Obituary of Lillian Gibbings

Gibbings: Mrs. Lillian “Lily” Gibbings passed away in the University of Alberta Hospital on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at the age of 83. She leaves to mourn her passing: two sons: Stewart (Pat) Gibbings of Kaslo, BC; Barry (Leona) Gibbings of Cardston, AB; one daughter: Tammy (Rick) Watt of Lloydminster, SK; six grandchildren: Stephen (Shannon) Gibbings, Jennifer (Todd Cullum) Gibbings, Melanie (Cam) Moore, Tyler Watt, Brennan Watt and Corey Watt. Seven great-grandchildren: Christa, Raelle and Caleb Moore; Casey, Aidan, Leah and Natasha Gibbings; one brother: Harry (Cecelia) Pohl; three sisters: Vida Smith, Viola Krall and Ella Ko and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She was predeceased by an infant son Barry Stewart in 1941 and her husband Stan in 1980. A Celebration of life was held on July 10, 2006 at 1:00 P.M. at the Legacy Centre, Lloydminster, AB. The eulogy was read by grandsons, Stephen Gibbings and Tyler Watt and great-grandchildren, Christa, Casey and Aidan sang “On Eagle’s Wings” accompanied by Shannon Gibbings. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy Written by Tammy Watt On the old homestead north of Maidstone, SK about 3/4 mile from the North Saskatchewan river Lily was born to Fred and Rosie Pohl, Romanian emigrants, on November 19, 1922. She was the fourth child of eight born into the Pohl family. She learned responsibility at an early age which she carried throughout her whole life. She often talked about how times were tough for their big family. There certainly wasn’t money for any extras but she said that they always had enough to eat and if they got anything extra it was usually at Christmas time. She told us many stories of growing up in the Eldon district mostly of what her and her brother Harry had done. They hunted for birds nests to find eggs. She laughed about how her and Harry would carry an axe with them and any trees they couldn’t climb they would cut down. They harnessed gophers with binder twine, four abreast, hooked them to a plough made from a tin can and watched them pull as hard as they could. Mom went to school at the Eldon school and couldn’t speak a word of English when she first started, all she knew was German. She quickly learned the English language and really liked going to school. She said she especially loved to learn about history. Grandma would shoo Mom and Uncle Harry off to church on Sunday mornings and they would walk across the field to the Shiloh Church. I have often tried to imagine how that must have looked. Two little blonde haired children sitting amongst a whole congregation of Negro people, watching with big eyes as they sang and worshipped. Mom loved how the Negro people sang and how they would harmonize with each other. Rick and I took Lily to the rededication of the Shiloh church a few years ago and she saw some of her old school mates there. That was a really exciting day for her. When she was 13 years of age the Pohl family moved to the Burling District, east of Maidstone. She had completed grade 8 by this time and it was time for her to start working. Her first job was babysitting for the teacher of the Burling school. She went on to work at many jobs around Maidstone and Waseca, some pleasant and some not so pleasant. With the little bit of money that she would earn she would order a new dress and a new pair of shoes to wear to a dance in Maidstone or some other special event. When she was seventeen she went to work for a farmer in the Madresfield district. Graham Davidson, I believe. Stanley, her future husband, was working for the Tuckwood family and they met at a Sunday afternoon baseball game when he offered her his coat because she was cold. She told me about this when she was in the hospital and she also said, “your Dad was no baseball player.” They courted for a while and then married on December 7, 1940. Mom was interviewed by the Army around this time as they were very interested in her becoming an interpreter because she could understand and speak German, but she was expecting and couldn’t go. In 1941 their first son, Barry Stewart was born. He died soon after birth. Stewart was born on October 22, 1942 and Barry was born on August 11, 1946. These were very hard times too because of the war and recovering from the depression. She took a lot of pride in her family and never let these hard times come between her and her family. She always said that she never ever wanted her kids to be hungry or cold. She also told me about how she loved to cook for the threshing crews that would come in the fall and she loved to see the men eat a good meal and she always made sure that there was lots to eat and always a pie for dessert. In July of 1946 their crop froze out so they decided to move to Lloydminster. Dad found work at the Kodiak refinery. They built their first new house in 1952 on 54A Street. They developed many long lasting friendships living in Lloydminster. I remember hearing stories of Mom and Dad going to the Prince Charles hotel on a Saturday night with friends and on to a house party. It always sounded like they had a really good time. I was born on April 29, 1960. I’m sure this upset the whole household. Mom couldn’t even attend Stewart’s high school graduation because she was in the hospital having me! Mom went to work for George Matheson at his grocery store. It was here that she fell in love with the work that she did so much that she wanted a grocery store of her own. Dad and her drove all over looking