LEAH MARY FOSTER (YULE) -

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LEAH MARY FOSTER (nee YULE) 1929 - 2003 Peacefully on December 27, 2003 Mary Foster passed away at The Convalescent Home of Winnipeg. She will always be lovingly remembered by her husband Bill; daughters, Leah Barnlund (Greg) and Elaine Foster; grandchildren, Matthew, Ellyn, Jovette, Michael and Shane; great-grandson Logan; sister Ruth Ballance; and brothers, Leslie (Isabel), Lorne (Delaine), Jim (Alice) and Grant (Jean) and sister-in-law Alma Yule; brother-in-law Bob Gradidge; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Stuart and Maryanne Yule; brother Merlin; and sisters, Lillian Yule, Winona Gradidge and Muriel Cherry; and brother-in-law Keith Ballance. Mary was born in Killarney, MB on November 3, 1929, the 2nd youngest of 10 sisters and brothers. She grew up in a warm and loving family and throughout her life loved to relate the many happy memories she had of her childhood years on the farm. Her love for her brothers and sisters never waned. She mentioned throughout her life that she always missed her own mother. After getting her teaching certificate, Mary taught at several country schools. She married Bill in August, 1953, and her daughters were born in 1957 and 1962. After moving into their home in Fort Garry in 1961, Mary worked at the Cottage Bakery for a number of years. Although she did not resume her teaching career, she eventually worked for many years as a secretary of Agassiz Drive School until it closed in 1985. It was shortly thereafter, due to an unfortunate illness, that she was unable to continue working. When we were young, Mom loved to go camping and many happy times were spent sitting around a campfire at Pelican Lake near her childhood home, or swimming in Killarney Lake. She loved to travel and was able to visit many places in Canada and the United States, as well as Hawaii and Bahamas. Sadly, she was never able to travel to Scotland and England where she so much wanted to go. Because Mom was an avid reader herself and spent many hours reading to us when we were young, she instilled a great love of reading in us. She loved to go for walks and bike rides and loved nothing better than to go to a dance, or pick out a tune on our old piano and get us to sing along. She always loved a good movie or a visit with family and friends. Although her lifs path took a different direction after 1985, her strong will and the love and support of her family carried her through many tough times. Even with her physical limitations, she attended instructional classes at the Taoist Tai Chi Society located very near her home. She met many kind people there and she persevered and became quite adept at Tai Chi. It brought her some peace and she would often spend time practicing the movements in her back yard or down the back lane at the playground. She liked nothing better than to laugh and we will always remember her lovely smile, beautiful eyes and loving heart. We can now remember the happy times. She will be missed. The family would like to express their sincere thanks to all the staff of The Convalescent Home of Winnipeg who lovingly cared for and took an interest in Mary during the last year of her life. As well, we would also like to thank Dr. Ramgoolam for his kind and compassionate care. Cremation has taken place and a Memorial service, interment and reception will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Convalescent Home of Winnipeg, 276 Hugo Street North, Winnipeg, MB, R3M 2N6. GARRY MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME, CEMETERY & CREMATION CENTRE 1291 McGillivray Blvd - 925-1120

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 10, 2004