Obituary of Dorothy Collinge

B I O G R A P H Y COLLINGE: Dorothy Marie Collinge of Lloydminster passed away on Thursday, June 23rd, 2005 at the age of 66 years. She was born on May 6, 1939 in Lashburn, Saskatchewan to May and William Bill. Dorothy is survived by her loving husband Keith, four sons: Ken (Debbie) Collinge of Oliver, BC, Brian (Dianne) Collinge of Lone Rock, SK; Victor (Cary) Collinge of Saskatoon and Clifford (Katie) Collinge of Lloydminster, 8 Grandchildren and 8 Great Grandchildren; one brother: Bill (Sheila) Bill of Victoria and one sister Edith Imrie of Main Island, BC. She was predeceased by one sister: Daphne Ruchotzke. The funeral service for Dorothy Collinge was conducted from St. John’s Anglican Church, Lloydminster on Tuesday, June 28 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend David Turvey officiating. The eulogy was given by William Bill. St. John’s Anglican Church Choir sang “Amazing Grace”. The hymns were: “The Church in The Wildwood” and “In the Garden” accompanied on the organ by Pat Skinner. Honorary pallbearers were everyone in attendance. Active pallbearers were: Eric Collinge, Cody Collinge, Calvin Ruchotzke, Brad Andersen, Philip Collinge and Rodney Collinge. Interment followed in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy by William Bill I come before you today, on behalf of my sister, who went away far to soon! Dorothy Marie Bill, as she was named when born, May 6th, 1939. I would like to tell you about a humourous incident which occurred in Dorothy’s first grade of school. Dorothy on one of those days, was obviously hungry, and she heard one of the children arriving at school, make some bragging statements about having a piece of pie for dessert. This piece of pie got the better of Dorothy, because she found the piece and ate it herself! Talk about the fury that eventually erupted - I thank the older girl who took Dorothy aside to protect her from possible harm, because as I recall, the girl, whose pie she ate, was quite the school bully. Dorothy Marie Collinge died all too soon in the early hours of June 23, 2005 and Dorothy was big sister to Grace Daphne Ruchotzke who predeceased her in 1968, and to Edith May Imrie. Few people, ever went away from Dorothy’s home, untouched by her kindness and generosity. Whether it was by stopping and visiting with you or receiving a gift from her. Such gifts could be a good buy she had found, a container of honey, tomato plants or slips off her favorite cactus. You rarely got to leave the house without taking something with you. Christmas at our house always contained one special package from Dorothy and Keith! And in order that it be told properly, I am now going to tell you just one story that my daughter Karen and her husband Louis wanted to tell everyone about Dorothy. “The Christmas before last we were at my parents for Christmas and under the tree was the annual Christmas package from Aunt Dorothy. A pail of honey and strawberry jam. Yum. All neat without a mark on it. My husband Louis was intrigued. How could a package from Canada post be intact?? His experience of packages from Quebec was if a fragile sticker was placed upon a box it was Canada Posts cue to crush it! So my husband proceeded to unwrap the box, and unwrap and unwrap and unwrap ... All the contents were in pristine condition. No joke on Christmas Day Louis got on the phone to his family in Quebec and recounted the precise requirements to pack items to survive Canada Post. Duck tape, Duck tape, Duck tape. It was a packaging revelation for the entire family. Since then parcels from Quebec with maple syrup and computer parts arrive without incident without any requirement to claim insurance! Thank you Aunty Dorothy. We will miss you.” Sheila’s comment about those packages from Dorothy, goes something like this ... “it could have been dropped from the moon, and not split open - Red Green would be proud!!” Dorothy married Keith on February 25, 1956. They have been together for 49 ½ years. The saying for better, for worse, in sickness and in health was very applicable. If Keith was somewhere Dorothy was not far away, whether it was on the farm, bowling, dancing or just going visiting. Dorothy had many interests and loves, her farm was a major part of her life. Many hours were spent working to help seed and bring in the crop. Hours spent making and wrapping the hot lunches in towels to keep warm and packing it in her apple box, making sure the guys had fresh water to drink, snacks for between meals and tea. Driving back to town for parts, doing whatever was needed. Before harvest Dorothy would save wheat so she could weave when she had time. Her farm animals consisted of bees, stray farm cats and birds, which she tended to with love and care. Gardening was a passion of Dorothy’s, an activity, in which she excelled. Helping her sons with their garden and imparting gardening tips to them. Tomatoes were a very important part of her gardening. The garden catalogues came early, and they would be thumbed through carefully. She had her favorite variety of tomato which she planted every year, but there were so many new kinds that needed trying. Each spring there were so many extra plants that needed to be given to family and friends, as there was no room in the garden. In the fall she canned 70 quarts of tomatoes and each of her children and some friends were given tomatoes to take home. Dorothy was an avid collector of material that she was going to sew. Her favorite sewing project was hats. A few of you are lucky to have a hat made by her. When she made you a hat, your measurements were used, so the fits was perfect. If the material had a pattern, a patterned portion would be cut, so it could be placed in the center of each piece of the hat. Your hat was the result of great care and workmanship. It was perfection. Dorothy was a grandchild’s dream grandma. She loved her eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren very much. She loved spending time with them. If the grandchildren asked for something whether it was taking them somewhere or buying them something she would. She was the perfect Grandma. In spite of all these wonderful thoughts, Dorothy could drive you crazy when it came to buying things for herself or you buying things for her. Many a mile would be traveled to find a perfect outfit for a special occasion, usually to come home with nothing. Many gifts she received would still be in the box years later because it was too good to use. Two years ago Dorothy suspected she had ALS, which was confirmed by the doctors six months later. ALS is a disease of great suffering, though Dorothy is greatly loved and sorely missed, we are thankful there is no more suffering. Dot as some of you affectionately called her, had a quiet, but determined demeanor, a characteristic that stood her in good stead over the past two years as ALS or Lou Gerhig’s disease slowly robbed her of her independence and ability to communicate easily. Throughout this time, she was supported with loving care by her family, Keith, Ken, Brian, Victor and Clifford, also many friends in the community, as well as Health Support Services. Only last weeks, while Sheila and I were visiting, she wrote that it was family that kept her going. Many of you already know this, but I will mention it again. That “Dot” had fought and won a battle with breast cancer, and wished it was cancer this time, because she felt that if it was cancer, she would have had a fighting chance, however, the insidiousness of ALS has won again. If any of you are so inclined, please think of the ALS Foundation or Society when your next make a donation. In closing, here is an inspirational tidbit from the noted psychiatrist - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. You may know of her from her book on Death and Dying. “It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” Card of Thanks The family wish to express their sincere thanks to family and friends during Dorothy’s illness. A special thank you to Dr. Lakins and Dr. Cavanagh; the staff of Lloydminster Home Care, Lloydminster Hospital and Jubilee Home, Gerry from Vital Aire and Kathy Dumouchel of Physio. Thank you to Reverend Dave Turvey for his words at the service, to the choir and Pat Skinner for the music, to the pallbearers, the Anglican Church ladies for the lovely lunch and an extra special thank you to friends and family for all the kindnesses, visits, cards, flowers and donations in memory of Dorothy. Donations in memory of Dorothy may be made to the ALS Society.