet Award", issued to her in Reno Nevada in 1984. Poetry was not her only artistic ability. She sketched, colored, painted with oil and for a number of years, ran a ceramic shop from her home.
Jeannie enjoyed being involved with community socials. Bingo gave her a lot of joy, being with friends. Chitchatting and passing gossip. Curling, however, was the most fun for her. The bonspiels were so fun and exciting. There was always excellent competition on the ice and afterwards the shared fun and laughter of the bonspielers as they enjoyed friendship, food and drink, sometimes well into the night.
Jeannie delighted in the camaraderie of all special community events. She never missed a parade or community get together. Indeed, she never missed an opportunity to dress up in bizarre costumes just for the shear delight and amusement it brought to her and those around her. Canal Days offered her adventure and she always accepted the challenge, whether it was river rafting on the Kootenay River in high water or navigating the dusty logging roads of the annual Road Rally.
The Christmas tree permit Jeannie worked with her late husband brought her an immense amount of satisfaction and accomplishment. To spend weekends outdoors, in the fresh October air, pruning and harvesting the Christmas trees, sorting, counting and loading, gave her a sense of peace that few people get to experience. This place has special meaning for Jeannie. She placed the ashes of her pre-deceased father here as she knew he would rest easy in the serenity of the Fir trees for all eternity
Jeannie lived to spend time in the outdoors. She had such fond memories of weekend excursions with her family when they would go on fishing trips and picnics. She was infatuated with fishing up the Valentine on Findley Creek, but was just as happy up the Skookumchuck River or Coyote Creek. She would grab her fishing rod and head out on her own and be gone for hours on end… Sometimes to the consternation of her family as they wondered if she was okay or had run into a bear.
Jeannie was happiest when she was working alongside her girlfriends. In the early seventies, she was part of a group of Canal Flats Ladies who were involved with tree planting for the BC Forestry. These ladies worked hard replanting the timber harvested by the logging companies, but they had so much fun doing it. When they returned home at the end of the day, they were hot and tired, muscles aching from their efforts, yet each and every one of them, especially Jeannie, had a smile from ear to ear.
More than life itself, Jeannie cherished quality time spent with her immediate family, her daughter and sons, their life mates, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Her absolute favorite time was at family gatherings such as birthdays or Christmas dinner. She loved the food, the ambience and the warm love of a family that she was ultimately responsible for. On all of these occasions, her smile would radiate throughout the room. If you looked closely, however, you could see the depth of her love in the soft brown eyes that were almost tearing with the love and pride she felt.
If you were amongst her friends, she felt this way about you as well. There was nothing more that she enjoyed.
