Kathleen GEORGISON

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GEORGISON: Kathleen Ann. Lucky. It’s how she described herself. Kathleen Ann Georgison’s luck began when she was born to James and Kathleen Taylor on March 28, 1938 in Aberdeen, Scotland. She blazed into this world with a strong, hardy Scottish spirit and a huge passion for living life to the utmost. It was that spirit that would carry her through her life’s journey and help her conquer the many challenges she would face along the way. Kathleen spent her youth in Scotland, and whether it was climbing lampposts outside her Grandma’s house with her brother Brian and the local boys, or climbing mountains in the Scottish Highlands with her many friends, nothing was going stop her from doing what she set out to do. As a teenager, Kathleen attended and boarded at Albyn School for Girls in Aberdeen with her sister Sandra. She considered herself one very lucky pupil, for she received a first-rate education that would become the foundation for the rest of her life. At school, she also developed her love of sports and the outdoors, and learned to play tennis and field hockey for the first time. She was a tenacious opponent with one goal in mind – to win! She also leveraged her gift of the gab, and received top honours at the European Youth Forum Public Speaking competition in Bristol, England, where she remarked upon winning ‘I don’t always have the last word’. (But we all know better!) After school, Kathleen was not about to settle down just yet and follow the popular path for women during that time - becoming a wife and mother. She had other plans first – to put her education to use and become a modern woman with a career. She studied to be a lab technologist in Aberdeen, but her sense of adventure pulled her further afield where a job waited for her in a small Prairie town in Canada. Kathleen said goodbye to her life in Scotland, and boarded a ship bound for Canada. She arrived in Brandon, Manitoba in the middle of February. Although she wondered at the time what was she thinking - in retrospect, she said it was the best move she ever made. For when she arrived in Brandon, not only did she have a great job and new friends, she met the man she would marry. In March 1963, in her home town of Aberdeen, Kathleen married Ted Georgison, a successful entrepreneur, and they settled in Brandon where they had three children, Kjirsten, Paul and Peter. Although Ted would be diagnosed with MS, a disease that he suffered with for many years, Kathleen felt so lucky to have met the man of her dreams and have such an amazing family and friends. Ted died in 1988, but Kathleen’s luck was with her again, when she got a second chance at love with a kind, gentle Englishman named John Welsted. Together with John, his two children, Alison and Ian, and Kathleen’s children, they made up ‘The Georgi-steds’. Once John retired from his job as Professor of Geography at Brandon University, he and Kathleen made another lucky move in 2002 – this time to Victoria, B.C. Victoria was the perfect choice for Kathleen and John. Both of British descent, their dreams of living near the sea once again, were fulfilled. Kathleen and John’s house in the hills of Colwood became their greatest pleasure, and they spent many hours sitting on their deck, raising a glass to their happy life surrounded by ocean and mountain views. Over the years, ‘The Georgi-steds’ grew with the addition of Alison’s husband, Geoff, and the births of their much-loved grandsons, Gareth and Oliver. In 2007, one of Kathleen’s greatest dreams was realized, the birth of a granddaughter, Hayley. Kathleen and John made so many friends in Victoria, and were involved in so many sports activities and social groups, it’s hard to believe that they found the time to travel to all of the exotic places they dreamed of – but they did – and her sense of adventure never diminished. Despite being the dictionary definition of ‘healthy’ – Kathleen was a marathon runner, skier, tennis player, hiker, cyclist, dragon-boater, aerobics instructor, walking group leader, the list goes on - she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in January 2009. It was a huge blow to everyone, but she was a force to be reckoned with, and true to her Scottish spirit, when it came to this and all the other challenges in her life, she faced it head on. She refused to be defined by her disease, and carried on living life as normally as she possibly could. While going through chemo, she started running again and playing tennis. And, of course, she wasn’t about to miss any social gathering. Unfortunately, when she was finally pronounced in remission in August 2009, Kathleen’s beloved husband, John, was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease - a disease that would take him from her far too quickly, one month later, on September 21, 2009. Her many, many amazing friends and family rallied around her to give her the support she would need to get through yet another challenge, as the cancer had returned. As her luck would have it, though, Kathleen underwent a successful treatment that bought her more time, and allowed her spend lots of quality time with her family and friends over the last few months of her life. She was even able to take a vacation with her daughter to Scotland and England, where they drove over 3,000 kms, and met up with her sister, Sandra and her husband, Richard in Aberdeen. The two sisters were able to enjoy their hometown together one last time.Her last summer was spent enjoying the fine West Coast weather, red wine on her deck, many activities with her friends and hosting two separate week-long vacations with her children and grandchildren at her home. Her strong Scottish spirit persevered, and she determinedly lived her life to the fullest right up until the last moment. She died quickly and peacefully surrounded by her entire family and friends.She truly was lucky.

As published in Brandon Sun on Sep 28, 2010