JEAN ELIZABETH COKE,

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

JEAN ELIZABETH COKE, BSc (nee WOODSIDE) Jean Elizabeth Coke, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. George and Annie Woodside of Winnipeg, was born November 24, 1917 and died on July 10, 2017. Jean passed away peacefully in her sleep in her own home, after spending a day visiting with members of her family. Until the end she was as insightful and lucid as ever, and retained her great sense of humour. It was exactly the way she wanted to go. She will be lovingly remembered by her sons, Ron (Denise) of Winnipeg, Dr. Bill (Susan) and John (Cathryn) of Toronto, and daughter Elizabeth Cadwallader (Bradley) of Richmond, New Zealand, as well as her 10 grandchildren, Alex, Stephan, Devon, William, Robert, Sarah, Michael, Charlie, Claire and Ian, and one great-grandson, Jackson, together with numerous nephews, nieces, their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Dr. Laurie Coke, son Robert, brother Dr. Moffat Woodside and sisters, Alice MacNamara and Ellinor (Pete) Udell. Jean was born in Brantford, Ontario, the third child of a Presbyterian minister, but moved to Winnipeg in early childhood when her father became the Minister at St. Stephen's Broadway United Church. She had an enduring faith and a deep devotion to helping others, characteristics and qualities which defined her throughout her life. She was smart and hardworking, graduating from Gordon Bell High School at the age of 16, and from the University of Manitoba with a BSc. in Home Economics at age 19. She went to work as a dietitian at the Sick Childrens Hospital in Toronto, and later as a supervisor for baked goods and desserts in the Grill Room at Eaton's in Toronto. The expertise and skills she mastered in both of these roles, in turn made sure that entertaining and social events for her family and friends were always framed by amazing cooking. During the war she returned to Winnipeg to serve as an outreach worker for the Family Bureau, an agency created to assist families in need to manage their households but particularly how to purchase food and prepare nutritious meals on extremely limited budgets, so their children could be healthy and lift succeeding generations out of poverty. While at the Bureau she was offered the position of Dean of Women at United College, but turned down the opportunity to continue the work she was deeply committed to, eventually becoming the acting Manager of Operations. In November, 1945 Lawrence Coke, a young doctor she had known since childhood, returned to Winnipeg from war time service, and took an immediate and intense interest in Jean. In what she described as the biggest leap of faith she ever took, Jean married in January, 1946 and was whisked off to Boston with her new husband, to renew his training as a Cardiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Following their return, the couple set up home in Winnipeg and over the next 11 years created a family which included four sons, followed by a long sought-after daughter in June, 1958. As in everything she did, Jean ran the household with precision and grace, allowing her tireless physician husband, who thought a seven-day work week was normal, to focus on his practice and the patients and families he served. Raising a large, busy family did not reduce Jean's commitment to the community, including working with United Church Women's Unit 5 at St. Stephen's Broadway Church, the Junior League, the Children's Home, the Middlechurch Home and, throughout all of her life, demonstrating a special devotion to the University Women's Club. Beginning in 1958, the family cottage at Minaki, Ontario became the center of activity for the family every summer. In the beginning, with four young boys, an infant daughter and a husband present only on weekends, this annual migration represented a real test of courage and stamina for Jean. Initially there was a property badly grown in with young poplar trees, a three quarter mile walk through the bush to the local store and the train station (trains were then the only means of access from Winnipeg), and, aside from the isolation, Jean was required to make treks through the bush every few days to buy food with children in tow who complained about carrying bags full of milk cartons and other food, the mosquitos, or the rain or the heat, on each leg of the journey. As the family grew older and the cottage was made more comfortable, the cottage became a lively meeting place for family and friends, fuelled by Jean's warmth, enthusiasm, energy, and her wonderful cooking. Importantly, however, she always remembered all of the days at Minaki as some of the happiest in her life. Jean always encouraged her children and grandchildren to apply themselves to activities they were passionate about, to think independently, and took great delight in watching their growth and development, and the growth and enrichment of the family with spouses and her grandchildren. She extended that same affection and that same pride to all the kids in the neighbourhood, with generations of children on Montrose Street having the benefit of Jean as a surrogate grandmother. She made every child feel special and the center of her attention, and always knew how to keep them entertained, including providing an endless supply of homemade cookies. She made people from all walks of life feel at ease and genuinely enjoyed hearing about their lives. She had enormous empathy, was never judgmental and understood the challenges of life. She had a tremendous sense of humour, could see humour in difficult situations and could laugh at herself. Jean was also a gracious and welcoming host, and a foodie before there were foodies. She was a remarkable cook and baker and was capable of producing a gourmet meal without all the required ingredients, a skill she honed while at the Hospital for Sick Kids preparing meals for diabetic children. When her husband moved into Deer Lodge Hospital, she left the family home behind and made Lions Place on Portage Avenue her home, because it was on the best bus route to visit him, and a whole new community opened up to her. Even while visiting her husband almost every day until he passed away, and for all the years until her passing, she made friends with the residents, with the management and with the staff, on an equal basis, particularly Rose, who she called her new daughter. She was a voracious reader of all types of books and was a progressive and independent thinker. She actively followed world affairs, politics and sports and always had an opinion. She could discuss equally in detail her opinions of the performance of the Canadian Prime Minister, the US President or the Blue Bombers on any given day. Throughout her long and remarkable life, Jean always maintained a positive and forward looking attitude. She had the wisdom of age without showing her age and to her last day was active and engaged, was grateful for the happy life she had, had a better memory than her children, maintained her sense of humour and, with her faith, was never afraid of her mortality. Few could ask for more. A Memorial Service celebrating Jean's life will be held at St. Andrew's River Heights United Church, 255 Oak St. on Thursday, August 3 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choosing. The family would like to thank Dr. Perry Gall as well as the physicians, nurses and allied health care professionals on GH3 and GH5 at the Health Sciences Centre, for the outstanding care that she received over the past few months.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 15, 2017