Bessie Valera MacFarlane

Bess was born on March 16, 1917, at home on the farm near Regent, Manitoba. Her father, Thomas Richard Dial, named her Bessie Valera, and she was the first daughter born into a family of four brothers and one sister.Her dad was 50 years old when she was born – he was born in 1867, the year of Confederation, in Ontario. He named Bess after Eamon de Valera, an Irish patriot, who later became the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland. Her mother, Margaret (Cochrane) Robertson, had 3 sons from her first marriage, and was widowed in 1913, five years before her birth. Her brothers were:

William Wilbert Robertson born April 20, 1908

Ernest Fleming Robertson born July 2, 1912 – named after the nurse who looked after Mom when he was born.

Jack Robertson born September 23, 1913 – six months after his father’s death.

Their father, John Robertson, had suffered for many years from ‘melancholia’ – an old medical term for depression - and had taken his own life. Bess's dad had been hired to work on the farm to keep it going, and he and her Mother then married shortly afterward.

She was baptized at the nearby Kemp farm and old Mrs. Kemp was her godmother. When her sister Ruby was born, Mrs. Kemp was looking after Bess's mother and caught the dreaded influenza that was then a world-wide epidemic after the First World War. All the family got sick at once except Bess and her dad , so he had to look after everyone until they recovered. Sadly, Mrs. Kemp died in their home . She was quarantined and could not return home while sick. Her family was so afraid of catching the influenza from us Bess's dad had to prepare her body and her casket for burial for the Kemp family.

After Bess came -

Ruby Margaret Dial born March 13, 1919– named for her mother

Earl George Dial born February 28, 1923

They were all born in the Robinson house (named after the builder) in the southwestern corner of Manitoba, 16 miles north of the U. S. border. The nearest town north was Elgin, south was Boissevain and west was Deloraine.

Whitewater Lake was nearby, surrounded by alkaline marshes – her dad could shoot geese from the back porch of the house. Bess never returned to see it again until 1989 with daughter Raylene and son-in-law Ray, and found it had been turned into a hunting lodge named The Goose Turd Inn!

Because the Wapaha School was just a quarter-mile east of the farm, the teacher (Margaret Potter) boarded at their house. She took Bess into Grade 1 when she was 5 years old to help her Mom out because she was pregnant with Earl and Ruby was 3. That was o.k. because Bess was nuts about school!

When her Mom delivered Earl at home, Ruby and Bess were sent to the teacher’s house before the birth, and were they ever surprised to find a new baby brother in their Mom’s arms when they returned home the next day – and they wondered “How did he ever get there?” they had never noticed their mom was even pregnant and were never told she was expecting a baby. That’s how things were in those days….kids weren’t told the facts of life.

Later, the family moved to the O’Neill house 3 miles from school. Bess was old enough to drive her little pony Brownie, with Ruby and her in the buggy, back and forth to school until harvest was over, when her brothers would drive them all in the cutter. Eventually the schoolhouse was moved to a farm nearby, and is still used as a shop. Bess still remember the cold Manitoba winters when her Dad would have to shovel a pathway to the barn through snowdrifts taller than herself – and snow that would stay there all winter long.

Life was busy for everyone on the farm – the boys would help their Dad with the seeding, haying, animals and harvesting, and hire out to other farms to make extra money. Their mom milked a Jersey cow, separated the cream and sent it to a Brandon creamery. She kept the cream cold by lowering it in a 3-gallon cream can down the well in a bucket until she had enough for the boys to take to nearby Regent – and then it went by train over 60 miles to Brandon! Their mom also raised turkeys and chickens that she killed and cleaned in the fall, and laid on long boards on the floor to stay cool in the front hall until they were taken to the butcher in Boissevai

Bess's mom and dad’s marriage was more of one of convenience than of love – Dad was 19 years older than her mother. She had married him just after her first husband died to keep her reputation from being damaged by gossip about a single man living with the family – even if he was there as hired help to keep the farm going after John Robertson’s death in 19l3. When Earl was young, they split up and went their separate ways. She never saw her dad again before he died in 1954.

