DR. BERNADINE ROE (RESTALL)

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DR. BERNADINE ROE (RESTALL) It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, Dr. Bernadine Roe on August 3, 2001. She was predeceased by her parents John and Viola Roe, and her husband John Hunter Restall, Q.C. in 1983. She is survived by her sons, Sidney (Gigi), Ian (Leah), Frank (Lorrie) daughter Bernadine (Brian) and grandchildren, Sheilah, Sean, John and William. Born in the St. Johns district of Winnipeg on September 30, 1920, she attended Machray Public School and St. Johns High School. Following her graduation in 1937 she was awarded an Isbister Scholarship, which facilitated her attendance at the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Science. Subsequently, in 1943, she was one of only four women accepted into the Faculty of Medicine that year and graduated in 1945 with her Doctorate of Medicine. Thereafter, she attained the professional designation of Certified Specialist in Anaesthesia, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1950. In 1972 she became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. When only 23, she enlisted in the Canadian Womens Army Corps, was commissioned as a captain in the Medical Corps in 1945 and thereafter became the Chief Medical Officer escorting war bride trains across Canada. Her medical practice in Winnipeg included the Well Baby Clinics from 1947 to 1950. She was a member of the Winnipeg General Hospital Anaesthesia Department 1948 to 1949 and Department Head of Winnipeg Childrens Hospital Anaesthesia Department 1949 to 1954. In addition, Bernadine was lecturer in Anaesthesia at the Childrens Hospital School of Nursing from 1949 to 1954 and maintained a private practice in Anaesthesia at the Winnipeg General, St. Boniface and Deer Lodge Veterans Hospitals from 1954 to 1961. In her area of specialization, she had numerous publications. Although her professional achievements were legion, Bernadine was most devoted to her family. In 1955 she married John Hunter Restall, a Winnipeg lawyer. In 1961 although entering into the peak of her career, she made a conscious decision to shed all of that in favour of raising and nurturing her young family and caring for her aging parents. To a dedicated academic and skilled professional woman this decision, one might have thought, would have been difficult, but to Bernadine in her own quiet way this was a natural and welcomed step, which she never regretted. Caring for her children and loved ones became her life and their happiness was paramount. Her sense of humour, her shy smile, her incredible strength of purpose were but a few of her characteristics which, over the years, found their way into her childrens lives. In addition, she was an attentive, unpretentious and genuinely kind and loving daughter, wife, mother and grandmother and shall be missed by her family and by her many, many friends who knew her fine qualities and appreciated the oft seen twinkle in her eye. Bernadine was also a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church, of which her father was the original building contractor. In that congregation she was active as a member of the church council and D.W.Y.C. as well as being a Sunday school teacher and a leader of Explorers and Wolf Clubs. She was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, West Kildonan Branch, a board member of the Middlechurch Home and a member of the Scandinavian Centre. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 155 Bannerman Ave. Interment will follow at St. Johns Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bernadines name to the Tabernacle Baptist Church. NEIL BARDAL INC. 949-2200

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 08, 2001