ENID MARGARET BURNS (GORRIE)

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ENID MARGARET BURNS (nee GORRIE) Enid, born in Liverpool, England in 1919, died on June 3, 2011 peacefully, with her family by her side, at Fred Douglas Lodge, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Growing up in the depression years Enid (Peggy to her friends) remembered very clearly the frugality of that period and the rationing that followed in the U.K. during the Second World War. As a young woman caring for her two young children during the Second World War, Enid experienced very directly the bombing of the Birkenhead docks across the Mersey from Liverpool when the bombing spilled over into the Wallasey area where she lived. With her husband Tom at sea for long stretches with the merchant marine, she was often alone in the war years and the war experience remained with her for the rest of her life. When the war ended, the family moved to Canada in 1947, settling in Quebec City. Enid described this time in her life in a letter: Six long years of war had left its devastation everywhere and 1947, my last year in England, was the coldest in recorded history. The 1 cwt wartime coal ration was hardly enough to keep us warm, so memories of that last bitterly cold winter have remained with me to this day. My husband had crossed the Atlantic in 1946 to deliver to Canada one of the war prize ships captured from the enemy during the war and I was waiting to join him in Canada. The shipping and airline companies all advised me it would be at least 18 months to two years before we could hope for transportation. It seemed as if everyone in the world was travelling or emigrating somewhere. It was impossible to get a flight on a plane or a berth on a ship. But when my husband paid for my passage in American dollars (the only hard currency in the world in these years after the war) hey presto! as if by magic, within a few days we had a flight on a four-engined Constellation British Overseas Aircraft (BOAC). During the Quebec City years, Enid was active as a painter in the arts community. She and Tom shared a home studio which was always alive with their completed canvasses and works-in-progress. Painting continued to be a focus when they retired, first to St. Catherines, Ontario, and then to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Enid also soon became involved with the Popular Theatre Alliance in a collaboration of over 100 women who wrote and performed stories from their lives showing how theatre could be used as an educational tool for social change. In later years Enid fulfilled a lifelong ambition. She studied English Literature and History at the University of Winnipeg, graduating with an Honours B.A. at the age of 78. Enid loved to sing and spent many happy evenings with the Songbird' Club. She will be sadly missed by her son Raymond Burns (Judy), her daughter Carolyn Sadowska (John Dewhirst), her granddaughter Phoebe Burns and her great-grandchildren, Oliver and Molly Altemeyer. Enid was predeceased by her husband Thomas Louvain Burns in 1990. Enid will be fondly remembered for her sensitivity, intelligence and life-long creative spirit. Enid, artistically engaged to the end, completed her last painting only a few weeks ago. The family would like to thank the very dedicated and impressively attentive staff at Fred Douglas Lodge for the care Enid received while there. THOMSON FUNERAL HOME 669 BROADWAY, WINNIPEG, MB R3C 0X4 783-7211 Condolences may be sent to www.thomsonfuneralchapel.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 11, 2011