DELORES WINNIFRED KILLEEN
(nee WURMNEST)
1920 - 2014
Our dear Mother passed away Thursday, January
30. 2014 at the Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Blessed with longevity, Mother lived a ‘never
a dull moment’ life. Born at home on a snowy night when doctors arrived by
horse and cutter, growing up in Sperling, Manitoba with pioneer parents from
Illinois (John and Daisy Wurmnest), side by side with loving sisters Leta and
Sadie and brother Terry, Mother’s
character, courage and stamina were formed. As a young bride mother experienced
WWII years alone in Winnipeg until Jack’s return from overseas when the young
couple settled into Sperling ‘community life’ raising five children: Tanis,
Sheila, Phillip, Shelley and Tricia.
Mother was a fun, funky lady and a very liberated thinker. Her smile lite up any
room and her kind heart gave freely to anyone in need of a meal, rest, shoulder
to lean on, or ear to listen. Tough if necessary, she was always guided by a
sense of fairness and looked for the good in everyone.
Family was top priority and her life
grew so much richer with the addition of her 12 beautiful grandkids: Roxanne
and Leslie Rummery, Tanya and Dana Killeen, McGuire, Karver and Kourtney
Kaminsky, Baileigh, Kasey and Saxon-Laine Kaptein, Christian and Gracie
Mann. Nine great grandchildren were the
icing on the cake for her: Sydney and
Taylor Penn, Carson, Devyn and Paetyn Allaire, Paisley and Otto Anaka, Kashton
and Kohen Kaptein. Mother baked jars of cookies for this bunch, taught the
lucky ones her great dance moves, how to drive on dusty country roads, and was
famous through the years for her cartwheels on the front lawn. We will really
miss those phone calls: “Hurry, hurry, look at the sky”, “Quick, turn on the
station for a great song” and the famous “You’re not going out without
lipstick, are you?” Mother was a real beauty and people often thought she was
our ‘sister’. Always gardening, Mom had beautiful gardens with helpful tips to share and in her later years when only her
window sill overflowed with all the plants she was nurturing she found great
comfort and solace. An avid reader, she kept current while living her faith with a gentle, loving
spirit. Fond family years at Winnipeg Beach, volunteering weekly for 25 years
for Cancer Care, filling her car with friends for adventures, chores or to go
dancing, Mother was charismatic, fun, and a true friend. Futuristic and always
more interested in what was ‘going’ to happen than ‘looking back’.
Mother loved her children’s partners:
Richard Rummery, Douglas Kaminsky, Joan (Duffy) Killeen, Ron Miller and David
Mann. Her mottos: to ‘never judge a book by its cover’, ‘lend a hand before you
were asked’, ‘ keep your word’, and ‘do
the very best you can with what you are given’, were lived out to her last days
and they brought many interesting people to our dinner table through the years
when she always had room for more. Proof of her strength, resourcefulness and
determination was Mother living in her apartment until she was 93. July, 2013 she moved to Lions Manor Supportive
Housing and the first thing on her list to pack was her huge picture of Elvis
and when she passed away in the hospital…Elvis’ gospel tunes were playing at
her bedside. March 11, 2014 we would
have been celebrating Mother’s 94th birthday, instead, we will toast
this great lady, be thankful for the memories she left us and of course Mother
would want us to have fun, she LOVED having fun.
Words
found many times amongst Mother’s books and papers. “This
life for me is truly passed, I loved you all to the very last. Weep not for me,
but courage take, And love one another for my sake.”
From your gang…’You
will be missed but never forgotten’. We stand on the shore not so bravely, with
tears and wave her ‘goodbye’, but others smile as they watch her coming and
gaily shout ‘Hello hello,” to greet her.
For
the extra wonderful care our appreciation and thanks to: Elizabeth Morris,
Margret Coquete and Lions Manor staff, Susan, Char and Dawn at Age In Place, Shahid Shams at Freedom
in Home Medical Care, and Wojcik’s
A
graveside celebration will be held at a warmer date.
Donations
in Delores’ honour may be made to Winnipeg Harvest or Siloam Mission.
Wojcik’s Winnipeg Funeral Chapel &
Crematorium, 2157 Portage Avenue, 204.897.4665, is in care of arrangements. wojciksfuneralchapel.com
Wojcik’s
FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORIUM
2157 PORTAGE AVENUE
204 – 897 - 4665
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