FLORENCE FRANCES MARTIN

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FLORENCE FRANCES MARTIN Our beloved Fran the Gran has at last found peace. She died in her sleep early in the morning of October 12 at Victoria Hospital, her indomitable spirit and incredible will finally succumbing peacefully and without pain to the illnesses against which shed so long struggled. Like Anne a red-haired child of Prince Edward Island, Florence Frances Saunders was born in Charlottetown in 1923. It was there at a dance two decades later that she met Nick Martin, a young Royal Air Force pilot in training from Jarrow-on-Tyne, England. Amidst warfare, years of separation and what for a time was feared to be Nicks death in combat, their love survived and flourished. Showing the spunk and independent spirit that Fran carried throughout her entire life, she sailed alone to England, where she and Nick were married in 1947. In 1952, they gave our family their greatest gift: their decision to emigrate to Canada. Through years of moves among Toronto, Montreal and her cherished house in Georgetown, Ont., Fran remained utterly devoted to her family. When serious illness struck, first with a massive stroke in 1975 and then heart disease in 1990, her will to not only survive, but to live independently and in control of her own life, grew ever stronger. Fran was transformed in 1988 by the arrival of grandson Christopher and in 1991 by granddaughter Gillian. She revelled in her new role as Fran the Gran and doted on her grandchildren; her love for her family brought her to Winnipeg to be close to us for the last ten years, yet as illness mounted upon illness, Fran was resolute in her determination to live independently. Three years ago this month, shingles struck Fran, bringing excruciating pain that lingered until her death. Yet even then, she insisted on living alone in her own home, and even after a critical illness at last forced her to enter Victoria Hospital last March, Fran clung tenaciously to the hope that she would one day return to her own home. Fran showed us all that we should cherish our good health and live life to the fullest while we are so blessed. Fran was predeceased by husband Nick Martin and by brother Charles "Buddy" Saunders. She will be forever lovingly remembered by son Nick Martin and daughter-in-law Lyn Ferguson and her adored grandchildren, Chris Ferguson-Martin and Gillian Ferguson-Martin of Winnipeg; by her sister Dorothy McAllister and brother-in-law Arnold of Toronto; by her extended family in Winnipeg; Lyns parents, Bob and Margaret Ferguson; Lyns sister Marnie Ferguson; husband Dave Skidmore and children, Graeme Schwindt and Maddie Skidmore and by Lyns brother Rob Ferguson. Our very special and grateful thanks to Dr. Karen Boyd and nurse Linda Bull and to all the medical staff of Victoria Hospital, especially the nurses and health care workers of the fifth floor where Fran spent her final months. Through double shifts and seven-day weeks, their loving care and unwavering dedication brought peace to her years of pain and support to our family that mere adjectives can never adequately describe. Our gratitude goes also to the staff of the day program at Riverview Hospital, who so brightened the last two years of her life and to the Victorian Order of Nurses and Home Care. We will celebrate Frans life on Tuesday, October 17, the day that would have been her 77th birthday, at 11:00 a.m. at Neil Bardal Inc., 984 Portage Ave., at Aubrey Street, with Father Gerry Ward presiding. Interment will follow at a future date in Georgetown, Ont., where Fran will lie beside her husband Nick. In lieu of flowers, we hope you will consider a donation to the University of Manitoba department of medical microbiology, directed specifically to Dr. Fred Aokis research into shingles pain. NEIL BARDAL INC. 949-2200

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 14, 2000