Her mother took the 3 youngest with her to live for a time with her sister Jessie and family in Lancer, Saskatchewan. After returning to Manitoba for the fall harvest of 1927 and their farm auction sale, they then moved west by train to Calgary, arriving there on October 31, 1927, when Bess was 10 years old. They moved into Apartment 106 in the Armour Block on Edmonton Trail N. E., just north of the Langevin Bridge and the Bow River. It was a two-room suite, and crowded with Ernie, Jack, Bess, Ruby, Earl, and their Mom. Wilbert stayed in Manitoba working on a farm and joined them later at another house in Victoria Park, along with their Mom’s common-law husband Albert Northcott. Bess started Grade 6 at Riverside (now called Langevin) School. They stayed there for 5 years, and in 1932 moved into the Victoria Park district at 508-12 Avenue S. E.

Her brothers Jack and Wilbert couldn't’t find work in Calgary, so Jack moved south to Millarville as a farmhand and Wilbert started working in Turner Valley in the oil patch. In the 1930s, it was hard to find work, but times were hard for everyone, so we weren’t any worse off than most people we knew. The rest of them went on relief for 5 years. There was only one bedroom for her Mom, who was not well after suffering a stroke by that time. Over the next few years, she gradually became bed-ridden after a series of strokes and was nursed by Bess's brother Ernie until she was taken to hospital in a coma. Her mom died two weeks later on September 19, 1936 in the Holy Cross Hospital. By then Wilbert had married Isabelle McLeod and had a son named Allan, who was born January 28, 1936, but her mother never got to see her first grandchild. Isabelle and Bess had to buy her a dress at the Silk-o-Lina to bury her in, and Bess thought it was so sad that Mom didn't’ have a chance to wear it when she was alive. They buried her in the Burnsland Cemetery. Bess was 19, Ruby was 17, Earl was 13 and Ernie was 23.

Ernie married Annie Lauder at Christmas in 1936 and she moved in with the family after their mom’s death. They had their first daughter, Shirley Anne, in 1937. Albert Northcott moved to Seebe, Alberta, and eventually re-married. Ruby and Bess moved from there into a room together at Mrs. MacEwan’s on 15th Avenue S.W. She even did their laundry for them too, and mothered us a bit.They did their own cooking and kept an orange box at the window to use as their refrigerator.

By then Bess had finished school and was already working full-time as a waitress at the lunch counter at Princess Drug Store on 8th Avenue and 2nd Street S. E. She made $8.50 per week working from 8 a. m. to 5 p.m. 6 days per week. – over 50 hours a week. Bess couldn't come up with the $100 it took to enter Normal School for teacher training, so she supported Ruby until Ruby quit school to work with Bess at the drugstore. Rent was $10 per month, and they were able to support themselves by both of them eating at home. Their older brothers helped us out when they could. Our youngest brother Earl even sold the Calgary Herald evenings as a newsboy, calling out the news to passersby to help earn his keep with Ernie and Annie. If they caught him at it, he would get really embarrassed! They even managed to buy him a bike with their earnings. He then enlisted in the Air Force at seventeen.

They were young and single, and had many friends, both girlfriends and boyfriends. They enjoyed simple pleasures like walks downtown, or rides with our friends who might get the loan of a car. In the spring of 1937, Bess met a good-looking young man named Dennis MacFarlane. He was blond and had blue eyes and a wonderful smile. Their first date was a dance at Penley’s ballroom. Soon after They fell in love, but couldn't afford to get married right away since Denny helped support his large family of 6 brothers and 4 sisters. His family treated Bess like one of theirs right away, though – Ishe felt so much at home with them. Denny’s mom treated Bess like one of her girls, and she spent a lot of her spare time with them all.

Denny and Bess were able to marry on November 9, 1940, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, and Denny's mom had their wedding dinner at their home. For dinner the MacFarlanes had killed and cooked all of the chickens they kept in the back yard as pets – Denny’s sister Elsie had even given names to them all! All of Bess's family was able to come and celebrate their marriage. Mr. Gibson, owner of Princess Drugs, didn't’t allow married women to work, so Bess had to quit. Their daughter, Raylene Coral, was born on December 4, 1941.

In the meantime, Ruby had met and dated Bert Nagle, whom she married February 8, 1940, when she was almost 21. Bess was a witness to their wedding in Knox United Church. They had a baby boy named Roger on July 13, 1940 and a daughter Gail on October 19, 1942. Two more sons followed later, Norman in 1949 and Larry in 1951.

