CLAIRE PARSONS

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CLAIRE PARSONS

On March 2, 2022, our beloved mother and grandmother, Claire Parsons passed away peacefully in the early morning.
Claire is predeceased by her husband Ernest Parsons and her parents, Gabriel and Kirsten Odland (Skretting), as well siblings Guri (Opstad), Theodore Odland, Mary (Storfie), Esther (Boguski), Josephine (Miller), Laura (McIntyre), Agnes Odland and Alice Odland.
Claire is survived by her sister Helen (Jesse) and Claire's children: James, Donald, Barbara and Raymond. Grandchildren: Therman, Olivia, Matthew, Charlotte, Victoria, Llewellyn, Samuel, Daniel, Bethany, Benjamin, as well as great-grandchildren.
Claire's parents immigrated from Varhaug, Norway in 1915. Claire was the fifth of ten children and born on November 14, 1924 at their farm near Coalhurst, Alberta.
She was introduced to the Bible when some of her older sisters learned about Jehovah at school and brought home the Bible's Kingdom message that Claire enjoyed.
In 1939, Claire left their farm at age 14 with the other siblings during a severe drought that also hit southern Alberta called the "dust bowl". They were also coping with a collapsed world economy known as the Great Depression. During these hard times mom found work at a bakery in the nearby City of Lethbridge. In 1939, Wolfe & Goodie Johnson also lived in Lethbridge and they wanted mom to stay with them. They trained her in the door to door ministry and she served in the local congregation as a full time minister. Claire and her friend Esther Obie taught others about the Bible's Kingdom message on a full time bases for 6 years in the Lethbridge area. Claire had many fond memories of this time in her life with the Johnson family, the congregation and her friend Ester Obie.
In 1945, Ernest Parsons left Banff and eventually made his way to Lethbridge, where he saw bicyclists carrying bibles and there he met Claire. They married on December 23, 1946 in Calgary, Alberta. They moved to Victoria, BC where dad started working for the Fuller Brush company and became the regional manager for Western Canada. During this time, they had children, James, Donald, Barbara and Raymond. In 1967, dad was given the job of checking the viability of various Fuller Brush offices in Canada and Claire supported his work by helping move the family annually within Canada. In 1972, dad was finally transferred to Winnipeg while the Fuller family were selling their company so Fuller gave Ernie their industrial sales office on Pacific Ave to manage until he retired in 1985.
After moving to Winnipeg in 1972, mom learned that Wolfe Johnson lived here and was now a widower in his 90s so Claire faithfully went regularly to clean Wolfe's house and visit while he told me (Ray) stories. I learned Wolfe and Goodie were like parents to mom and how important it was for mom that she care for his needs.
I also remember mom taking me in the door to door ministry close to our home on Machray Ave in the mid 1970s. Most every household expected her visit, greeted her by name, she taught them about the Bible and its Kingdom message and gave them Bible literature. I was young and took this for granted but have never seen anything like it since. From 1972 to 2005, mom had many fond memories working in the ministry with friends Elsie Martin, Lottie Stoiber, Helen Little, Elsie Kohut and grandchildren. After 2005 at 80 years of age, they moved from their Machray home and she regularly worked in the ministry with dad.
Claire strongly believed in love for God and neighbour, this was reflected in her way of life and ministry.

Your love for doing Jehovah's
will continues, we miss and
love you so much mom.

Our family would like to thank River East Care Home and staff for the years of loving care and attention.
A memorial will be held on Saturday, March 19, 2022 by means of a web service.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 09, 2022