ARVILLA GABRIELLE BROWN (CAMPBELL)

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ARVILLA GABRIELLE BROWN (nee CAMPBELL) Arvilla Brown passed away peacefully at Victoria General Hospital, at the age of 93, on April 5, 2014. She was born on a farm near Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan to James and Nina (Bingham) Campbell on May 16, 1920. Mom was the youngest of five children, all predeceased. Mom used to love to tell about riding her pony to school, and her love for horses never abated; she had a cherished collection of china ponies. Just after the Second World War started, she and Dad found themselves in Winnipeg. They had met at a local barn dance (Dad was from Colfax, Saskatchewan, a little hamlet down the road from Yellowgrass) and on June 28, 1941 Roy William Brown married Mom, with her sister Geraldine and brother-in-law Doug Clark as witnesses, and Lloyd C. Stinson (CCF leader in Manitoba from 1953 to 1960) officiating. Dad had been attending R.C.A.F. Wireless School before being shipped off to England. So began Mom's four year sojourn as a newly married bride during the War. We know that during that time she lived on Victor Street and was a hairdresser by profession. With Dad's return from the War, they spent a couple of years in Kamsack, Saskatchewan. Dad was a salesman for Marshall Wells and his territory covered an area up to and including The Pas, Manitoba. In 1950 they moved to Winnipeg and bought their first home, and had their first child, Murray, just in time for the Great Flood of 1950 to arrive. In 1954 a second son, Warren, was born and the family moved to a location in River Heights where Mom stayed right until last week. Warren passed in 2008. Her boys were her life. With Dad on the road basically Monday morning to Thursday night, Mom was the precursor to the "single Mom". Murray and Warren were both involved with Cubs and Boy Scouts, and Mom was there as a leader. She was always involved with how well (or otherwise) they did at school, and attended every concert or musical. She had impeccable penmanship and Murray well remembers hours and hours of drawing circles over and over to get the "feel" of how to write properly. All the while the other kids were out riding bikes or playing ball! Arvilla was a staunch supporter of the Liberal Party, both provincially and federally. The marriage by Lloyd Stinson might have been happenstance, but we doubt it. For years, she would go out at every election and canvass door to door for people's names to place on the election list. So tirelessly did she work that on one occasion, when not feeling well, she was found on a street corner two blocks from her house, she had collapsed. Amongst her prized possessions was a signed glossy photo of Pierre Trudeau. As a teenager, a young Scottish roustabout cum politician was preaching in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Weyburn is a metropolis that folks from Yellowgrass and Colfax and other local communities would flock to for shopping and church. Mom had often spoken of her meetings with Tommy Douglas and while she never became a member of the Calvary Baptist Church, she was a strong member of the United Church. Mom also thanked Tommy Douglas for universal health care every time the subject came up in conversation. Her cautionary words were "You have no idea what it's like not to be able to pay for a doctor". Mom was an avid gardener, spending winter months pouring through seed catalogues and waiting until she could get into her flower beds and vegetable garden. Every fall the kitchen would steam up with the roaster bubbling away with upside-down canning jars sterilizing, being readied for pickles, beets and beans. The crabapple tree was carefully nurtured so that it would yield its annual harvest of apples for jelly. She tried her hand at several sports: curling with womens' leagues, cross country skiing, swimming. She appreciated art and took oil painting lessons, with some of her works proudly hanging in her living room. Traveling and desiring a sense of new locations was a "natural" for Mom. After the Trans-Canada Highway was punched through east of Winnipeg and Manitoba's Whiteshell Provincial Forest came to being, every weekend was spent camping at West Hawk Lake, Falcon Lake, Nutimik, and other favourite locations. Summer vacations were two to three week junkets traveling by car across Canada and the USA. In later years she traveled without Dad to Europe, and to Vancouver, Kelowna, the Maritimes and Ottawa by Greyhound. The last years hadn't been overly kind to Mom. She broke a hip, recovered, and stayed at home, all to the chagrin of her family. She was determined to stay in her house right to the end. It was only in the last two weeks that she had finally agreed to move to an interim retirement community facility pending finding a nursing home. On the Thursday before her passing, her breathing was faltering due to an insufferable cough, and she was made comfortable at Victoria General where she passed into the hands of God. Mom is survived by her son Murray (Leona), grandchildren Christopher (Christine), Heather (Jason), great-grandson Casey (Chris and Christine) as well as many nieces and nephews across Canada and in the USA. Cremation has taken place. A close family memorial service will be held this summer when granddaughter Heather returns from Bangkok. We extend our sincere thanks to Michael Malabre of Bridging Solutions, Dawn Bathie and her staff from Age in Place Caregiving Services Inc., Dr. Villeneuve and the nursing staff at Victoria General Hospital Floor 4S for your caring hearts. You all went above and beyond for Mom and the family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a charity of your choice. NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 12, 2014