With heavy hearts, we announce that Elizabeth passed away on August 22, 2021 in Concordia Place at the age of 89 years.

 

She is survived by her children Doris (Jim), Willy (John), Sheila (Danny), Kathy (Tim) Chris (Terry); grandchildren Ryan, Amber (Trevor), James, Derek (Breanna), Tammy (Ted), Robyn (Ken), Shane, Jimmy, Jesse (Libbi), Hailee, Alexa, Dylan, Trevor (Hailee), Carlee (Jordan); great grandchildren Brendan, Jessica, Maddison, Ayden, Hunter, Ayden, Connor, Dallas, Callum, and Kylie.

 

Predeceased by her son Jim, late husband Wilhelm, grandson Jordan, father James and mother Christina.

 

Elizabeth was raised by her father James in Grand Marais where she helped him run a chip stand in Grand Beach.  When she was old enough, she would take the train to Winnipeg to visit her mother, Christina.  She recognized how special it was to have been brought up in what was a remote community at that time and shared great memories from that time.

 

Her first marriage was to Tommy Dykes.  Together they had two beautiful children, Jim and Doris. Her relationship with Tommy was short and she was left to raise 2 children on her own.

 

Mom was living in a rooming house at the time when she met our dad Wilhelm.  He was visiting a friend there who introduced them to each other.  It was the very next day that he came back to ask her to go to a movie.  She told Dad then she wanted a big family and he said he did too. They agreed there would always be room at the table for one more.

 

Dad welcomed mom’s children Jim and Doris into his life and then they had 4 daughters together. Willy, Sheila, Kathy and Chris were born and all 8 of us all lived in a 2-bedroom house in Brooklands on Elgin.  Mom and Dad did not have a lot of money but there was always food on the table. Mom made the best spaghetti and homemade fries in Brooklands and our friends were always welcome to stay for dinner.  Mom always kept a little bit of money hidden in case any of her children needed a cab ride home.

 

On dad’s payday, mom would take all of us kids on the bus to meet dad at The Mall Foods on Main St.  It was here that they shopped for groceries (they delivered the next day) and then they would take us to The Original Food Bar or Shanghai restaurant for supper. Later in life, one of mom and my brother Jim’s favourite restaurant was Red Lobster. At home, mom always had an ice cream cone for her grandchildren Robin, Tammy and Shane who lived down the street, she also liked to take them to Salisbury House for coffee and pie. 

 

Mom liked a lot of things.  She loved to take long walks with her family, she liked to read True Dectective magazines (which she always kept for her Jim), she liked movies but preferred them to be true story and loved Oscar DeLaurenti perfume and would often buy it for her daughters.   Mom loved music, some of her favorite artists were; Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Julio Iglesias, Kenny Rogers and George Jones.  Mom’s love of animals showed when she would take stray cats in and give them a home.  Unfortunately that resulted in a pet cemetery with crosses made of sticks in the yard at home. 

 

One of mom’s fondest memories which she told often is when she would take her grandsons Jordan and Trevor to the movie and they would sit a couple rows ahead of her because the wanted to look cool as they had their eye on a couple girls.

 

Mom wanted her children to learn about God and we went to Sparling United Church and this is where we were baptised.  Her funeral service will be hosted by a minister from Sparling.

 

Elizabeth’s family kindly requests that her friends and relatives take a few minutes to honor her memory by visiting her tribute page at EthicalDeathCare.com. A photo-biography, as well as memories and stories published by those who knew her, are available there.

 

In Accordance with Elizabeth’s wishes, a private graveside funeral service was held at Brookside Cemetery (3001 Notre Dame Ave) at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, September 2, 2021.  The interment was followed by a celebration of her life, in the home of her daughter Chris.