BARBARA CHARRIERE ALLARY

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BARBARA CHARRIERE ALLARY September 4, 1960 - April 8, 2012 On Easter Sunday morning, Barbara, with family at her side, passed away. Friends and family kept vigil over her during her brief time at the St. Boniface Palliative unit. Barbara was a beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend. Peacefully, after battling cancer for 25 years, Barbara leaves her beloved family, husband Robin and children, Devon, Dylan and Carlyn, to mourn her loss. Along with her parents, Lucien and Bertha Charriere, she leaves her siblings Jeffrey (Jauna), Pat (Bill), Doug (Nina) and nieces and nephews, Liesette, Tyler, Matthew, Riley, Brettyn, and Camryn. As well, she leaves her mother-in-law, Aurore, sisters and brothers-in-law, Darlene, Donna (Clive), Doug (Becky), Karen (Wally), Wendy and nieces and nephews, Jason, Tyler, Jennifer, Alex, and Rory. Barbara was predeceased by her father- in-law, Edward Allary and brother-in-law, Raymond Heaslip. Barbara grew up in North Kildonan, graduated from River East Collegiate and went on to the University of Manitoba for her Education degree. After graduation, Barbara and her dear friend Cindy Currie Neustaedter taught at South Indian Lake for one year. Upon return, Barbara accepted a job in Winnipeg One Division, where she worked until her illness prevented her from doing so. She worked at many different schools; Earl Grey, Gladstone, Robert H. Smith, John M. King, Sister MacNamara, Weston and Isaac Brock. Barb loved teaching and met many wonderful students, parents, and colleagues throughout the years, many who became her very close friends. Throughout her illness she had tremendous support from her colleagues in the way of visits, meals, baking and driving from so many of her friends, and those from the many different schools, and she truly valued that support. Barbara took an interest in all her students. She could recognize and remember the name and family of every child she ever taught and would often surprise them by knowing who they were 25 years later when she saw them out somewhere. Barb really enjoyed life and lived every day to the fullest. She had many interests and loved learning new things. Barb loved to spend time with her family and friends, travel, garden, read, do crosswords, listen to music, play with her animals, cook and watch sports. She loved to travel and enjoyed planning the family's annual summer road trip. She would look through guide books and find all the great places to see on the way to Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto or Minneapolis. She also loved the hot holidays she went on with her family, and the one time with her special friends, Irene and Deb, especially to the Dominican Republic where she found the people so warm and friendly. She loved to spend time at the family cottage in Shoal Lake and spent many relaxing hours on the dock watching her children and their cousins ski, swim and wakeboard and then all play cards at night. It was a peaceful retreat for the whole family and gave her many cherished family memories. She always supported her children in anything they tried; acting, fencing, horseback riding, debating, karate, swimming but especially loved watching her children play sports, always cheering them on at track, hockey, soccer, football and rugby. Barbara met many wonderful families through sports, who were also a huge support, providing rides and meals to her family when she was ill. She also was a Blue Bomber and Winnipeg Jets fan and enjoyed watching games with friends and family. Barbara loved music and concerts. She and Robin saw many of her favorite bands and loved going to the Folk Festival in the summer. Barb always had music on in the house. She loved listening to Robin and Peter's guitar jam sessions every Wednesday night by the fire. Throughout her life, Barb had strong faith and attended St. Ignatius Church. She truly trusted God and knew that he would look after her. This helped her through the many operations, radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Barb never gave up hope and was able to live joyfully throughout her illness. She was grateful to Father Gerry for his visits and support. There are so many friends and family to thank for all their support through her illness. Twice, friends and family put on fundraisers to help Barb buy an I Pad, pay for a cleaning service and do some special things with her family. Her freezer was always full of food and baking from others. Her many special life-long childhood friends, work friends, hockey friends, Wolseley and River Heights neighbors, and Robin's colleagues from Forest Park School, all contributed so much over the years and it touched our family deeply. We would like to thank Dr. Sutherland, who was her oncologist since 2000 and showed such competence and compassion for Barb. She was a huge help in Barb's ability to deal with the cancer for so long and became a special friend to Barb. We also want to thank all the staff at Cancer Care, and the chemo lab who gave great support and care for Barb. Barbara truly relished every moment of her life. She had boundless energy and patience. Barbara was so happy to donate her body to the U of M's Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science. Although we will miss her dearly, her presence in our hearts will live on. If you wish to, donate to Cancer Care or to a charity of your choice. Prayers will be held on Monday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. with the funeral to follow on Tuesday, April 17 at 11:00 a.m., also at St. Ignatius Church located on 255 Stafford at Corydon. Barbara loved poetry, and this was one of her favourites: Late Fragment by Raymond Carver And did you get what You wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself Beloved on the earth.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 14, 2012