MARY ESPERSEN

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MARY ESPERSEN (nee SHOTT), (LICHARSON) March 22, 1924 - December 2, 2013 In her 90th year our dear mother died peacefully last Monday afternoon by the lake in the home she loved. Mom was born the ninth of 12 children and raised on the family homestead 12 miles west of Arborg, Manitoba. It was marginal land that needed work and took the efforts of every family member big and small. By the time Mary arrived the family had moved out of the sod hut and were living in the home her father built. There was only one bedroom in the house which was for her mother and father and all the kids slept in the attic. These were difficult times and the family was very poor. Mom used to tell stories about her mother bleaching flour bags and using them to make clothes for the children who would walk miles to school in thin shoes. The house was filled with activity and there was plenty to eat because they always had a large garden and animals. The 1930s had a formative effect on her and the lessons learned stayed with her through her lifetime. We will always remember Mom and her sisters telling stories about growing up and laughing uncontrollably about the good times. School stopped at Grade six and one by one the children departed until they had all left to make their way. Mom married our father, John D. (Jack) Licharson in 1945 and together they worked long hours at the family business (Jack's Food Bar at Dufferin and Main) while raising their family on Sherburn Street. For the next 25 years she worked with him, often to exhaustion, building this successful family business. They took the first real vacation either ever had in 1960, when the entire family went to Europe for the summer to visit Corfu where Jack had grown up. Neither stopped working long, hard days until they finally retired in 1970. My brother and I both owe whatever success we have achieved to the example set by our Mom and Dad. They impressed upon us a strong work ethic and the value of a higher education. Our father died in 1971 and Mom went through a very tough time overcoming immense obstacles. She successfully learned to manage a bank account, drive an automobile, and live independently; all of these skills she learned while in deep, personal mourning. She travelled alone to parts of the world she never previously would have dreamed of going and did things she would have never dreamed of doing. In 1977, she met John Espersen and married him in 1978, beginning a new, very happy time in her life. They lived in Winnipeg, then Calgary, and finally decided to return to Manitoba, building their own house together on the shore of Lake Winnipeg in Matlock. The years they spent there together, until John died in 2000, were probably the happiest and most fulfilling of her life. They travelled to Australia and New Zealand, and visited family in Central Africa and Jamaica. They travelled by camper van across Canada and through many parts of the U.S. There was, literally, nothing they were both not up for! When not travelling, Mary was completely devoted to John, to her children and to each and every one of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She spoiled them all indiscriminately and with great affection, feeding them home-made bread, perogies, cabbage rolls, her own special pork chops, cookies, and baklava. Nobody came away from a visit with her without carrying several additional pounds. Spoiled they all were, but not a one was not touched deeply by her love nor failed to understand and appreciate what a gem they had lucked upon in her. The years after John died were very difficult ones for her. Having to bury two husbands was the last thing she ever wanted to have to do. Nonetheless, she went on, making the best of life as she always did. She travelled to visit family both East and West of Winnipeg until the years began to make travel more tiring. Her last few years were spent quietly and at home. She became more and more tired, but never less loving or caring. We will miss her sorely; a light in all of our lives has dimmed. She is survived by sons John (Elna) of Kingston Ontario, Larry (Cathie Cronin) of Winnipeg; sister Olive Litkowich of Winnipeg; grandchildren Daniel, Loris (Shawna), Thomas, Mary Margaret and Michael, great-grandchildren Shannon, Jakob and Clio; greatly loved stepdaughter Lori Espersen of Vancouver, and brother and sister-in-law Carly and Shirley Espersen. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2013 at Glen Eden Memorial Gardens, 4477 Main Street, West St. Paul, at 11:00 a.m. Flowers are gratefully declined - you may make a contribution to Big Brothers and Sisters of Winnipeg in her memory.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 07, 2013