AILEEN CECILIA LUCY

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AILEEN CECILIA LUCY Early in the morning on Thursday, January 13, 2011, Mum died peacefully at West Park Manor at the age of 92 years. Celia will be lovingly remembered by sons Roger (Susan Howell) of Ottawa, and Simon (Leslie Malcolmson) of Winnipeg; son-in-law Ernie Manicom of Halifax; grandchildren Malcolm and Alexander Lucy, and Kate Manicom. She was sadly predeceased by husband John (1997); daughter Susan (2010); as well as her parents, sisters and brother-in-law. Born on March 30, 1918 in Banstead, Surrey, England, Celia was the youngest of four daughters of Robert and Christina (nee Arthur) Vaughan Johnson. Educated at Downe House School for girls, she was finished in France for a year studying dressmaking. With the outbreak of war Celia quickly volunteered as a VAD nurse. Soon thereafter she decided to trade no pay and long hard hours for very low pay (and long hard hours!): she trained as a registered nurse at the Middlesex Hospital, London. Most of the war was spent in London, with the reality of bombing never far away. In 1945 she met a psychiatry registrar, John Douglas Lucy. They married in April, 1947. Over the next four years they lived in Aylesbury, Denbigh, and London, UK, with children Roger (1948) and Susan (1950). Escaping the privations and rationing of post-war Britain, they immigrated to Canada in 1951, first to Weyburn, SK, then Regina where son Simon (1955) was born; finally arriving in Winnipeg in 1962. Most importantly Celia found the home of her dreams on the banks of the Assiniboine in St. James in 1971 where she was at last able to put down roots and live contentedly for 27 years. Celia embraced volunteerism; first as a nurse, and later on with the Winnipeg General Hospital patients' library, Canadian Arthritis Society, WAG gift shop and the Crafts Guild of Manitoba. Always very accomplished at sewing and knitting (skills very much passed onto Susan), Celia later took up weaving, winning awards, and honed her knitting expertise to the point she was teaching advanced classes with the Crafts Guild. In addition, she was a voracious reader, intrepid traveller, skilled organizer, witty and inspiring conversationalist and highly gifted cook. She loved the outdoors, and was frequently seen tending her garden, cross-country skiing with John, and walking her succession of dearly loved dogs. Celia was a loving wife; mother and grandmother, whose warmth, charm and wit were matched by her stoic ability to endure with little or no complaint. Though she lived much love and happiness there were dark times: the war and post-war years, life as a new immigrant with too frequent moves and much later the loss of John first with Alzheimer's Disease and finally with his death. Most cruelly in 1999 she suffered a devastating stroke which robbed her of her mobility, much of her speech and her independence. On Monday, January 24, 2011 Celia's Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. in St. James Anglican Church, 194 Collegiate Street with Rev. Canon Murray Still, presider. The family would like to thank the staff of West Park Manor, where she spent the past 11 years, for their attentive care; caregivers Jean Holland and Marlene Hammond; and special friend Ginny Twomey. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Celia's memory to a charity of your choice.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 22, 2011