Obituary of Heather Mitchell

B I O G R A P H Y MITCHELL: Heather Ann Mitchell of The Lloydminster District passed away on Saturday, August 28, 2004 at the age of 17 years. She was born on November 1, 1986 in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Heather is survived by her loving parents Jim and Loretta Mitchell, two brothers: Jesse and Christopher and by numerous other relatives. Heather is predeceased by her paternal grandparents, Bill & Evelyn Mitchell in 1997, Uncle Tom Turner in 1991 and maternal grandfather Eugene Weichler in 1989. The funeral service was conducted from The First Baptist Church, Lloydminster on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 at 2:00 P.M. with Pastor Ted Haas officiating. The eulogy was given by Ellen Mitchell. The soloist Charlene Alexander sang “One Day At A Time”. The hymn sung was “How Great Thou Art”. The organist was Ruth Knispel. The pallbearers were: Peter Weichler, Jason Branham, Ian Mitchell, Al Mitchell, Kirby Hayes, Ryan Rowland and Stephanie Whelan. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd. of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy as given by Ellen Mitchell Heather’s parents Jim and Loretta along with her brothers Jesse and Christopher would like to thank you all for coming here today to share with them the sorrow of having lost their darling daughter and sister and to celebrate with them the life of the beautiful child they christened Heather Ann Mitchell but whom her Dad affectionately referred to as “Beenie”. Heather was born in Lloydminster on Saturday November 1, 1986 just before 4:00 p.m. She was the first child of Jim and Loretta. When she was just over two along came her first brother Jesse whom she adored because - well firstly because he adored her. When he was little no matter what he was playing or doing if Heather called him he would jump up and say “Hevver needs me” and off he’d toddle to do her bidding. In 1993 the family was rounded out with the arrival of Heather’s youngest brother Christopher whom she loved equally as much as Jesse. Heather attended Kindergarten and Grade One in Lone Rock and then moved onto Queen Elizabeth and E.S. Laird in Lloydminster for the rest of her elementary and junior high schooling. She graduated from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School with honours in June 2004 and had been going onto Mount Royal College in Calgary this week to take a Broadcasting Course. Sadly Heather left us far too soon on August 28, 2004 at the age of 17. She is surrounded here today by her parents, brothers, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who all wish to bid her the fondest farewell. I first met Heather at the ranch when she was six years old. She had shoulder length blonde hair and the bluest of eyes. They were that crystal blue that you can’t help but notice from across a room. In 1994 Heather was the flower girl when her Uncle Ian and I got married. The day of the wedding was the first time I was truly responsible for Heather as her “Aunt”. Early that morning we went to get our hair done. Heather sat in the chair and told the lady exactly how she would like her hair put up “please and thank you”. There was no discussion as to what would look best or what I thought she should get done - she just simply stated that she wanted it put up and on the side - end of discussion. Then it was off to get makeup. I hadn’t even considered letting a little girl of that age get makeup done so I told Heather that she’d have to just wait quietly on one of the stools while my sisters and I did ours. She didn’t argue or pout or even comment about this but as I’m sitting there I hear this 7 year old little imp of a child tell the lady at Merle Norman’s that she would like “fuchsia make up please”. The lady tried to tell Heather ever so politely that fuchsia was way too bright a colour, simply not suitable for a child her age and definitely not appropriate for the wedding pictures. I sat there and listened while Heather just simply informed her that she liked fuchsia, that it did look good on her and she wanted to wear it for the wedding. This discussion went on for a few minutes until the sales lady turned to me looking for support in refusing this child and that is what I was going to do when I heard Heather say to her agin - just a very little defiantly - “I’d like Fuchsia - “PLEASE” and I caved. Heather got to wear the fuchsia makeup and she even got to take the lip gloss home with her. I teased Heather many times over the years about her strong will and the fuchsia makeup. It was an ongoing joke between us and whenever she was being obstinate and didn’t want to give in on something I would remind her about the fuchsia makeup. This single moment in time defined for me who Heather was. She didn’t cry, pout or beg to get her way. Negotiation was not an option. She knew what she wanted and politely but firmly let us know. It didn’t matter if it was fuchsia makeup, courses she wanted to take or not take at school, or what time she should come home. Heather didn’t do anything halfheartedly. She didn’t hesitate and she didn’t apologize for who she was and what she wanted. Even when events or people didn’t treat her exactly as she would have liked she simply cocked her head up, dug in her heels, smiled and moved on. Heather’s birthday is November 1st. Loretta told me that she went into labour three weeks early just before midnight on Halloween. It didn’t start slow and easy but with one great big “YOW”. She felt that Heather was saying “Hey, there’s a party going on and I don’t want to miss it.” Halloween was a holiday Heather took exceptional joy in. Christmas, Easter, Valentines were all wonderful but Halloween - now that was her special holiday because hey guess what the next day brought - November 1st and HEATHER’S BIRTHDAY! She loved decorating the house and dressing up to go trick or treating. She loved the Halloween parties at Nunebor. When she got too grown up to go out she absolutely had to be there to greet the kids and see the costumes and give out the candies. Lots of candies on the 31st and then presents on the 1st followed by her favourite - ICE CREAM CAKE - who could ask for anything more. People will often ask you to think of one word to describe a person and try as I might I cannot limit Heather to any one word description. She was: Determined - She did whatever it took to succeed at a task she felt mattered. She practised and practised till she mastered baking cinnamon and dinner buns - her pride and joy. Ornery - Sometime I think she loved to push her Mom’s buttons by doing or saying something