Obituary of Patricia Tenney

Patricia "Pat" Tenney passed away at the Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Monday, November 7, 2016 at the age of 65 years. Pat leaves to mourn her passing: her husband Merle Tenney, her son Robin Tenney and his wife Launa and their 3 children: Keegan, Keshia and Kade Tenney, her son Kurt Tenney and his wife Kareen and their 3 children: Kolby, Kyle and Kirby Tenney, her mother Rene Foster, her brother Grant Foster and his wife Liz, sister Judy Bosch and her husband Wayne, sister Lynne Kennedy, and brother Ross Foster and his wife Bernadette, her brother-in-law Bill Hill, sister-in-law Jean Duncalfe, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and friends. Pat was predeceased by her father Alex Foster, father-in-law and mother-in-law Wilbur and Evelyn Tenney, sistes-in-law Joan Hill and brother-in-law Vern Duncalfe. A Memorial Service will be conducted from Grace United Church, Lloydminster, Alberta on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 2:00 PM. Donations in Pat's memory may be made to the Lloydminster Regional Health Foundation or Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce (Pat Tenney Scholarship Fund). PAT'S EULOGY Patricia Lorraine Tenney was born April 14, 1951 at Prince Alberta, Saskatchewan to parents Alex and Rene Foster. Over the next 11 years she was joined in the family by two sisters, Judith and Lynne and 2 brothers, Grant and Ross. Pat or Patsy as she was known to family and friends spent the early years of her life in a number of small communities, Birch Hills, Ordale, Ruddell, Freemont, Neilburg and Marsden, in which she began many lifelong friendships. She enjoyed and was involved in music, playing the piano and clarinet. She had the uncanny ability to play most any instrument she picked up. Pat’s interests were varied. She enjoyed curling, horse shoes, fishing trips, antiques, reading, gardening, singing, photography, dancing, playing cards and spending time with family and friends. Pat married Merle Tenney on March 2, 1968. After their wedding they moved close to the Tenney family homestead south of Maidstone, Saskatchewan. Their first son Robin was born here. Not long after Robins birth Pat and Merle began a bit of a nomad life. They left the Maidstone community area and became involved in training race horses for Gunn Home Farms and followed the racing circuit. Soon their second son Kurt was born in Edmonton in 1970. Once Robin and Kurt were school age, it was time to quit going to the races and they settled back in the Maidstone community on the Doug Cherry farm where Merle worked as their hired hand. In 1976 Pat, Merle, Robin and Kurt moved to Lloydminster and in 1982 they moved to the current Tenney home on their acreage north of Lloydminster. Pat had many accomplishments in her life and loved to help people and her community. She was a confident woman who successfully completed tasks she undertook. She was very active in the Lloydminster community for more than 35 years. She worked at Esser's Jewelry, was Executive Director of Lloydminster Big Brother and Sisters, Program Counselor at Interval House where many women benefited from Pat’s guidance and the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce from 1998 to 2016 where she was recognized twice in Alberta as the Chamber Executive Director of the year, National Executive Director of the year and the 2016 Saskatchewan Chamber Builder Award recipient. Pat also owned and operated Sunshine DJ Services, her own consulting company Patricia’s Planning & Consulting and Tenney’s Treasures her antique store. In addition she was a founder of the Lloydminster and Area Brain Injury Society (LABIS) serving many years on the Board of Directors, on the Board of the Lloydminster Music Festival, the Onion Lake Business Development Corporation, President of the Lloydminster Jr. B Bandits Hockey Club and is a founding member of the Lloydminster Economic Development Corporation. Pat loved to travel. Merle is not an enthusiastic flyer so most trips were by road. Together Pat and Merle traveled to the Maritimes, across the United States and Canada. Their most recent adventure was to the North West Territories in the spring of this year. Pat also enjoyed collecting antiques and spent many hours searching them out, cleaning them and selling them in her store. In June 2015 Pat was diagnosed with cancer. She took extensive chemo treatments at the Cross Cancer Centre in Edmonton. The treatments were difficult and unfortunately not successful. In September, her cancer was diagnosed as terminal. Mourning Pat’s passing is her family; • Husband Merle • Son Robin, wife Launa children Keegan, Keshia, Kade • Son Kurt, wife Kareen, children Kolby, Kyle, Kirby • Mother Rene Foster • Brother Grant, wife Elizabeth, children Angela, Tyler, Ashley • Sister Judith Bosch, husband Wayne, children Nathan, Jeremy, Andrea, Kirsten • Sister Lynne Kennedy, children Todd, Tamara, Tonya • Brother Ross, wife Bernadette, children Travis, Rita • Sister in-law Jean Duncalfe • Many nieces and nephews Pat was predeceased by Her father Alex Foster Father in-law Wilbur Tenney Mother in-law Evelyn Tenney Sister in-law Joan Hill Brother in-law Vern Duncalfe Pat will be missed by her family, friends and