Bess's brother Jack enlisted during World War II and was sent over to Europe. When he came back, Jack settled in the Millarville area, working on farms. Throughout the war, Wilbert worked in the Turner Valley oilfields. He and Isabelle had three children, Allan, Marlene and Betty. In January, 1951, he died in an oil patch job-site fire near Oyen, Alberta.

After Earl was discharged from the RCAF due to a head injury and returned to Calgary, he moved to Vancouver and then married May Zuk. They had two children, George and Donna, and he worked as a BC Transit driver.

Ernie and Annie had three more daughters – Laurel in July, 1939, Judith Valera in July, 1941 in Calgary, and Heather, born after they, too, moved to Vancouver.

Until the late 50s, Bess stayed at home working as housewife and mother, while Denny supported them as a tinsmith, first with Westeel, and then Industrial Sheet Metal. During the war when Denny was working with Westeel, he built airport hangar doors all across southern Alberta. After the war, he worked for

F. Neilson & Son and Industrial Sheet Metal. Then, while working for Neon Contractors, he designed and built signs such as those for the Four Seasons Hotel (now the Marriott).

By 1959, Bess was working for a catering business for downtown oil company offices like Canadian Fina (later Petro Canada), and then in their company cafeteria for the next 7 years.

Their daughter Raylene married David Holmes on July 23, 1960, when she was 19 years old. She started her first job with MacCosham’s Van Lines and was married for 14 months when she divorced David. By the summer of 1962, she was living in Toronto, Ontario, and married Allan Rainor(Ray) Northcott there on October 11, 1963. They moved back to Calgary three years later, and Bess and Denny's first grandchild, Michelle Joyce, was born on September 1, 1965. Allan Dennis, their second grandchild, was born on March 26, 1967.

In 1967, Bess started working for Canada Post in the Postmaster’s office. For 14 years she was in office administration, working at various jobs such as auditing postal records for corporate clients. It was interesting work, and she really enjoyed it, but when I became 65 in 1982, she was forced to retire as a government employee.

They both loved and played sports all their married life. Denny played and coached in softball leagues until Raylene was fifteen. One of the highlights of their life together was in August, 1952, when Denny coached an all-star Calgary baseball team at the World Softball Tournament in Plainview, Texas. Twenty-five players and their wives toured and played baseball in Plainview, Texas and Greely, Colorado for three weeks – they had a great time!

From the 40s to the 60s, Bess bowled in ladies’ leagues and with Denny in mixed leagues. Later Bess gave up bowling for curling, and joined the Post Office League by the 70s, curling Sunday mornings at the Big 4 Building at the Stampede Grounds and also with the Petroleum Ladies’ League on Thursday evenings. From October to March, Denny curled - first at the Calgary Curling Club and then the North Hill Curling Club. Bess joined the Army and Navy Club, which was a mixed league, playing with Denny at the Calgary Curling Club. In mixed bonspiels Denny skipped and Bess played lead. At one time, Bess was curling four times a week! They won a lot of prizes, too.

Golfing became their favorite sport in the 60s, and they bought a membership to the Turner Valley Golf and Country Club in 1963 for $30 per couple. For over twenty years, they played every weekend until their retirement, and then played during the week, too. They loved the long drive out there, but were able to move a 23-foot trailer onto the site in the late 60s so they could stay out there up to a week at a time. Denny golfed with a handicap of 12, while Bess's was 40, and they never played together unless they were in a tournament once a year or so. Every year for about five years in the late 70s they went to San Diego for a golf tour with four other couples for 2 weeks, and once they went to Kauai, Hawaii, on a golf trip.

Her brother Jack still lived nearby in the Millarville area, and had married Tillie Hargreaves late in his life. He died in March, 1973, and left Bess a portion of his farm. Brothers Ernie and Earl and families all had moved to Vancouver, and they visited them occasionally over the years. Ruby, Bert and family had lived outside Calgary in Bearspaw at their Nag-Way Inn restaurant the since the mid- fifties, and because neither Ruby nor Bess drove, they didn't’t get to see one another as much as they'd like.

Den and Bess enjoyed their retirement years watching their grandchildren grow up, and spent a lot of time with their own family and Denny’s brothers and sisters and their families. During the 80s, Denny started to suffer more from asthma and bronchitis, as he had been a life-long smoker. When his chest and breathing problems worsened, he became dependent on oxygen, and then was hospitalized until he died at 68 on September 25, 1986. He was buried at Queens Park Cemetery.