for the perfect little store to buy and finally found one in Marshall, Sk in 1963. They operated Gibbings’ Shop-Rite until 1978. She worked long, hard hours in the store while Dad still worked at the Husky refinery. She took great pride in serving her customers in Marshall and the surrounding district. Mom and Dad decided to retire from the store and they sold their business. They purchased a home in Marshall and decided to do what they wanted to do. Dad passed away in July of 1980. Mom was devastated! At 57 years old, this certainly wasn’t the way she had expected to spend her retirement. Mom was very determined to pick up the pieces and she needed something to keep her busy. She took a part-time job making salads at KFC for a short while. She then moved on to Weaver Park Grocery and worked there until she retired. She was living in Lloydminster by this time and my son Tyler was born in 1986. She helped me out tremendously raising Tyler. “Grandma and I had a Tuesday routine of going to swimming lessons then to McDonald’s for a bite, and renting Terminator 2 and just enjoying the day together” said Tyler. Her life became focussed on Tyler and I and she made sure that she helped out as much as she possibly could. Brennen and Corey came along soon after Rick and I were married and she told us “well don’t expect me to babysit.” Who was over at the house whenever we needed her???? She offered her advice only when she thought it was needed. She loved spending time with her grandchildren. She always wanted to know if the kids had said or done anything cute. She was very proud of their accomplishments and always encouraged them. She came to endless basketball games, always cheering Tyler and his team mates on. Christmas was always a time that Mom celebrated with zeal. She loved giving gifts but I really think she liked receiving much better! She would get really excited about Christmas morning and get quite upset when we weren’t there to pick her up when she though we should be there. Last year we were a little late in getting out of bed, the kids weren’t even up yet, and she phoned about 7:45, “Isn’t anyone coming to pick me up?” She always worried bout the Christmas baking about October and she would always make lots of butter tarts and cookies that everyone loved. Mom moved into Fellowship Village in July of 1997. She loved her apartment there and the people that lived there. She always looked forward to the potluck suppers, bingo’s and the entertainment that followed. She loved going to Zellers and having coffee and a smoke with her friends. It was at Zellers that she could hang out with her friends and have a few good laughs and tell all her friends about all the little things her grandchildren had done. She would phone me and tell me” We sure had fun at Zellers today” I knew exactly what that meant. A few good friends and lots of laughs! Lily had the ability to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger and I’m sure that some of those perfect strangers consider themselves a friend of Mom’s today. Mom and I had what you could call a normal mother-daughter relationship. We didn’t always get along but we always knew that we would be there for each other. I could always phone her for advice on some matter that had happened during the day or sometimes it was Mom ... how come my gravy won’t thicken??? She always had an answer. I asked Tyler, Brennen and Corey to add some things that came to mind when remembering Gramma ... She loved to go to Zellers to have coffee and visit with her friends. She made the best butter tarts. Loved watching the Dennis the Menace movie with us boys. She was the first one up on Xmas morning. She always said she loved us to the sky and back a million times. Whenever Gramma was babysitting and we were getting tired and cranky, she would get us to lie down and she would rub our feet and legs to make us feel better. She always said she was very proud of us for doing good in school, or whatever else we were involved in. When mom was in the hospital in Edmonton and I knew the end was coming near for her I was thinking about all the things I wanted to say about my Mom. I had a really hard time because I really felt a little frustrated about trying to summarize her 83 years into a couple of pages. I wanted to say that she was very proud woman. She was proud of who she was and her humble beginnings growing up in a poor family that had nothing. She was proud of where she was raised, on the Saskatchewan prairie. She was very proud of the man that she married. She was very proud of her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was proud of the way she lived, an honest, down-to-earth, hard working woman. Card of Thanks The family of Lily Gibbings would like to thank the Doctors and nursing staff of the Lloydminster Hospital and U of A Hospital for your professional medical care that Mom received while a patient in both hospitals. We would also like to thank all those who offered support in the way of phone calls, visits, flowers, cards, gifts of food, baking and donations that were made in memory of Mom, and to everyone who attended her Celebration of Life. Thank you to Glenn McCaw and all the staff at McCaw Funeral Service for making things a little easier at such a hard time. Thank you to the Legacy Centre for providing a lovely facility where we could gather and visit and remember our Mother. Thank you to Kashuba Catering for providing a delicious lunch. Stewart & Pat Gibbings Barry & Leona Gibbings and Family Tammy & Rick Watt & Family