RAE SPEAR (PARKER)

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RAE SPEAR

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of our mother on Wednesday, July 3, 2019 at the Grace Hospice in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Left to celebrate her life are her children, Catherine Moss (Paul Sweatman), Virginia Dennehy (Kerry Dennehy), Ted Spear (Dyan Spear), Nancy Dorman (Jim Dorman) and Cheryl Irwin (David Irwin), her grandchildren, Rory Moss (Brooke Moss), Jesse Moss (Morgan Moss), Tegan Moss (Josh Franken), Jacqueline Spear (Jared Adams), Kailey Spear, Samantha Spear, Lauren Spear, Tina Hogg and Matthew Hogg (Paige Deeney), her great-grandchildren, Asher and Maclean, Dylan and Bowen, Kaiden and Parker, Kelsi, Kayla, Rhys, Kensi and Alicia, Ella and Lila, extended family members and friends, especially long time friend Patricia Matheson.
She was predeceased by her son Robbie Spear and daughter-in-law Cathy Spear, her grandchildren, Kelty Dennehy and Riley Dennehy, and her husband Robert P. Spear.
Barbara Rae Spear (nee Parker) was born in Eston, Saskatchewan on November 11, 1931. Rae moved to Regina where she completed an X-Ray Technician course. In 1952 she started her nursing training at the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH), then left in November 1953 to marry Gordon McDonald (R.C.A.F.) who was killed in a training mission overseas. She returned to WGH to resume her studies in 1954.
Mom was introduced to the man who would become the love of her life, Robert Parrish Spear, by his sister Barbara at Linton Lodge on the Red River.
In the spring of 1955 she was diagnosed with TB, so the bulk of Mom and Dad's courtship took place at the Sanatorium in Ninette, Manitoba where Dad drove to every weekend for an entire year to visit Mom.
After they were married on August 8, 1956 she returned to WGH to complete the last three months of her training and was the first married student to do so at the WGH.
Both Mom and Dad will be remembered as generous hosts and entertained friends, family and associates often at "the cabin" where they enjoyed every summer together until Dad's death in 2014.
As a young woman Mom studied piano and her love of classical music stayed with her for her entire life. She was a regular attendee of both the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Pops and Manitoba Opera in the company of her granddaughter, Jacqueline Spear.
Mom was a parishioner of St. Andrews River Heights United Church and, while caring for six children, was also a member of the Junior League, sat on the board of the YMCA and was president of the Manitoba Heart Foundation.
She was also very active in the the Khartoum Ladies Auxiliary and had the honour of fulfilling the duties of potentate's wife in 1972. Until her death she was an active member of P.E.O. Chapter H, Winnipeg.
Rae will be remembered as a caring and loving friend, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and will be sadly missed.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, July 29 at 2:00 p.m. at Neil Bardal Funeral Centre, 3030 Notre Dame (across from Brookside Cemetery)
In lieu of flowers, donations in Barbara Rae Spear's name may be made to The Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation, Box 35, Whistler, BC V0N 1B9 or to P.E.O. Chapter H, 203-109 Swindon Way, Winnipeg MB R3P 0E3.

NEIL BARDAL
FUNERAL CENTRE
204-949-2200
neilbardalinc.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 06, 2019