the Lloydminster Business Community and everyone who was fortunate enough to meet her. Robin will miss talking politics with his mother, receiving business and parental advice, travel, sharing life experiences, his mother’s hugs, her listening ear, seeing her love for grandchildren and her wacky but always practical Christmas gifts. Kurt will miss his mom’s home-made bread and butter at Christmas, her advice on any topic from; how to deal with employees, financial advice, how how to make home-made soup, working on volunteer boards and her smile when you walk into her house. Merle whose whole life has evolved around Pat for close to 50 years will deeply miss everything about her. A Tribute To Pat Tenney – Community Builder It is an honor to stand before you today, to share with you the impact that Pat Tenney had on our community which she loved greatly and served selflessly. But first, I would like to express to the family what it was like to work with Pat, Merle’s wife, their mother, grandmother, sister, aunt. My experience, as many of you, came through Pat’s dedication to her role as Executive Director of the Lloydminster chamber. I still remember the first time I met with her, a greenhorn to the Chamber, and she provided me with everything I needed to know about the cooperative, the impact and about being a board member. She took her role seriously but the twinkle in her eye, that mischievous side we sometimes got to see, was never far. Her work ethic was second to none, and during the one year, that I served as Chamber President, and was “technically” her supervisor, I quickly realized that Pat didn’t want to be in the limelight. She wanted the board members, the chamber businesses she worked so hard for, and our community to be the focus of attention. She would quietly orchestrate multiple events, meetings and efforts across the community, making it look easy. Usually smiling and sometimes through gritted teeth – which was maybe when I liked her best! She was truthful and always, acted with integrity. One might think that Pat who was set staunchly in her values, might have avoided modernization, technology and innovation, but not so. Under her guidance the Chamber grew and our community businesses were well supported through her efforts. Pat was passionate about youth, seniors, and everyone in between. She was a champion for the underdog, and ensured that the little details didn’t ever get lost in the big picture of the work she was doing. Most of all though, when I think about Pat, I am amazed and astonished by what I think could be referred to as the ripple effect. She was the catalyst for so many projects in our community that I literally can’t even list them all. An idea would start with someone she talked to, and it would percolate, and before anyone knew it, she had brought together the right people, in the right place, at the right time – to make something right. From fighting drugs, to removing trade barriers because of the border, to crime prevention to leadership development she instilled collaboration and cooperation in our community. Ensuring that people left their individual or corporate agendas at the door of the community service building, and fought for our community so that it was truly a wonderful place to do business, to work, to learn and to play. She brought delegations of community leaders to Regina, and to Edmonton and started people thinking about solutions to our problems instead of more problems to our problems. In many cases, when other people would have given up on an issue, after years without results, Pat persevered, and it is because of that fierce determination, that sparkle in her eye, that we are a better and stronger community in so many ways. Just like a community garden in a way, Pat had a way of planting a seed, and then inspiring people to come together to turn that one seedling into a beautiful fruit of labor. She was modest, humble and never wanted the many accolades she received in her career. But they were well deserved. Because Pat was more than just a doer, she was more than just a deligator. She had this unique ability to bring people together to accomplish something bigger than any one person, organization or business could do alone. Whether it was Business Education Month, Provincial Chamber committees or the Indigenous Partnership, just to name a few, her legacy was instilling that spirit of collaboration into all of us who had the privilege to work with her. We witnessed common sense at its finest, community service at its most selfless level, and a benevolent desire to make life better for others. It is of no small matter that Pat Tenney will be sorely and greatly missed by our community, by her peers and friends, but she would not want us to dwell long on the sadness. Instead, I feel she would rather we fill up that “cup” to the “runneth” over stage, by simply looking around us and remembering the impact she had on the fabric of this community. In fact, she would probably provide us with a well thought out, strategic policy that would ensure we all got back to work, looking around and seeing what needed to be done, to continue what she started, and ensure that her legacy of community building is in each of us that she touched. Pat’s friend, Wendy Plandowski