Obituary of Helen Fearon

FEARON, Helen E. (nee Wilson) April 29, 1925 - May 13, 2005 With dignity, peace and grace, Helen, a beautiful wife, caring mother, grandmother, great grandmother and special friend to all who knew her, passed away after a lengthy illness with her loving family at her side. Her memory will be cherished by her devoted husband Bob; and her children, Dick (Mame) McCaw, Dan McCaw, Shelley (Ralph) Austin, Candyse (Dale) Roberts, Pam Fearon, Bob (Shelley) Fearon, and Jeff (Cheryl) Fearon. She will be remembered lovingly by her grandchildren Tara Tremblay, Kristy Guidinger, Ashley McCaw, Carley McCaw, Cameron McCaw, Jessie McCaw, Lana McCaw, Aaron King, Shaun Austin, Logan Roberts, Talon Roberts, Andrew Fearon, Tobin Fearon, Kevin Fearon, Jennifer Fearon and Adam Fearon; her great grandchildren Payton and Landon Tremblay, Carter Guidinger, Tianna McCaw, and Emily Austin. She is also survived by her sister Dolly Dahlman. Helen was predeceased by her parents, Barclay and Birdie Wilson, her brothers George Wilson and Tom Bourk, her beloved son Blair McCaw and granddaughter Michelle. Helen's family would like to extend their gratitude to Dr. Sean Cahil, her personal physician, who gave Helen 12 years of care and support; also Dr. Zibdawi and the caring ICU nursing staff of the Grey Nuns Hospital; Gordon Campbell of Vital Air. A special thanks to Helen's granddaughter, Tara Tremblay who devoted tender nursing care to Grandma during her last days. Memorial Service Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at Park Place Funeral Home, 51 Broadway Blvd., Sherwood Park, AB. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Association Research Foundation, 400 First Edmonton Place, 10665 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, T5J 3S9. Eulogy By Tara Tremblay Helen was the daughter of Barclay and Birdie Wilson. She was born on April 29, 1925 in a hospital in Assinaboa Saskatchewan. Helen was a special gift to her mother age 40 and father age 35 as they had lost two of their children to illness in the years before her birth. Helen had two older brothers, Tom and George as well as one sister, Elma who has always been known as Dolly because she looked just like a little doll. Her sister Dolly recalls the day Helen was born as she was 9 years old and was so excited to have a baby sister. She remembers calling the neighbors to share her good news. The family lived on a farm and Helen was a busy little girl. She enjoyed riding her horse Brownie. Helen was very close to her dad and it is from their time together playing cards that her life long love for card games developed. Helen had fond memories of making mud pies which her brother George would eat. She would make her pies using fruit and made icing from flour and dirt. Helen left her parents farm after graduating high school. She attended Business College in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Following college Helen worked for the Saskatchewan Government Grain Terminal Elevator. In 1948 Helen married Mert McCaw and settled in Turtleford, Saskatchewan where they had the McCaw Funeral Home. Together they had four children, Dick, Blair, Dan, and Shelley. The funeral home expanded and the family relocated to Lloydminister. In 1959 Helen was widowed and continued to run the funeral homes until she moved to Edmonton in the summer of 1964. Her children recall the annual summer vacations when she would take a trip with the four children in the family car. Shelley can recall being car sick and her brothers Blair and Danny fighting in the back seat of the car. Helen didn’t want her children to feel that they were missing out on family vacations because they had lost their dad. In Edmonton Helen worked as a secretary at Victoria Composite High School and she also worked as a secretary in a doctor’s office. In 1966 Helen married Robert Fearon (Bob). He had also been widowed and had four children, Candyse, Pam, Bob and Jeff. This now family of 10 built a home and lived on Fairway Drive. In 1973 Helen became a grandmother for the first time. She enjoyed being a grandmother and spending time with all of her children and the growing family with daughter and sons-in-law coming into the family. In 1974 they relocated the family to Fort. Langley, BC. This was the beginning of their travels as they moved overseas as well as the United States. Although Helen missed having her family around her she would make each place a home, no matter where in the world they were living at the time. Family and friends were always welcome and she and Bob tried to keep their family traditions. Throughout all of their travels Bob and Helen kept in touch with their children and grandchildren. They would visit when they could, often at special occasions such as attending the weddings of their children. There is one special place that Helen