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Mable Hedley
(April 12, 1919 - March 9, 2009)
Mable Pauline (Reierstad) Hedley passed away peacefully on Monday, March 9 at the age of 91 years. She was born to loving parents, John and Liva Reierstad on April 12, 1917 at Glen Banner, AB, the second of four children.
Mable leaves to cherish her memory one son Bob (Leona) Hedley, children Kristen, Kelsey, and Kennan; and one daughter Ann (Don) Benkie, children Kevin (Leah Graham), James (Jenny), Lorie (Blaine) Ham and one great granddaughter Ruth Anne Benkie. She is survived by two sisters Minnie Prouty of Armstrong, B.C. and Florence Brower of Medicine...
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Mable Hedley
(April 12, 1919 - March 9, 2009)
Mable Pauline (Reierstad) Hedley passed away peacefully on Monday, March 9 at the age of 91 years. She was born to loving parents, John and Liva Reierstad on April 12, 1917 at Glen Banner, AB, the second of four children.
Mable leaves to cherish her memory one son Bob (Leona) Hedley, children Kristen, Kelsey, and Kennan; and one daughter Ann (Don) Benkie, children Kevin (Leah Graham), James (Jenny), Lorie (Blaine) Ham and one great granddaughter Ruth Anne Benkie. She is survived by two sisters Minnie Prouty of Armstrong, B.C. and Florence Brower of Medicine Hat, AB; sister-in-law Irene Reierstad, as well as six very special and dear nieces, nephews and their spouses. She was predeceased by her loving husband Maddison in 1991, infant daughter Lillian, her parents John and Liva Reierstad, in-laws Ralph and Alice Hedley, brother Clifford, brothers-in-law Ernest Prouty and Lynn Brower.
Mable took most of her schooling at Delayed School, one year at Montreal Street School, and one year at St. Theresa College, Medicine Hat. She took a Secretarial-Bookkeeping Course at Garbutts, Medicine Hat, worked at Cowley, and the Conquerville District before going to work in the Courtney Store, Manyberries in April 1939. She remained there until May 1947, where after many years of long distance courtship married the love of her life Robert Maddison "Matt" Hedley in July, 1947. She moved to Consort and remained there for 56 years. Due to failing health she moved to the Stettler Heritage House until her passing.
Mable loved her garden and it was a place of solace for her. She took an active part in community organizations such as Manyberries WI, Rebekah Lodge, Consort Community Club and was a devoted member of the Anglican Church. A homemaker she was, and loved to do handiwork, to dance and play cards, especially bridge. And dance she did, right up until a couple of years ago. She found great joy in her grandchildren, and celebrated their achievements. A very private person and always saw the positive side of everything. She was an exemplary mother who guided by example.
Mable enjoyed traveling and had great memories of trips to Norway, England, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Figi, Singapore, Europe, California, Arizona, and an Alaskan Cruise, Panama Cruise and many more.
Her failing health due in part to Alzheimer's and mini strokes made her life more difficult but through it all Mable always had a happy, grateful heart. She once said, "I don't know what people do without the Lord!" and "I don't know how people get along without family!" She had both, and considered herself rich indeed. Her kind, gentle spirit and serving heart were a blessing to all who knew her and she will be greatly missed.
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dream and hug them. We will forever miss you. Rest in Peace.
What It Was, That She Was, To Us
A Person Remains A Person Until the End
Even the last day of her life,
We could look into her eyes,
The window to her soul, And see who was really there.
The mother, the Grandma, the woman
That she had previously been.
The life, the love, the laughter
That she had shared with us
A long time ago. Before Alzheimer's Disease Slowly stole her from us, Made her less than she was.
Life goes on for others; Years and years pass by Losing more abilities and conscious thoughts.
She may not have recognized her children,
Yet responded to their voice.
But she still remembered LOVE.
We mourned her passing,
Bit by bit, over many years.
She was not the woman we once knew,
Yet a person still remained.
We loved her,
remembering the past,
And pay tribute to her now.
We remember her now,
For the way that she once was;
A wise and caring person
Who liked to have some fun.
She liked to listen, she gave of herself.
And that is why,
we remember her now.
For we remember, each of us,
With individual and private thoughts,
What it was,
That she was..,
To us.
A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, March 14, 2009 in the St. George's Anglican Church, Stettler with Rev. Jack Schulze officiating. Tributes were given by Kristen Hedley and James Benkie. Musical tributes were performed by the Happy Gang 2 accompanied by Elaine Hennel. Pallbearers were: grandsons, Kennan Hedley, Kevin Benkie, James Benkie and nephews, Barry Prouty, Roy Brouwer and Raymond Reierstad. Honorary Pallbearers were "All the special family and friends who walked into her life and never left her heart." Interment will take place at Lakeroad Cemetery at a later date.
Memorial donations may be made to the Lakeroad Cemetery c/o Parkview Funeral Chapels (1985) Ltd., Box 186, Castor, Alberta T0C 0X0.
Sympathies may be forwarded to the family by signing the guestbook at www.parkviewfuneral home.com
Parkview Funeral Chapels & Crematorium entrusted with the care and arrangements.
