Obituary of Marian Crichton

Marian Florence Crichton 1. We, Marian's family, would like to thank everyone for coming today and joining us in the celebration of the life of our mother, Marian Florence Crichton. But how does a person compress a full life of 90 years into a few short paragraphs? First, I'll present the facts of her life. Mom was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on May 14, 1920, to Richard and Annie Sonley. Mom was predeceased by her parents, Richard and Annie, by one brother, Richard Grant in infancy, her sisters and their husbands, Laura and Brian Crichton, Grace and Clair Brown, and Isabel and Alvin Parker, and her husband, Charlie in 1975. Mom grew up near Marwayne and lived all of her adult life just north of Kitscoty and passed away in the Provost Extended Health Care facility on Oct. 23, 2010. Left to honour Mom's memory and celebrate her life are her five children: Jackie Crichton, Charlotte Moon, Hank and Dianna Crichton, Lucelle Crichton, and Roger and Sharie Crichton; seven grandchildren: Lisa Aylesworth, Todd and Maureen Crichton, Dallas and Brenda Crichton, Sherry Moon, Charlene and Chad Jepson, Garth Crichton, and Ian Crichton; eight great grandchildren: Caitlin Aylesworth, Rheagan Aylesworth, Chenoa Crichton, Tanis Watson, Hunter Beynon, Cordell Beynon, Bryelle Crichton and Teagyn Crichton; long time family friends: Marj, Gib and Don Thompson and numerous nieces and nephews, extended family, friends and neighbours. Does that tell anyone who our mother really was? Let us tell you about our mom. Grandma and Grandpa Sonley farmed 6 miles south east of Marwayne where Mom and her three sisters, Laura, Grace and Isabel spent their childhood years doing all the things that farm kids did - helping in the house, the field, the garden and with the animals. I think that from the stories that Mom told, she picked raspberries ALL year, even in January at 40 below. The Sonley girls attended School at Fenham, two and a half miles away, with Mom completing her grade 9 there. The best part of school for Mom was the horse rides and buggy rides to and from the school and the extracurricular activities, like the Drama Club that met every Saturday at the school and finished up with a dance in the evening. Mom and Pop both went to school at Fenham and at the age of 19, on November 9, 1939, Mom left her parent's farm and married our dad, Charlie Crichton. They delayed their honeymoon until the next summer and it turned out to be a rather crowed trip to Banff because Mom and Pop were accompanied by her sister Laura and her husband Brian, Grammy Crichton, and the hired man, Jack Latimer. So much for Romance!!! Mom and Pop spent their first winter in the main house with Grammy then moved into an old four room house on the farm where they became parents and had their three older children in three years. In 1945, they moved back across the yard, into the main ranch house with Grammy, where Mom lived until 1982 - when the old house was demolished and the new house was built in its place. She turned this new house into a warm and welcoming home and she lived there until we moved her into the Islay Health Centre in 2007. Mom thought her family was done with Jackie, Charlotte and Hank, but was extremely surprised when Lucelle made her appearance in 1953, followed by Roger, born at home on the farm, in 1955. Now her family really was full and complete. Mom was a great mom and let us run free on the ranch. We were horse crazy and had horses long before we had bicycles; toy horses, stick horses with handmade sock heads and real ones, too. The creek that runs through the ranch and the dam behind the barn were great playgrounds and we spent hours and days down there building rafts and floating or sinking, depending on the raft or how many were on it at the time. Looking back, there were MANY things we did at the creek that would have scared our poor old mother half to death if she had known what we were up to. In 1951, Joe and Marj Thompson and their two boys, Gib and Don, joined our ranch family, where they worked shoulder to shoulder with Mom and Pop until, for health reasons, they moved to Edmonton in 1957. Those years developed into a deep friendship between our families and a sisterhood between Mom and Marj that carried on to this day. Our Mom always had a heart for her community and while living at home on the farm with her parents, she joined the Fenham Ladies' Aide Society. When it was forced to close, Mom joined the United Church Women in Kitscoty, was a member for about 60 years and held every office at some point. She was a devoted member and contributed to, and served at the teas, bazaars, and bake sales for fundraising for the Church. She organized quilting bees and they donated quilts to the Interval Home, the Thorpe Recovery Centre, the Sexual Assault Centre, the Dr. Cook and Auxiliary Hospital, the Islay Health Centre and the Alice Keith Care Centre in Vermilion - their handiwork was spread throughout the area because of Mom's compassion, perseverance and determination. The UCW was a constant in her life for decades. Although Mom didn't get to fulfill her dream of being a home economist, she used her passion, gifts and talents in the UCW and to help her sisters and families whenever she was needed with meals and projects like sewing costumes for horse competitions and parades. She believed that her hands should always be busy and was creative and giving. Mom loved to quilt and crochet and each of us have some of her handiwork. She made sure all of us and all her grandchildren received afghans and quilts that are now cherished keepsakes from a loving Mom and Grandmother. Nothing ever went to waste and she made some great and colourful afghans using up odds and ends of yarn and quilts from old fortrel clothing. Mom had "Reduce, ReUse, Recycle" down pat decades before it was fashionable. Some of the Community Organizations that Mom was involved with besides the UCW were the Marwayne 4H Sewing Club as an assistant leader, the Kitscoty Saddle Club and the Kitscoty Craft Guild. Mom had a real passion for passing