Obituary of Betty Kirkpatrick

BIOGRAPHY KIRKPATRICK ~ Betty Anne Kirkpatrick passed away peacefully in the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre, Lloydminster, Alberta on Sunday, October 31, 2010 at the age of 68 years. Betty Anne will be sadly missed by her husband Roy; her two daughters Kerry and Tim Linsley of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Kelly Kirkpatrick and Todd Solie of Warman, Saskatchewan; her son Todd and Amy Kirkpatrick of Lloydminster; her six grandchildren: Andrew, Matthew, T.J., Brandon, Molly, and Samuel; five brothers: Greg and Barb Davies of Streamstown, Emerson and Kandy Davies of Medicine Hat, Leslie and Sharon Davies of Lloydminster, Kirk and Cathy Davies of Streamstown, Reid Davies of Lloydminster; one sister Marie and Elmer Behm of Lloydminster as well as numerous other relatives. Betty Anne was predeceased by her mother Marion Davies in 1990, her father Jim Davies in 1992, her father-in-law Raymond Kirkpatrick in 1991 and her mother-in-law Pearl Kirkpatrick in 1996. The memorial service was conducted from the Wildrose Pavilion, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Harold Martin officiating. The eulogy was read by Clair Nysetvold. The hymns sung were "Amazing Grace", "Be Thou My Vision" and "Give To Us Laughter" accompanied on the organ by Irene Knowlson. The soloist was Marlene Risling. The interment was held in the Lloydminster City Columbarium. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. EULOGY Betty Anne Kirkpatrick was born on May 31st 1942 at the Lloydminster Hospital to James and Marion Davies of Streamstown, Alberta. Jim and Marion had settled in the area after Jim had homesteaded and broken land for the family. Betty Anne was the second child. Her older brother, Greg, was 3 when Jim and Marion brought Betty Anne home to the farm. Within a few years, she was joined by her siblings: Emerson, Leslie, Marie, Kirk, and Reid. Betty Anne spent many hours with her family, a bond that continued throughout her lifetime. Betty Anne attended grade school at Streamstown, and later high school at Kitscoty. Betty Anne would often talk about how much she enjoyed winter trips to school with her siblings, riding behind the horse and cutter. Betty Anne played many sports. She played competitive softball with the Kitscoty Clippers, the Borderettes, and the Fisher Fireballs. Later she played slo-pitch. She and Roy bowled for a number of years with their close friends George and Elaine Behm. After high school, Betty Anne attended Reeves Business College, then worked at the Lloydminster Hospital. In 1964 Betty Anne married Roy Kirkpatrick. Betty Anne always enjoyed Raymond and Pearl's company, as well as the company of Roy's sister Fay and her husband Ed. Kerry was born in 1965, Kelly in 1967 and Todd in 1975. Betty Anne was the historian of her family. She kept track of contact information, birthdays, newspaper clippings and gossip. It seemed that she always knew what was going on with who and why. No birthday was ever forgotten, and Betty Anne would often surprise her friends with clever and funny cards. It was known that Betty Anne would buy a card months in advance for any particular friend. Betty Anne was very interested in and proud of her family history. She created many family photo albums and even scrapbooked before it became popular. She made 'lifestory' books for her children, parents, and grandparents. Her collection of newspaper clippings are now a part of the Lloydminster Library Archives. The photos from her collection that you saw earlier are tribute not only to her life, but to her organizational skills. She would be thrilled to know that Elvis sang at her funeral. Betty Anne would get all of her siblings and their children together at Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and weddings. When everyone's families got larger, she got as many as she could together for Sunday breakfasts. Whatever the event, it seemed that Betty Anne made the calls to get the people together. A Friday or Saturday night for Betty Anne would include one or two couples invited over for a game of cards, laughter and friendship. Any children in the house were sure to sleep to the sounds of happy people enjoying each other's company. Betty Anne welcomed, with great love, each of her children's partners and her new grandchildren. Kerry and Tim were married in 1990. Andrew was born in 1996, and Matthew in 1998. For both of her grandson's births, Betty Anne went to Yorkton to spend time with Kerry's family. Later, Matthew and Andrew spent many special hours with their Grandma at her cabin at the lake. Todd and Amy married in 2001. In 2006 Molly was born. Finally Betty Anne had a granddaughter to spoil too! Sam was born in 2009. Betty Anne loved having little grandkids around again. Molly loved to ask Grandma for gum, and Grandma always made sure she had gum in her purse to give. Betty Anne always told Todd that he had been named after a fine neighbourhood boy named 'Todd Solie'. 'Todd Solie', Kerry and Kelly had spent much time together living near one another during grade school, but had not stayed in touch since. When Todd Solie became a part of Kelly's life, it then felt like he had been known to the family forever. Along with Todd Solie came two wonderful boys, Brandon and TJ. Betty Anne gained two more grandsons and loved to have a new set of kids to teach games to. They spent many hours together playing spoons and dice games. She looked forward to going to their hockey games and especially going to TJ's swing dancing Christmas concerts. In her purse, Betty Anne always carried a 'brag book' with photos of grandchildren. Family photos were on Betty Anne's walls, mugs, mouse pads, and key chains. Throughout her life, Betty Anne was always happiest playing a game. She organized treasure hunts, and games of charades. She loved to organize a Sunday afternoon tournament. She played bridge with Roy's parents; Tuesday night Kaiser with Elaine, Marlene and Marie; and crib with her brothers. She played just about any game there was to be played: canasta, hand and foot, Trivial Pursuit, Liars Dice, Slang teasers. When she had no one to play