Obituary of Erica Dancey

BIOGRAPHY DANCEY ~ Erica Rachel Dancey passed away near Lloydminster, Alberta on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at the age of 18 years. Erica will be sadly missed by her parents: Randy and Brenda Dancey of Lashburn; sister Jessica Dancey of Lashburn; half sisters: Tanya and Marc Lessard of Bonnyville, Alberta, Krystal and Ryan Kalstrom of Bonnyville, Alberta, Nicole and Jesse Mattice of Bonnyville, Alberta; grandmothers: Irene Ducherer of Neilburg, Saskatchewan, Norma Young of Sydney, British Columbia as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. The funeral service was conducted from the Lashburn Community Hall, Lashburn, Saskatchewan on Saturday, March 17 at 11:00 A.M. with Pastor Glenn Gerbrandt officiating. The eulogy was given by Megan Fraser and Jessica Dancey. The special music CD was "Angels Among Us", "In This House" and "Dancing Away With My Heart". The active pallbearers were Tana Nuspl, Jessica Dancey, Kelsie Dallyn, Cally Verhagen, Melissa Gerbrandt, Megan Fraser, Marissa Fraser, and Christine Reinhart. The interment was held in the Lashburn Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. EULOGY Erica Rachel Dancey was born November 6th, 1993 in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. From the moment Erica was born she was a gift to the world. As a young girl Erica was involved in many activities thoughout the community. She figure skated for many years and was a major part of the Lashburn figure skating club. She skated in many competitions, carnivals, and even helped as a program assistant. She participated in tap, baton, and jazz dance. Upon entering high school Erica had a huge involvement in extracurricular programs. She was a singer throughout high school in the junior, intermediate, and senior bands. Erica also played a strong role in leadership while in her last years of high school. She was given the opportunity to travel to Ottawa and Toronto to further her Leadership Education. I was given the opportunity to co-organize a retreat for young girls within our community. Erica was avidly involved in fundraising for not only her graduating class but also for the local Christmas Toy and Food drive. After high school Erica was accepted into her Interior Design program at Lakeland Vermilion. Erica always excelled in the field of art, winning awards for her work in the Remembrance Day poster competition where she played 2nd in provincials. She also received the fine arts award upon graduation from high school. Erica excelled in all her classes in post-secondary. Due to her strong determination and committment she received 2 scholarships in Interior Design. Being neither quiet, nor shy Erica made many close friends and shared special memories with the girls in her program. Erica loved to explore the world, always ready for adventure. Whether traveling to England, Ireland, Wales, Italy, or even a midnight road trip to Lloyd for McDonalds. Upon kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland Erica received "the gift of the gab" although no one would accuse her of being silent before then. Always looking for adventure, Erica was unable to sit still on our vacation to Mexico. Dragging us three girls with her to go swimming, shopping, exploring or most frequently to the snack bar. The first thing people noticed about her was her blonde hair, porcelain skin and her blue self-appointed "after a storm eyes'. Although very beautiful on the outside she was even more beautiful on the inside. She possessed a laugh that could make anyone smile or her silly "eat-the-camera-face" she liked to make in pictures. Erica always prided herself on her sense of style, even though half of her wardrobe often belonged to others. Those closest to her understood the term "Erica-approved", whether it be our hair, make-up, clothes, and especially "shoes". We have been able to share and create many memories with Erica that we would like to share with you now: "The Grad Dress" - Erica had a "vision" of her perfect grad dress. After driving around Edmonton all day, going into at least nine dress shops and about a gallon of coffee later Erica finally found a dress that would be suitable-after many alterations of course. Although mom, Marissa, and Jessica did not see her vision of the dress Erica's stubbornness prevailed and she obtained her dream dress, even though it was typically Erica, over budget. "Bathroom Blues" - The dress ended up being perfect, although it sported about 100 layers of tulle, making going to the washroom a challenge. At Erica's grad we both decided we had to use the washroom. Knowing she would need help holding up her dress we quickly went into the handicap stall. Upon getting Erica settled I stepped back to give her some space, in the process my hair (an elaborate Erica up do) was caught on the jacket hook on the door and I was rendered immobile. Erica still sitting down was unable to move without soiling her dress. So the two of us sat there laughing and screaming for about ten minutes before we were finally able to maneuver our way out and rejoin the party. "Blonde Moment" - Erica was famous for her many blonde moments, fitting because of her hair color. Like the time she was bleaching Marissa's hair blonde, about then minutes in realized she forgot to add the powder bleach into the mix. Or the many times she misunderstood blonde jokes, about five minutes later she would burst out laughing when she finally (sometimes not properly) understood the joke. Erica will always be remembered. She was a shining light among us. The memories she gave us are little gifts, left from her to remind us that we are never alone. We will always call Erica a best-friend, sister, daughter, auntie, cousin, niece, neighbor, girlfriend, classmate, and friend because she will never truly be gone and shall remain alive in our hearts forever. It is clear from today that Erica's love stretched far and wide. She touched the lives of so many. Rest in peace beautiful angel, because you will never be forgotten by those who loved you so much. Written by Jessica Dancey and Megan Fraser CARD OF THANKS Our families would like to send a special thanks to Pastor Glenn Gerbrandt for his wonderful service and the special memories that he shared. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Lashburn & Neilburg communities for the cards, the lovely flowers, generous donations and the special messages that where sent. Thank you to the United Church Ladies for the wonderful lunch and to Abby Road Flowers for the beautiful arrangements. We would also like to thank McCaw Funeral Service for their sincere professionalism and guiding us through a very difficult time. Thank you again. The Dancey & Ducherer Families Donations in memory of Erica may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.