would return to in the summers when she was home in Edmonton, the family cottage at Island Lake. Helen had written in her contribution to the Turtleford Treasures Memory book the following, “My family and I have lived in many parts of the world, but each summer we return to our cottage at Island Lake. We think it’s the most beautiful place in the world.” In 1990 Helen and Bob returned to Canada for their retirement. She oversaw the construction of their home here in Sherwood Park. In retirement Bob and Helen traveled to different places throughout the United States visiting friends and family in their RV. They had their home away from home. Around 1997 Helen’s health deteriorated due to emphysema. She required oxygen and for several years she continued to travel health permitting, and entertain friends and family in her home. As her condition progressed she was unable to travel but continued her interest in the lives of friends and family. She kept busy playing cards, knitting and visiting in her home or over the phone. She was always making the best of her health and in fact preferred not to discuss her health. Instead she would call you and say “Tell me what are you doing, what did you do today?” In total Helen had 17 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and counting. She was a loving wife, mother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, and grandmother. She had just celebrated her 80th birthday and enjoyed a wonderful party with her family. I would like to share with you some of the memories others have shared over the years. Her daughter Pam recalls how special her mom made both her 13th and 16th birthdays. And daughter Candyse recalled how she had written a poem for her mom as a child and it had been chosen to be aired on the radio. She also recalled a birthday when her mom had made happy face birthday cakes to celebrate her birthday with her two good friends who were also celebrating birthdays. Helen’s daughter-in-law Cheryl, her son Jeff’s wife, wrote a lovely letter for Helen on her 76th birthday. In the letter she told Helen what she appreciated about her. Cheryl appreciated the crocheted wedding bedspread and told Helen how she would pass it on to her daughter, Jennifer. She would tell Jennifer how Nana had made it for her parents wedding and how Jennifer can pass it on to her children and tell them the story – and so the story will continue. The thing she appreciated the most was the wonderful son she had raised and how because of Helen she and her children will benefit from all of her efforts for the rest of their lives. Granddaughter Aaron, recalls parties staying up late playing UNO and eating too much candy. Aaron also wrote to Helen “I have so many wonderful memories of you Nana. So many that it would take me years to write them all down. I am so happy I have been able to make such wonderful memories with you”. Grandson, Shaun’s favorite memories are of hearing about all the trouble that his mom and all her siblings got into. I second that! Shaun also appreciated Nana teaching him to play crib, and he added that that accomplishment may have been her biggest challenge. Son-in-law Ralph had a list of David Letterman’s top 10 reasons why Helen is the Worlds Greatest Mother-In-Law, sighting her as a world-class cribbage player, a champion knitter and the provider of many tasty traditions to pass down. We can all attest to the fabulous meals and baked creations for which Helen became famous. Those recipes will live on. Helen’s daughter Shelley remembers her mom teaching her to knit at age 5. All the many hours spent making all our family beautiful knitted sweaters that she never appreciated until having her own children. A priceless treasure Shelley has passed down to her granddaughter. How proud she was to have her as her mom, and her friend. But most of all she loved that her mom got her sense of humor. Being grateful for the wonderful grandmother her mom is and has always been to Aaron and Shaun and what a great gift to them is the warm memories of being loved and cherished by their Nana. And how words could not express how much that meant. Granddaughter Kristy also recalls her 5th birthday when Grandma surprised her by coming home for her birthday and just walked into the basement while we played. We remember just staring at her as though we were seeing things. It was so exciting! Kristy also recalls playing Yatzee at the cabin and losing money- she said no one can add up a Yatzee score faster than Grandma. Granddaughter Jennifer wrote this poem: Nana I love the way you bake your pies, I love the way you smile. I love the way you play cards with me, I love your “Nana Style”. I loved it when you brought me back, A doll from Singapore. I loved it when you helped me find, A net to use to fish on shore. I loved it when we went to Gull Lake, It seems there’s