ELIN MCKITRICK

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

ELIN MCKITRICK (formerly WOODCOCK, nee LINDAL) On the morning of December 1, 2010, Elin Ingibjorg McKitrick began her last journey, into the arms of those loved ones she had missed so much. She was the tenth and last surviving of 16 children born to Icelandic immigrants, John and Soffia Lindal on the family homestead near Lundar, Manitoba on May 30, 1909. Raised on a farm, to a large family, Elin could not help but become a resourceful, industrious worker who learned that living life to the fullest meant enjoying all the small pleasures of country life. Friendly sports, horseback riding and lively dances rounded out Elin's early life as a fun-loving person. Reporting on Lundar and District's news to the Free Press and Tribune prompted her to attend Success Business College while working evenings and weekends at Winnipeg's Gaiety Theatre. Equipped with new work skills she was attracted to the north and found employment in her brother's General Store in the isolated frontier town of Gillam. Elin delighted in describing many of the exciting adventures from her life in the north. With a twinkle in her eye, she would describe how she met her soulmate, a railway man, William Woodcock there in 1932 and how their first home was a converted boxcar. Together they raised three children in the north until 1947 when a move south settled them in St. Vital. Elin was a busy homemaker and active member of the Dorcas Society of the Icelandic Lutheran Church. During this time construction of the family cottage at Twin Beaches near St. Laurent began a lifetime preoccupation with life at the lake every summer for seven decades. Elin and Bill created a summer gathering place for a large extended family. In June of 1953, Elin became a widow with three teenage children. Undaunted, Elin refreshed her business skills and returned to the workforce as office manager at the Manitoba Technical Institute to provide for her family. In 1963 Elin remarried, widower Earl McKitrick and moved to Tabor, Alberta. She returned to Winnipeg after Earl's death in 1981. A move to Vancouver preceded her final move to Lions Manor in 1993. Elin believed life was meant to be lived to the fullest. She was a world traveller having visited many countries including the ancestral home of Iceland. Elin or Nana as she was called most of her life, will be lovingly remembered as a caring, giving person who rarely complained preferring to laugh away life's little inconveniences instead. Elin will be sadly missed by son Bill Woodcock; grandchildren along with great-grandchildren, David Woodcock (Colette Wallace), Justin, Brandy-Lynn (Allan Tatarniuk), Natasha and Alexis, Bruce and Melanie Snow-Woods, Skylar and Corey, Bonita and Carolyn Muracz, Bill Adelman and family of L.A., Elin and Lawernce Novicki and Kaz Bileski, as well as many nieces and nephews across the continent. Elin was predeceased by daughters, Elinor and Patsy; and son-in-law Bert Muracz. Elin successfully completed her final life goal - to live to be 100! A memorial service will take place on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at Neil Bardal Funeral Centre, 3030 Notre Dame Avenue (across from Brookside Cemetery). NEIL BARDAL INC. FUNERAL CENTRE (204) 949-2200 nbardal.mb.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 04, 2010