Obituary of Lillian Mayo

BIOGRAPHY MAYO - Lillian Doreen passed away at the Lloydminster Hospital on December 25, 2009 at the age of 69. The funeral service was conducted from the Southridge Community Church, Lloydminster, with Pastor Lois Greenlay Burwash officiating. Interment of the ashes will be held privately at a later date. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd. administered the funeral arrangements. Honorary pallbearers were all those who shared in Doreen's life. The eulogy was prepared by her family and presented by Pastor Burwash. EULOGY Lillian Doreen Mayo was born on September 16, 1940 to John and Charlotte Howes in Wainwright, Alberta. She had an older brother, David Howes awaiting her arrival. Doreen lost her mother quite early on in life, at the age of 3. At that time, her and her brother moved to Ontario to be raised by their Aunt Grace and Uncle Mervin. She spoke highly of Grace and Mervin and always looked forward to any correspondence with them. When Doreen was 12 years old, the two siblings came back to Lone Rock, Saskatchewan to join a new family, consisting of a mother, Margaret, brothers Larry and Robert and a sister, Lynn. She had a great time growing up in Lone Rock. Seeing an old friend or neighbor from her childhood brought a huge smile to her face as they reminisced the good old days. Her sister recalls Doreen being able to remember words to almost any song and had many songbooks to practise with. It must have been then that her love of music had started. On November 21, 1964, at the age of 24, Doreen married Vernon Mayo from Paradise Valley. The couple resided in P.V. Donald was born in 1965, Michael in 1968 and then Charlotte in 1973. Shortly after the family lost Michael in 1978, Doreen and Charlotte moved on to live in Lloydminster. Doreen became a very active and dedicated volunteer to many organizations. Girl Guides was her pride and joy. Known as Granny Owl, she took care and guide many girls in this community. She enjoyed every activity whether it was down at the hall or out camping at Dilberry Lake. Girl Guide cookie season just won't be the same without her. She volunteered with the Lloydminster Interval Home, both with the Good Food Box program and often as a babysitter. If you ever stopped at the Grace United Church fair booth during events at the grounds, Doreen may have served you popcorn or a cold drink. She often spent a few weeks each summer out at Camp Whitney in the kitchen, once again, spending time with kids. Here at Southridge Community Church, Doreen spent many hours in the nursery with the young ones, dreaming of the day she would have grandchildren of her own. In October of 1995, Don and Lenny were married and her hopes of being a grandmother were getting stronger. Little did we know that Charlotte would give her the first grandchild. Charlotte had a son named Michael in March 1996. Doreen spent countless hours with Charlotte and Michael. He was the apple of her eye from that time forward. The next grandkids to come were Don and Lenny's girls; Megan born in 1999, Lindsay in 2001 and Brenna in 2004. In August of 2007, Charlotte was married to Greg Demchuk from St. Paul, where they still reside. Over the next few years, you could find Doreen at any or all of the grandkids activities. There were bowling tournaments for Michael, slo-pitch for Greg and Charlotte, figure skating carnivals, hockey games, school activities for the Mayo girls. She loved watching Don curl and was happy to see Don get back to playing hockey. Doreen and Lenny bowled in the same Thursday morning league for many years. Her time was spent either driving to St. Paul or down to the farm at P.V. All these events certainly won't be the same without her, either. The thing that seemed to make Doreen happiest was the ability to drive. She could have been employed as a taxi cab driver here in Lloydminster. She must have known every back street in the city. She absolutely loved taking people where they needed to be. It was something she could do for her friends and enjoyed the company. Having her car also gave her the freedom to be with her kids and grandkids when she wanted to be. Doreen was fond of music and loved to dance. She attended many Minus One dances and more recently the dances held at the Legacy Center. She didn't care who she danced with, just as long as she got to dance the whole night. That's when you got to see her most enthusiastic smile, she would just giggle with joy. At home, she was an avid reader and an obsessed Oiler fan. She would make it through a book faster than you could blink an eye. And as for the Oiler schedule, just ask Doreen, she'd know when and where. The love of the Oiler team is something that she's passed onto her grandson, Michael. Her time spent at the Knox Manor was enjoyable. She seemed more settled there than she ever had before. The residents took her under their wings and treated her extremely well. She loved to partake in the activities there; card parties, various games, musical entertainment, Doreen loved it all. Our family celebrated her 65th birthday party there with her. She was so proud of her cake that portrayed a bowling lane with the ball smashing up the pins. At that time, Doreen was bowling up to 4 or 5 times a week. The achievements she racked up were amazing. She kept busy traveling to her own tournaments as well. The lanes won't see another bowler quite like Doreen. Her little hop, a punch in the air and a "yeow" after her strikes will never be forgotten. Many of you here can picture that celebration ritual. She never missed a high five, either, and if you forgot. . . she tracked you down. Doreen was a happy soul and loved her friends as her family. Our family thanks you for being here to honor this lady. She was a special lady, as we all know. Mom. . .we will miss your jovial smiles and your "love you's" at the end of our phone calls, the joy we saw in your face when giving to others, the shouts of joy at sporting events and your hugs of praise after a job well done. Your generous, loving heart will never go forgotten. May you rest in peace and wait our next meeting. We know that God has a special place for you. At this time, we would like to thank all those who attended mom's funeral service. Thank you Pastor Lois for your kind, supportive words and the beautiful service for our mom. Thanks to organist Irene Knowlson for your time and talent also, Uncle Larry Rowbottom for your special prayer during the service. A special thank you to mom's fellow Girl Guides for directing us to a dear song and leading us with the singing of it. To the Paradise Valley United Church families for preparing an amazing lunch, we can always count on you. To Glenn and the staff at McCaw Funeral Services, we truly appreciated your prompt, compassionate and professional services, especially through the Christmas season. Now, to our family and friends, there are never enough words to express our appreciation. The love and support we have received through mom's passing has been heartfelt. Thank you for the many phone calls, cards, flowers, visits, food, and gift certificates or monetary donations to honor mom's memory. We could not get through these times without you all. Dear Norma and Cathy, we will never forget what you have done for being there with Charlotte and mom. In lieu of thank you cards, we will be donating to various charitable organizations. The Mayo Family Don and Lenny Mayo Megan, Lindsay and Brenna Charlotte and Greg Demchuk Michael Donations in memory of Doreen may be made to the charity of the donors choice.