nothing that you lack. But what I love about you most, Is the way you love me back. I love You Nana. Love Always And Forever, Jennifer Helen’s daughter-in-law, Mamie, recalls going out to Island Lake to take the girls out for the weekend. She remembers the girls having a great time with the local boys. When it came time for bed it got quiet in the old cabin and she could hear strange sounds. Mamie was sleeping in the same bed with Helen and she said “I can hear something” Helen said “It is only the wind making the trees hit the roof. Mamie said, “I don’t think it is the wind, I think it is mice.” Helen said “No! No!” The girls started screaming! It was mice going up and down the cords from the curtains dividing the rooms! Helen had a good laugh because she had known all along it was mice. They all went home the next morning. Instead of the traditional birthday cake I remember grandma making my favorite lemon meringue pie with candles for my 11th birthday. She later taught me how to make that pie. I remember going to pick up her 1978 robin egg blue T-top mustang from the dealership. I remember sitting in the passenger seat when she drove it off the lot. She got me hooked on Johnny Carson and playing Yatzee. I always tried to snatch her gold cross pen to score my game, she knew how I liked that pen and I received one for Christmas one year. To me no matter where she was in the world I always felt close to her when I was at Island Lake. She loved burnt marshmallows with beer at the bonfire. I loved that there was a tag in the sweater she knit me that read, “made especially for you love Grandma” Helen’s eldest son Dick recalls an amusing story of when he and his friend Larry Parks had been at home one night as teenagers, underage teenagers. Bob and Helen had been home before the boys went out for the evening. The boys had a half bottle of vodka which they had put it in the trunk. The next day they went to drink the bottle but noticed it had frozen a bit. They drank it anyway and thought it was weird that they didn’t get a buzz from it. They figured it must have been affected by being frozen. About 5 days later Bob and Helen had company over. Helen said to Dick, “I have something we can drink, Dick would you bring me that decanter?” Dick realized that the decanter that usually contained Sherry had his vodka in it” He then realized his mom had swapped his vodka for water. She had pulled one over on her son. So many memories, we could go on for days. Helen knew how much she was loved by family and friends alike. I know she knew just how much she was loved by her husband Bob of nearly 40 years. In going through her treasures in preparing for this evening we came upon this card which said. My wife. My love. “If only she could look inside my heart, then she could see how much her sweet companionship will always mean to me.” When I think of all the ways you make me happy, I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have a wife as wonderful as you. You are the love of my life, and if I could only have one wish for you as we celebrate our anniversary this year, it would be to bring you as much happiness as you’ve brought to me. Happy Anniversary With Love Bob. Bob cared for Helen in so many ways. He looked after all of her medical needs as her health deteriorated over the last 7 years. We are forever grateful for the wonderful love and care that you provided. I would also like to acknowledge the other man in Helen’s life that helped to care for her. This would be Helen’s family physician, Dr. Sean Cahill. Dr. Cahill had been Helen’s doctor for 12 years. Having a doctor who was willing to come see Helen in her own home meant that Helen was able to continue living at home with her devoted husband. For that I know Helen was grateful. As most of you know Helen became seriously ill requiring hospitalization on May 11. Sadly, on May 13 at 6:15pm Helen peacefully passed away with her loving husband Bob, son Dick, Daughter-in-law Mame, daughter Shelley, son Jeff and myself at her side. We all said our goodbyes and reminisced about good times. We will all miss her. Helen gave us all memories that will last a lifetime. For those of us she has left behind we are her legacy. She would want us to remember the good times, take care of one another, and continue to make her proud. She was so proud of her family. But most of all she would want us to be happy. Grandma, With the gift of years Comes the treasure of knowing That there are many who love you dearly. The memories you’ve made with us Will last forever. The tenderness you’ve shared with us Will never fade. The most wonderful gift you could ever give Is the special part of you That now lives in each of us. And the truth your love has taught us Can only be strengthened By the gift of time… For where roots grow deep, Memories grow Forever. Poem by Kimberly Rinehart