CONSTANCE AILEEN (CONNIE) PILGRIM (CLARKE)

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CONSTANCE AILEEN (CONNIE) PILGRIM (nee CLARKE) November 4, 1911 September 13, 2014 Our dear Mum's strong heart surrendered to complete stillness the morning of September 13, peacefully, at home, attended by family. Until very recently she enjoyed remarkably fine health, astounding all who knew her as she approached her 103rd birthday. Constance (Connie) was the much beloved mother of Jill Brooks and Jennifer Pilgrim; grandmother of Morgan Brooks (Janine Watts); Adam Brooks (Laura Groening); Peregrin Maksimovich (Nancy); Megan Maksimovich Goodenough (Daniel); Paget Stewart (Leya); Jennie Stewart (Gary McFarlane), Victoria Stewart (Chuck McDiarmid), and great grandmother of Wren McFarlane, Tavish McDiarmid, and Lauren and Hannah Maksimovich. She was predeceased by her husband John in 1983. Connie was the only child of Aileen Alexia Allingham Clarke and Harry Edwin Clarke. Originally from New Brunswick they moved to Winnipeg in the early 1900's when it offered greater employment opportunity than the east. Mum was proud of her British Loyalist roots and in 2008 enjoyed a return visit to both Woodstock and St. John where she received a warm Maritime welcome. Born and raised on Basswood Place in the Wolseley neighbourhood, Connie's schooling led her from Laura Secord Elementary to Kelvin High. She made many dear friends along the way, and tells (in her memoirs) detailed and entertaining stories of their adventures and misadventures. As she was an avid reader and enjoyed English and Latin in high school, she decided to major in English at university, and graduated in 1933 from the University of Manitoba with her Bachelor of Arts degree. She kept her mind sharp with her enjoyment of bridge, crossword puzzles and good grammar! Connie's mother Aileen was named Winnipeg's first female Juvenile Court Magistrate in 1922. Connie remembered being taken by her mother to her office one Saturday when she was eight years old only to be turned back and told to go home as it was too dangerous to be downtown. It was Saturday the 17th of June, 1919, the day that came to be known as Bloody Saturday of the Winnipeg General Strike. Connie's father Harry was an outdoorsman and naturalist by avocation and introduced her to the unique joys of Victoria Beach when she was but a youngster. He built their first cottage at 328-6th Avenue in the early 20's, while they tented on the property. Victoria Beach occupied a special place in her heart all of her life, and grew to have the same resonance for her children. In 1937 Connie married John William Pilgrim, an employee of the London Tea Bureau whose job it was to introduce and promote tea to the Canadian market. During The Second World War Dad spent his years of service in England with the PPCLI. After his return from overseas in 1945 they moved from Basswood Place to St. Vital, and through the Veterans' Land Act acquired a quarter acre on which to build their own home (15 Victoria Row), only to be flooded out in 1948 and again in 1950. During the last few weeks of her life, the Row' and its extended family of neighbours featured in many of our conversations. Connie learned to sew as a young woman, a skill born of necessity which became her passion. She continued to sew for her daughters, for the Chancel Guild of St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, for her friends Bernard and Elizabeth Brown of Inhabit, and finally with the quilters at the Delta Manor Apartments where she lived independently for over thirty years. We would like to thank all of her friends there for treating her as the precious and valuable antique that we knew her to be. True to the quality her name implies, Mum was constant in her friendships and in her service to the community, in her appreciation of opera and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, in her love of cocker spaniels and her "I love a project" approach to daily living; but most of all, in her generous and unconditional love for her family. Indeed there are angels who walk among us. We extend our deepest gratitude to the Community and Palliative Home Care nursing service, particularly Jennifer Sych, who shared Mum's final days with us. We are also grateful for Esther and Judy from Home Care whose timing was impeccable, and to Meiling Domingo for her devotion to Mum and her gifts of delicious summer pies. In accordance with Mum's wishes, a private family service will take place. In lieu of flowers, should friends wish, donations may be made in Connie's memory to the War Amps Association or to St. Mary Magdalene Church. She was our very own Queen Mum' and we shall miss her terribly.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 20, 2014