Obituary of Janet King

Janet King passed away at the Lloydminster Hospital on Friday, December 26, 2014 at the age of 80 years. Janet leaves to mourn her passing: her loving husband, Charles; daughter, Lorraine (Gil); son, Stephen (Mariellis); daughter-in-law, Jackie; six grandchildren: Michael, Cara Jane, Alana, Lauren, Shelby, Aislyn; sister, Betty; brother, Benny; brother, John; and sister, Mary; as well as numerous other relatives. Janet was predeceased by her son, Anthony; and brothers, Willie and Joe. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Alana. I know Janet as my grandmother, and she has, and continues to, play a strong role in my life as a mentor, a role model, and a source of strength and continuous support. It's only been a couple of weeks since Janet's passing, and we all miss her dearly. Although I feel her absence in my life, I can also see the many ways in which she is still here. It's clear to see the positive impact she had on those around her, with her sense of humor, compassionate heart, and the strength she brought to challenging situations. These traits will always be remembered and felt by the many people whose lives she touched. I see Janet in her grandchildren- In Michael through his passion for cooking and ability to make others laugh, in Cara through her leadership abilities in mentoring and teaching gymnastics to children, in Lauren through her kindness to strangers and compassionate ways, in Aislyn through her love of nature and her free spirit, and in Shelby through her pursuit of nursing and taking care of others. I see Janet in her children, in my mom, Lorraine who has strength through adversity, a kindness towards others, and like my grandma, a wide circle of friends. In my Uncle Anthony, I saw her in his creativity, tenderness and individuality, and in my Uncle Stephen in his internal strength, passion to travel and thrill for adventure. There are 3 main characteristics that were fundamental to who Janet was that I hope to share with you today. The first was her love of adventure and ability to take on a challenge. My grandma was not a stranger to difficult times or challenging situations. Immigrating to Canada in 1975 from Scotland was one of the adventures she took on with her husband, Charlie, and 3 children. The families brought over by Alberta Government Telephones were dispersed throughout Alberta, and only one was placed in Lloydminster, The Kings. After being dropped off in downtown Lloydminster with no knowledge of Canada, no means of transportation or a place to stay, Charlie was sent immediately on the road to work leaving Janet to forge ahead with 3 children figuring out schooling, currency, and making a new life for her family. After spending a little while staying in a motel, it didn't take long for grandma's good friend, Liz Robinson, to find out there was a new Scottish family in town. She helped Janet find a basement suite to rent while Charlie and her saved up to get a place of their own to call home. After Janet and Charlie settled in Canada, more family members followed. Betty and John, as well as Willy and Anne, along with their own families came to Lloydminster and the Scottish community here grew strong. Many of these adventures and memories Charlie will recount to you. The songs they sang when they were young, the laughs and good times spent with their good friends and the love they shared throughout their lives. Grandma had a wide circle of friends that she kept in touch with from working at The Bay and Zellars for many years after coming to Canada. She enjoyed water aerobics, yoga, and bingo with her friends. She was very active even as she entered her 80s. Her sense of humor never faded, she was always cracking a joke or finding a way to put others at ease by making them smile. When Janet and her sister Betty were together, it was guaranteed to be a great time filled with laughter and hilarious situations. Christina, Janet's great niece said that her favorite memories are of Janet and Betty's fits of laughter, you could say the two of them always found humor in situations, but in a lot of ways humor always found them as well. They shared a special relationship, which is the second characteristic I learned from my grandma; what it means to be a sister. Janet and Betty shared many adventures, whether it was around Lloydminster bargain shopping, across the province to visit family in Grand Prairie and Regina, or all the way back to Scotland. They were always getting into trouble together, whether it was with police dogs on the bus sniffing out their packed ham sandwich lunches, trying to fix broken door knobs so that they would not be blamed, or jumping out of a hot tub after the jets automatically turned on, not realizing that was normal for the hot tub. Betty shared with me the story of the two of them walking around Linda and Rolly's acreage, wearing Rolly's jean jackets and their pajamas with two large buckets of ice cubes, laying the ice on newly planted trees because it was a hot day. Both of them were so focused on moving forward to the next tree they didn't realize the cat had followed them batting the ice cubes away from the trees as they went along. It is that same compassion and care that I see in my own relationship with my sister and I hope that Lauren and I will continue to share adventures like Betty and Janet as we grow old together and be able to laugh at life like they did. Heading home from one of their many trips, their bus broke down in the middle of the highway. After a second bus was sent, it also broke down, delaying passengers six hours. Several passengers, older, but likely younger than them started to panic, worried their family wouldn't know why they had not yet arrived. Janet and Betty had just got their pay as you go phones and had each added $10. They lent their phones out to fellow travelers to call home. By the time they went to try out their new phones to let their own family know what had happened they had ran out of minutes. Betty and Janet both have a strong sense of compassion towards others which is the third characteristic of my grandma that I wanted to share with you today. This summer when her sister was undergoing a medical procedure at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Janet took the greyhound bus up to Edmonton to see her, with plans to be in the city just long enough to visit and support her before catching a ride back to Lloydminster the same day. When I moved to Simon Fraser University, leaving my life behind in Edmonton to take on a short term job opportunity, Grandma called me every night and sent many care packages. She was always there to show her support for her loved ones. Her kindness extended further than to just her family. On the same bus trip up to see Betty after her surgery, Grandma sat next to a man who did not speak English well. She helped make sure he got off at the bus stop he intended to and shared her sandwich with him and in exchange he gave her an orange. Despite not being able to communicate in a common language, grandma found a way to be helpful and bring light to a stranger's day. I doubt she would have shared this story with me if I wouldn't have commented about how prepared she was for her trip after noticing the orange in her purse. Janet never liked to be the center of attention, and didn't seek to be rewarded for the many acts of kindness she showed to others. She often became friends with different people from all walks of life and the compassion she shared had no boundaries. Anyone who stopped by to visit Janet and Charlie will know how prepared Janet was. If she knew you were coming, what you would expect to be tea and short bread cookies would actually be homemade soup, sandwiches, meat, cheese and crackers, an assortment of fruit, and just when you thought you couldn't eat anymore you could always expect mini cheesecakes or some other kind of sweets. It was hard to resist, Grandma was enthusiastic about this course of the meal, as she had a love for sweets. On your way out the door, especially if you traveling, she would send you home with a care package full of whatever you didn't manage to eat, muffins, kitkats, water, gatorade, and frozen soup. She always made sure others were taken care of before her. When Elmo, a maintenance worker from her apartment building found out about her passing, he recounted the times Janet brought the maintenance workers a cold drink on a hot day. The small children of a newly immigrated family, who lived down the hall also called Janet grandma. They knew to go to her apartment if their mom was not home from work. These are the lessons and characteristics I hope to emulate in my own life that I see in the loved ones closest to my grandma. We will each remember her in our own unique ways, for myself, she will be remembered in a perfect cup of tea, annual Christmas eve pajamas, in the kindness others show me, and that I strive to show others, in homemade lasagna, and out of the blue "thinking of you" hallmark cards. I know even though we all miss Janet that her memory will live on through the stories we each have of her, and the positive influence she had on those around her, whether she had known you for a few hours or an entire life time she found a way to bring light and love to all. Donations in memory of Janet may be made to the Cross Cancer Institute.