just to see the facial reactions. She cared about what her parents, teachers and family thought and said but she simply knew what she wanted and how she was going to get there. In a hurry - She wanted to be grown up yesterday not tomorrow. She came into this world three weeks early and tried to squeeze everything in that she could. She could always picture herself doing the “next thing”. Flamboyant - She could dance around the kitchen in a ballet outfit and look like she thought she was dancing on clouds. She could stand on top of the hill at her special spot with her arms stretched out and it looked like she was ready to touch the sky or take off and fly. She wore her cowboy boots under her grad gown just because she wanted to - even though her mother said “Heather>>>>”. She loved Escada perfume for its wonderful smell and its outrageous price. She loved cheerleading in Junior High but thought she was a tomboy as well. Invincible - She thought she could handle any situation. She didn’t like to be told what she couldn’t or shouldn’t do. Automotive and shop were her favourite courses - probably because it was different from what lots of others wanted to do. She was giving, loving and forgiving. She gave her time to others by volunteering at Relay for Life, Eco Club, The telethon and Interval home collection drives. Heather refused to compromise to fit in with kids her age and it hurt when they sometimes couldn’t accept her for who she was - but she was a forgiving person and chose not to hold onto that. She loved her Mother tremendously and was Daddy’s little girl - always. At an early age she would bring every broken toy to him and say “Daddy Fix” and this carried on to every flat tire, dent or scrape she got. Heather loved horses, dogs and dolphins. She loved country music and Shakespeare. One of her favourite songs was The Dance and a favourite play was Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dancing gave her great joy and happiness especially performing in the Nut Cracker this past year. The trips she took to California, Mexico, Bahamas and Disney World with the dance studio kids and her mom were highlights of her high school years. She enjoyed tap, jazz, hiphop and ballet. The accident happened before she was able to find out that she had just received her Grade 8 Ballet Certificate - something she had really worked hard to achieve and would have been proud of. Heather worked at Zellers, the summer fair ticket booth, and as a clown for promotional days at businesses in Lloydminster. Last summer and again this summer she worked for Precision Oilfield Construction and she was in seventh heaven. Driving that packer on drilling locations was something that Heather was so very very proud of and excited about. She liked that she just could do it and loved to talk about it. It didn’t hurt either that she could torment her mother night after night by talking “shop” with her dad about people and things on location that Loretta had no chance of knowing anything about. They got a chuckle watching Mom throw up her arms and say well I might as well go to bed if that’s all you’re going to talk about. The love of Heather’s life was a car - well not just any car - it was a Mustang named Eleanor. Lots of teenagers download their favourite music - Heather downloaded pictures of cars, cool trucks, hot rods but mainly - Mustangs. Family and traditions were especially important and treasured by Heather. The visit to BC last Christmas to see her grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins and the snowboarding in the mountains that they did was something that she really treasured. Every year on the May 24th weekend she would help us work cows. Just this past May she was helping and stepped in some cow you know what In trying to clean it off she ended up smearing it all over herself. Her cousin Stephanie was so busy bugging Heather about the mess she was in that she failed to notice a cow in the chute swinging her tail and Stephanie got quite the mouthful herself. I guess Heather got the last laugh out of that one. Another tradition that Jim, Loretta and the kids had that Heather enjoyed immensely was to go on the first day of spring to a “spring” on their land to welcome in the new season. They would have a picnic and play by the water filling jars and pouring them out. On the back of the memorial pamphlet is a poem she wrote entitled “Heather”. I would now like to share with you a second poem she wrote entitled “I AM” I Am I am a dancer who loves life. I wonder if I am telekenetic I hear the wind whisper my name. I see a horse flying across the sunset. I want everything. I am a dancer who loves life. I pretend that I can fly. I feel the air soar through my hair. I touch the tallest tree top. I worry that I’ll fail. I cry when I see a living thing suffer. I am a dancer who loves life. I understand that we all need dreams. I say, do what you can. I try to be a better person. I hope that I will succeed. I am a dancer who loves life. Heather Mitchell 9A English, Miss Dahlseide Friday, June 1, 2001 Heather, your Mom, Dad, Jesse and Chris are so glad to have had this last week with you enjoying simple things like watching Hidalog and shopping for your new laptop computer. They will truly miss seeing you with the cell phone attached to your ear while running to answer the house phone - just in case you might miss a call from one of your friends. We hope and pray that your little cousin Tristan is right and you are up in heaven right now driving your mustang on the clouds. God Bless you and keep you safe and happy Beenie. Card of Thanks The family of Heather Mitchell would like to give thanks to our family and many caring friends during this most sorrowful time. Your prayers and support have been very comforting. Special thanks to Pastor Ted Haas for your words of comfort, Pastor Ben Dewbury for your message to the youth, Charlene Alexander for your beautiful singing, Ellen Mitchell for the wonderful tribute to Heather, Ruth Knispel as our organist, and our pallbearers. Special thanks to Dale, Glenn and Dave McCaw for your compassion and sincere professionalism. Thanks also to the First Baptist Church and the ladies of the church who served lunch. Thanks to Constable Trevor Prosser and Shirley Laibida for having to do a difficult job. Thank you to Shane Kachur, Leander and Liz Hebig who were first at the scene of the accident. Thanks to all who sent flowers, food, phone calls, visits, cards and donations in memory of Heather. They are all appreciated. In lieu of sending personal thank you a donation will be made to Big Brothers/Sisters in Heathers memory.