Tribute by Kristen Hedley
Over this past week, Kevin Jamie, Lorie, Kelsey, Kennan, and I have been honoured to listen to stories conveyed by our neighbours, friends, and families about the inner strength and grace our Grandma Hedley embodied. As her grandchildren, we are honoured to be the descendants of such a well-respected and highly-esteemed individual. For in a world where you don't get to choose the family you are born into, we all feel blessed to have won the "Grandmother Lottery." Because our Grandma Mable was the self-less, neighbourly, and community-minded woman she was, I am proud to walk into my classroom each day bearing the title of "Miss Hedley". We are honoured that in our community, the Hedley surname is associated with making the world a better place - one smile, laugh, and helping hand at a time. Joan Bousquet, a life-long family friend, said it best, "Mabel was one of my favorite 'Mums' when we were kids! Was she ever cross? Ever without a smile and a warm, sincere laugh just ready to be shared? Did she ever say no when a neighbor, the church, or a friend needed a helping hand - not to my recollection. Mabel was a kind, warm, willing, cheerful, and generous of spirit, beautiful lady - to me as a young girl, teenager, then adult, and to everyone she met. She was a quiet angel among us."
Because Kelsey, Kennan, and I are younger than the Benkie-trio, our memories of a healthy Grandma Hedley are vague. Still, she loved to spoil all six of us, and we'll always associate an endless supply of Ginger-Ale and Ruffles cookies with Grandma and Grandpa Hedley. It was a rare occasion you could catch Grandma cooking in the kitchen. without hearing a tune happily being hummed. We all love to dance (some better than others) and Grandma would be so proud of the rhythm and music that runs through her "little scampies" veins. Our Grandma Hedley was the type of lady that exemplified the phrase, "If I had known Grandkids were this much fun, I would have had them first." (And after some of the tales we've been told of her "little Bobby" and "little Annie", it's definitely understand-able!j) With all the memories that have been recently passed along, we've come to appreciate our Grandma Mable in a new light. She no doubt was a beautiful lady, "And Grandma, if you're listening, I hope you know us Grandkids would have liked to come first too. Then we could have better known you as the strong and spirited lady your friends and neighbours will remember you as.
Tribute by James Benkie
It is an honour to be able to stand before you today to give tribute to an extraordinary woman. The honour though is twofold:
1.) The first honour hinges around memories of Grandma and what Kristen referred to her as "a quiet angel among us". Grandma Hedley was one who was after Gods own heart showing unbelievable inner strength and inner peace, and:
2.) To honour Grandma's legacy. Her legacy runs deep in our family. To stand beside another strong Hedley woman, who shares grandma's inner strength, is extremely comforting to me. More importantly though here today, in the event that I start crying and get weak in the knees, I know Kristen will catch me just as Grandma would have... she was always there to care for us grandkids. Grandma has a special place in all of our hearts. Grandma's passion for life flourishes in all of us.
Grandma was never the centre of the attention... that is what she married Grandpa for!!!! She was extremely modest and often just sat back with her infectious smile and listened to what everyone had to say. She was also usually busy in the kitchen baking and cooking or out in her garden picking vegetables for dinner that evening.
Many of the memories of Grandma Hedley include experiences on the Hedley Farm, her unbelievable cooking and baking, her handiwork, and most of all her passion for the garden.
We took many trips to the Hedley farm. A lot of those trips were during harvest and of course Christmas! Christmas time was the best because it involved grandma's cooking and baking and of course getting spoiled with presents and candy. We will always remember many wonderful meals out in the field during harvest. After we were done playing in the "gigantic" swathes we were delighted when it was dinner time as we could not believe the first class service that Grandma provided. We could not have eaten better at the best restaurants in the country. It was truly the full meal deal.
Grandma loved to cook and bake and she was a great host at all times. Even when she moved into the lodge where she had no kitchen, she was always ready to offer and cater to our every need. Grandma also loved to can everything from saskatoons to crabapples. We remember times when she would come to visit and she would bake and cook until all the freezers were full!
We also remember times when our friends from school would ask us when our grandma was coming to visit because they had never been treated to so much baking and awesome cooking! One of Kevin's friends was invited over for dinner one time when grandma and grandpa were visiting, and when his friend was finished eating his steak Grandma politely offered him another... to which his friend stated "Can I???" as if he had never been allowed or even offered another steak before in his life. Grandma was always so generous.
Grandma loved coconut! She put coconut in everything! Perhaps that is why I am not too fond of it today.
Special Moments
Looking back at all the memories we have shared with grandma, brought us to a few very special moments. In particular...
Grandma would laugh so hard that she would have tears in her eyes...
Being spoiled with gifts every time grandma and grandpa came home from a trip... especially when we saw that it was a wallet because that typically meant that there would be MONEY in it!
Humming...
One special trait that we saw within Grandma was her ability to Humm when she was busy or if she became upset over something....... although now that I think of it the humming may have got louder and longer when Mum was around Grandma!.....but, truthfully, we never, ever heard a harsh word!!!! The humming was NEVER apparent when it was time to leave... as Grandma had the ability to let it go!!!!
When health conditions started to impact Grandma, we understood the best way to get Grandma to say a couple of her more common replies...."I SURE DID", and "IS THAT RIGHT", was to tell her information on what was happening. Things like "Its raining, or snowing"......"the little calves are running around"......"there are lots of flowers now", or even "You used to ride a horse to school".......and the precious thing was the response was always accompanied with her infectious smile.....
Grandma's Legacy
Grandma's legacy and inner strength will be carried forward to the generations to come. Currently, there are four generations - her children Bob and Ann, grandchildren Kevin, James, Lorie, Kristen, Kelsey, and Kennan, and now her great granddaughter Ruth and soon to be great grandchild of Lorie and Blaine.
Grandma's legacy will also be remembered by her faith in God. She was extremely committed to her relationship with God and her endless prayer for her family. Because of this, I would like to finish with a verse from one of Grandma's favorite scriptures:
Psalm 103:17
But the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord are from everlasting to everlasting upon those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, and His righteousness is to their children's children
Thank you Grandma for all your endless prayer and thank you for all of your love and support. T |
