MARY SCOBIE SMITH MACLEOD (COOK) (VICKERS) -

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MARY SCOBIE SMITH MACLEOD (COOK) (nee VICKERS) 1914 - 2014 On April 1, 2014, at Sunnywood Manor in Pine Falls, we held our beloved mum as she left this world. Mum was predeceased by her sister Marion (1916), her parents, Thomas (1964) and Mary (1984) Vickers, our dad, Cece Cook (1974), her precious granddaughter, Lisa Mitchell (2005), her second husband, Bill MacLeod (2008), and too recently, her son-in-law, Paul Pelland (March 17, 2014). Left to cherish her memory are her beloved daughters, Jean Pelland and Roberta Mitchell (Les), her stepchildren, Sandy MacLeod (Maija) and Bonnie Lenton (Paul) and their families, her treasured grandchildren, Jeremy and Brieanne Pelland and Scott Mitchell (Lauren), and her great-grandson, Aaron Mitchell. Although our mum had been living and partly living for several years, we were still able to kiss her sweet face and enjoy her feisty nature. Mum's long life spoiled us. We felt like she would be with us forever, and we will miss her with our whole hearts. Our mum was born in the first year of the First World War in Greenway, Manitoba. Our grandparents instilled in her a deep appreciation for family and a love of learning which lasted her whole life. Greenway was an excellent place to grow up, and we cherish the stories of Rose, Clara, Wilma, and June, dances at the community centre, adventures with Mum's collie, Prim, and the unique individuals who populated the Greenway area. Mum was educated in a one room school house in Greenway and then in Baldur. She moved to Winnipeg and boarded at St. Mary's Academy (SMA), graduating from high school in 1931 and earning her B.A., majoring in Latin, in 1936. We enjoyed many entertaining stories of Mum's escapades with her girlfriends at SMA and her love of the sisters, especially Sister Isadore and Sister Mary Judith. It must have been predestined that Mum would marry a Catholic; education at a Catholic school certainly came in handy when teaching her little girls all our Catholic prayers and Latin hymns! Our Mum's love of learning led to a long, illustrious career in teaching. She spoke fondly about her first teaching assignment in Glenlea and how much she enjoyed doing new things with the young people of this small community. In 1941, she was awarded a principal's certificate for one room high schools. She taught in Ericksdale where she met her lifelong friend, Enid Gibbings, and finally in Melita before coming to teach in Pine Falls in 1943. She taught until 1949 when she married our dad. Mum stayed home while we were little, believing her most important teaching would take place with us. She returned to teach English and history half time in 1958, retiring in 1973. Mum was strict and an excellent and passionate teacher. Her students respected and loved her, and many returned to visit and thank her over the course of her life. During her years in Pine Falls, Mum was a vibrant member of the community, involved in many community organizations; above all was her commitment to the United Church Women's Auxiliary and choir. How our mum loved to sing in that beautiful soprano voice of hers! She also recognized the importance of fitness long before it was popular; we have many fond memories of our mum golfing, leading exercise classes, and cross country skiing in her pink snowsuit well into her 80s. It is difficult to describe our mum's tremendous impact on us. When we were little, she taught us to say I love you and give thanks to God each day. We learned that playing was as important as learning and that stories and music opened the doors of imagination. As we grew, she impressed us with her sense of style; we can each picture a favourite dress and have vivid memories of red lipstick and nails and high heeled shoes. We learned that friendship and laughter are important and that the baking was only for Mrs. Frayne and the bridge ladies. We developed our thirst for travel on holidays to Minot, Clear Lake, Banff, Vancouver Island, and Disneyland. Mum imparted knowledge of and pride in our heritage and an appreciation for poetry and good literature. When our grandma came to live with us, we realized how important it is to love our parents unconditionally. We saw that love every day is vital; our mum and dad never left the house without a kiss. During our teenage years, our mum was the best listener and healer of broken hearts. As adults, we were blessed to have her as our friend and confidante. As parents, we experienced the joy of hearing the sweetest grandma in the world make up bedtime stories about Chico, Jumpy and Twinky for her lucky grandchildren. We learned that love can happen more than once when Mum and Bill married. And most importantly, we learned that love is unconditional and that the weakest and most vulnerable among us is deserving of love and happiness, too. To those nurses and health care workers at Sunnywood who respected and cared for Mum over the years in both her sweetest and most challenging moments, our heartfelt thanks. To those of you who treated the three of us with such gentleness and compassion during her last days, we will never forget. Kindness and understanding are virtues we learned from our wonderful mother. A celebration of Mum's life will take place at the Pine Falls United Church on Thursday, April 17, the day we lost our dad 40 years ago, at 11:00 a.m., with Rev. Wayne Larstone officiating. Interment will follow at a later date. Flowers gratefully declined. Donations may be made in Mum's memory to the UCW, c/o Pine Falls United Church, Box 597, Pine Falls, MB R0E 1M0, or a charity of your choice. In a letter our mum wrote, we found this statement: "The love of a mother runs the gamut of sacrifice, pain, concern, devotion, loyalty, courage, understanding, protection, and yes, even indulgence." Thank you, dearest mum, for loving us so well and so long. SOBERING FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORIUM, Beausejour 204-268-3510 or MB Toll Free 1-877-776-2220 www.soberingfuneralchapel.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 12, 2014