VIRGINIA DOROTHY TATE (HIGNELL)

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VIRGINIA DOROTHY TATE (HIGNELL) The world has lost one of its great characters. Virginia Tate, known to many people as Diddy, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, November 4, just two weeks short of her 88th birthday, from complications of hip surgery. Blunt, funny, feisty and opinionated, Diddy was a woman ahead of her time, and not easily defined. She had a degree in home economics yet hated housework (most of the cooking and cleaning fell to her husband Jim). She said she wasn't artistic yet created beautiful needlework. She claimed to be shy, yet relished challenging the rules (she almost got kicked out of Kelvin High School in 1939 for using the boys-only entrance) and always took the time to talk to everybody. And although she loved travelling to every far-flung corner of the world, she remained a fiercely proud Winnipegger to the end of her life (she thought people who complained of the cold should just move, already). Diddy was born November 17, 1924, the oldest daughter of Lloyd and Dorothy (Dot) Hignell. When Lloyd died in 1945 and Dot died in 1947, Diddy was left to raise her two younger sisters, Helen Ruth and Linda. In September 1947 she married Jim Tate and began her married life in a small house on Campbell Street, along with her two sisters and their cantankerous grandmother Mamie. Jim was so besotted he agreed to this arrangement and never regretted it. They soon had three children of their own: John, Dorrie and Dave, and the family enjoyed a typical, happy and memorable 1950s and 1960s life. Once the kids left and made lives of their own, Diddy and Jim indulged their passion for travel while welcoming grandchildren to the family, treating each grandchild to special trips. After Jim died in 1994 Diddy continued to travel, visiting Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Machu Picchu, and Brazil among others; doing a cruise down almost every major river in the world and going on a safari in Africa. She always said her favourite trip was to Egypt. To the horror of her friends she went three weeks after September 11, 2001, but loved it because there were no crowds. She passed on her love of travel to her children and grandchildren. In her forties Diddy decided she wanted to be a teacher, so she went back to university and got her teaching credentials, teaching first in Middle Years at Aberdeen School and then Primary at Tyndall Park. Students respected and loved her because she cared about them and her deadly laser eyes kept anyone from stepping out of line She was an athlete her entire life and dreamed of being a sprinter at the Olympics but her Olympics would have been in 1944 the Second World War put an end to that. She played basketball for the University of Manitoba Bisons and swam competitively into her eighties, setting numerous age class records, until the neck pain that had bothered her for forty years finally sent her to a doctor. He found she had a broken bone in her neck that had never healed properly and was astonished she could even hold her head up. She didn't neglect her brain, playing bridge whenever she could, reading voraciously, doing crosswords, keeping up with the politics of the day and patronizing the gamut of arts and cultural events. When the St. James Assiniboia Seniors Centre decided to fund raise with a Calendar Girls calendar, Diddy was first in line to volunteer and was a beautiful Ms December. She wanted that picture with her obituary but the paper probably wouldn't print it, as tasteful as it is. Diddy was a tireless volunteer over the years, always working for several organizations at a time. She also stood up for those being treated unfairly. She chewed out a math teacher at Kelvin (and if you went to Kelvin in the middle of the last century, you know who that was and the thought will make you go pale) when she realized he was unjustly berating a student, and he apologized. She was the definition of common sense and she always spoke her mind. What she said was often uncomfortable, but it was always true. She was predeceased by her husband Jim and her sister Helen Ruth as well as three brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law. She is survived by her three children: son John and wife Shirley and their daughters, Megan (Aaron Van Bastelaere) and Sara (Jeffrey Lomas) and their daughter Ruby; daughter Dorrie and husband Bob Hosfield and their sons, David (Lindsey Monroe) and their son Oliver, Christopher (Jennifer) and their son Cameron, and Scott (Janelle) and their son William; and son David and his partner Mary; by her sister Linda and her husband Glen Murray; and by sisters-in-law Sally Tate and Maureen Tate, as well as many nieces and nephews. With your drive, your enthusiasm, your energy and your strength we were convinced you'd outlive us all but it turns out you were human. Thanks Mom for all you gave us, for all you taught us and for your love of life. And yes, we know, you hate this obituary because it makes too much of a fuss. There will be no service. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to a charity of your choice.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Nov 10, 2012