on creativity and keeping kids busy. When she recognized a need for the young people in the area, she started a Crafts Club. As Founder and Leader of the Kitscoty Crafts Guild, she was instrumental in acquiring the funding for the building now known as the Kitscoty Senior Citizen's Centre, to be a shared building for the Seniors and the Guild. Mom was a great baker and at Christmas, she would fill stacks of containers with all of our favourite cookies. She had a typical farm garden and everything got canned, frozen or pickled. We will never forget the smell of freshly baked bread, cinnamon buns and cookies, or of dill and heating brine in the kitchen when we came home from school. Our friends and cousins were always welcome at our place, whether for an afternoon, a day, or a couple of weeks. Mom's family was her top priority, from her parents and sisters, to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and she always had a way of making everyone feel welcome and at home. She always had a hug and cookie "for the road" for the little ones. Mom has always made a point of keeping in touch with distant relatives, even if it was only a letter in a card at Christmas. This habit began by recording a narrative from Grandpa Sonley on the Sonley family history, which led to letters from other family members - to Mom writing letters to anyone she could find who might be able to contribute to her research. She took that information and produced a book, "Sonley's East and West" that has been made available to any and every Sonley who requested a copy. As a farm wife, there were chores Mom enjoyed and chores that she didn't enjoy so much. Mom liked raking hay with the 4010 John Deere and she apparently enjoyed fencing, although we remember the air turning blue at times. She didn't like feeding the pigs, but if they got out and made it over to the garden over at the Rutherfords, Mom would saddle up a horse and herd them home. Apparently, our Mom was a gifted pig herder. Mom and Pop were part of the Lloydminster Chain and Circle Square Dance Club. Mom made their outfits and we thought they looked pretty fancy as they travelled as far away as Sherwood Park and Cold Lake, which was quite a drive in the 60's, to collect their square dance badges. When our Pop passed away in January of 1975, Mom's battle with the oil company began in March, as they proceeded to take over a whole section of the family ranch. She had an extremely steep learning curve as contracts, terminology, lawyers, and environmental issues became part of her everyday life, and I suppose even in her dreams and nightmares. We could write a book on what Mom went through with those people - the battle lasted for years and she was even featured in an article in the Edmonton Journal before anyone would listen to her. One thing Mom really enjoyed was getting over to Hank and Dianna's and sitting by the campfire... sometimes it was kind of scary, having a little old lady with an oxygen tank by an open fire, but she loved it. Mom had an incredibly full and active life but in the last 10 years, her world got smaller and smaller as she slipped deeper into dementia and she was robbed of the ability to live in the present. We finally couldn't manage at home and moved her into the supervised care facility at Islay - and a few months ago, when she had deteriorated even more, we moved her to the Provost Extended Health Care Facility, where she was gently and compassionately cared for until she left us on Saturday morning with Charlotte at her bedside. In spite of the trials that come to a farm family, sickness and injury, storms and crop failures, debt and discouragement, a farmer's wife is thankful for the many blessings of life on a farm, the variety of the changing seasons, the closeness of her family, the sight of a wobbly newborn calf, the helpfulness of a neighbour, the dazzling whiteness of acres of snow, the smell of fresh cut hay. This was our Mom and we miss her. The Memorial Service for Mom was held on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010 at 2PM at the Kitscoty Community Church with Rev. Bob Aldrich officiating. There are so many people we would like to thank for their assistance at this time. Special mention begins with Sandra McAdam, Rosemarie Clark and Debbie Green. Their kind and loving care of our mom enabled us to keep her at home for as long as we did. We are greatly indebted to them and we cannot thank them enough. Special thanks to Dr. Stuart-Hunter and the staffs at Islay Assisted Living and the Provost Extended Health Care Centre for their compassionate care of Mom. It's very much appreciated, thank you. Heartfelt thank you to the following people who helped make a difficult day run smoothly: * Dean Wenzel, Dave McCaw and staff at McCaw Funeral Services * Rev. Bob Aldrich for officiating the memorial service * Our brother Hank for reading the eulogy * Our good friend, John Scott for playing the piano and accompanying the soloist and the choir * Stan Crossley for his solo of "The Place Where I Worship" * Kitscoty Community Church Choir * Honorary Pallbearers: All the grandchildren; Lisa Aylesworth, Todd Crichton, Dallas Crichton, Sherry Moon, Charlene Jepson, Garth Crichton, and Ian Crichton. Friends; Marj Thompson, Gib Thompson, Don Thompson, Jack Leighton and Charlie Leighton * Kitscoty Community Church Lunch Committee for the lovely lunch A special Thank You also goes to all of our kind relatives, friends and neighbours for the phone calls, cards, flowers, charitable donations, visits and food brought to the house. Your love, compassion, and generosity have brought so much comfort to our family during this tough time. It will not be forgotten. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the memorial and celebrate Mom's life and a special note of appreciation to all of you who shared your own special memories of our mom with us. Jackie, Charlotte, Lucelle and Sherry Hank and Dianna and family Roger and Sharie and family Donations in memory of Marian may be made to the Alzheimer Society - Alzheimer Research or to a charity of the donors choice.