against, Betty Anne would play solitaire and do crosswords. Betty Anne loved to play a game with children, and she always treated them like grown-ups. And children loved to play a game with Betty Anne. She wouldn't hesitate to beat the snot out of you, but she also was quick to cheer for you when you won. Kids knew that if they won a game against her they had earned it. The most important thing for Betty Anne was that you played hard but played fair. She didn't play to win but to play a good game. Her brother Greg says, "You never beat Betty Anne, you just had a better game than she did." Betty Anne's favourite sayings during a game were "Lucky Louie" and "Dirty Dora". Between 1978 and 1996 Betty Anne and Roy owned their cabin at Loon Lake. This was a perfect place for friends and family to enjoy one another's company and games. In 2001 Betty Anne and Roy bought a cabin at Turtle Lake. Betty Anne was thrilled when she finally got a "Warsher" and dryer for the new cabin at Turtle. Just like the 'Warsher' at home, it ran every day. The noise of Betty Anne's washing machines, dryers and vacuums were always the background music to the Kirkpatrick's lives. In her 50's Betty Anne fell in love with golf and spent many hours at the Kitscoty course. She played in Arizona and elsewhere, always with friends and family, always loving to compete. No matter if it was a game, a job, or simple household chores, she always worked hard. Wherever she lived, Betty Anne always created and maintained a great garden and spent many hours tending to it. She loved to harvest and cook fresh vegetables. Betty Anne was always fascinated by the weather and commented on it endlessly. At all times, she wanted to know the temperature and forecast. It brought her great joy when car makers began including a display of the outside temperature in the vehicle. When driving with friends and family she would note any increase or decrease in the outside temperature. Betty Anne loved to travel. She had fabulous trips with friends and family: out of town weddings, the lake, Hawaii with Marie, Las Vegas and Arizona with Roy and other couples. Betty Anne had a great sense of humour. Whether it was mailing anonymous letters from all over the world to keep a joke going, or saving cards for years for the right occasion, she loved to laugh and be with others. When her brother reported that he had a leak in his sink, Betty Anne said, "Go ahead. It's your sink." When Todd was in school and had run low on money, Betty Anne told him, "Eat your guitar." When her nephew had forgotten the name of an uncle's girlfriend, she purposely told that nephew the wrong name, and then giggled as the nephew embarrassed himself. Since our families have grown up together, we have so many good memories. Travels to Fort MacMurray, Loon Lake, all the way to Arizona, and many other places in between. Betty Anne, we will especially remember you for huge generosity. My wife Linda has said many times, "There she goes again, thinking of everyone else first and herself last." Loon Lake and the fun times our families had there are a good example. All of those delicious pancakes that you cooked for all of us the whole time we stayed. I remember when I had the pleasure of renting Roy and Betty Anne's farmland. I was not allowed to bring my Lunch. She would always have dinner arranged. She was so organized. That was Betty Anne. Thanks Betty Anne for your unique humor. All those one-liners you could come up with. Linda and I remember golfing in Arizona. I wasn't having a good game again. We were all on the green and I had missed my putt when Betty Anne casually mentioned to me, "That wasn't your best shot, was it?" then laughed and walked away. Years ago two of us guys had rented a bachelor suite in Betty Anne and Roy's basement, and smoke was rolling up the stairwell setting off the alarm. Rather than evicting us, Betty Anne calmly said, "Maybe take the toast out of the toaster." That was Betty Anne. As everyone knows, and as has been said before, Betty Anne was known for being squeaky clean. Whether it be "warshing" clothes, or vacuuming every corner of the house, or picking every weed in her garden, she was a perfectionist. Betty Anne will never be forgotten because the vacuum goes constantly at our house too. I go back to a time when, of all things, the "Warsher" broke down. I took the opportunity to send Betty Anne a sympathy card saying how sorry I was to hear about her "warshing machine". Good fun. Betty Anne, you were a special person in our family. Thanks again for all those good memories, and won't we all remember at one time or another, Betty Anne saying these words: "Oh Roy!". Thank you. Betty Anne Kirkpatrick is survived by five brothers, Greg Davies of Streamstown, AB, Emerson Davies of Medicine Hat AB, Les Davies of Lloydminster AB, Kirk Davies of Streamstown Alberta and Reid Davies of Nelson BC, as well as one sister, Marie Behm of Lloydminster AB. She is also survived by three children, Kerry Linsley of Yorkton, Kelly Kirkpatrick of Warman SK, and Todd Kirkpatrick of Lloydminster, as well as by 6 grandchildren. CARD OF THANKS We would like to thank many people who so kindly and capably took care of Betty Anne during her illness and supported us after her passing. Our appreciation is extended to Dr. Snyman and the staff at the Lloydminster Clinic, the Lloydminster Hospital, and Home Care Services. A special thank you to everyone at the Cross Cancer Institute and the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre who looked after Betty Anne with compassion and professionalism. Our thanks go to Reverend Harold Martin for officiating the memorial service, to Irene Knowlson and Marlene Risling for sharing their musical talents, and to our friend Clair Nysetvold for delivering the eulogy. We appreciate the guidance and assistance we received from Glenn and Joel McCaw and the staff at McCaw Funeral Service. The visits and phone calls, gifts of cards, food, flowers and donations have truly warmed our hearts. With our sincere thanks The Kirkpatrick Families Donations in memory of Betty Anne may be made to the Dr. Cooke Patient Comfort Fund or to the Canadian Cancer Society.