They had such a good life together – they met a lot of people, made a lot of friends and did a lot of things throughout the years. Bess stayed at their home at 417 – 54 Avenue N. W., which was close to Raylene and her family, and they were a great comfort to Bess. Granddaughter Michelle had married Timothy (Tim) Wagler in April of 1986, and Bess had her first great-grandchild, Michael Dennis, on October 30, 1986, a month after Denny died. A second great-grandson, Scott Timothy, was born November 25, 1987, and a third one, Daniel Wilson, on March 10, 1988. Bess helped Michelle whenever she could with her 3 little boys, and enjoyed watching them grow into fine young men. Grandson Allan married Alana Dunn in 1992, and her fourth great-grandson, Liam Sebastian, was born March 27, 1998. Their marriage did not last, and Bess didn't’t see as much of Liam as she would have like to, as he now has two families since his mother remarried.

Denny’s family has continued to include her in their family get-togethers and she is still very close to them, especially Derry and Norma MacFarlane and their children. There are only 2 surviving of their original family – Derry, the youngest brother, at 72, and Elsie Farano, the oldest sister, at 90. All of Bess's brothers have died, and her sister Ruby died on November 23, 2006, so she is the last remaining in her own family of that generation.

After Denny died, Bess kept on golfing at Turner Valley - Wednesdays with friends on Ladies’ Day, and most weekends. Bess had learned to drive a car when Denny got sick - at 69! She continued staying at the trailer weekends until the late 80s, when she had to move and sell it to make room for a maintenance shed to be built on the golf course property. In 2005, she gave up her membership when she started to have heart problems – the membership had gone up to close to $1000 per year per person by that time.

In January of 2005, Bess was hospitalized three times for heart attacks and angina problems – and was found to have blockages in her arteries too complicated to operate upon safely. It took a long time to get her problems under control with medication, and she needed to change her lifestyle so that she could get nursing assistance whenever she need it. Raylene and her family moved her to The Harbours at Newport Seniors’ Residence in Country Hills, where she lived until she passed away. It took some time for her to adjust to apartment living – she felt like she was living in a hotel! She had angina problems whenever she overexert herself, but otherwise she feel pretty good. She had a scooter so she can go back and forth to the shopping mall and get her Tim Horton’s coffee on her own, but she had to give up driving. Bess kept busy with the activities offered at the Residence, and can go down to the dining room to eat whenever she felt like it.

On November 8, 2008, Bess's beloved daughter Raylene passed away from cancer. This was a terrible blow for Bess. Raylene had been her rock since Den had died. Life after that was never the same for Bess. She carried on but her health was failing and a spark had gone. All her family and friends tried to make her life happy and took her places that she would enjoy. Bess was a favorite aunt and friend. When her time came Bess was ready to go to a new place where she was looking forward to seeing Denny and Raylene.

If anyone ever cared, really cared for someone else it would have to be Bess MacFarlane. She was a warm hearted and well liked individual, and these wonderful traits came easily to her because she was such a sociable and amiable person, someone who was always making certain that those around her had whatever they needed. Bess was a talkative person who was tactful at all times but typically said what she meant. Bless you Bess for being the wonderful person you always were. We loved you and we will always miss you.

Bessie passed away on September 8, 2010 at Chinook Hospice, Calgary. Bessie lived a long and fulfilled life and died of congestive heart failure. She is survived by granddaughter Michelle (Tim) Wagler, grandson Allan Northcott, son-in-law Ray Northcott and 4 great-grandsons: Michael, Scott (Carmen) and Daniel Wagler and Liam Dunn-Northcott. Services were held at Fosters Garden Chapel. Bessie was laid to rest in Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary Alberta.

Grandma

There are so many memories that Tim, the boys and I all have of our Grandma and Great-grandma that we can spend hours reminiscing. When asked to share some of our fond recollections, we all come up with the same thoughts – FOOD! Our family was so lucky to enjoy many meals at her home, and they consisted of the BEST roast beef and gravy, the most amazing, never-fail Yorkshire puddings and her enviable Shepherd’s pie, made with real roast beef. Every Christmas Eve she made Tourtierre, which was madly anticipated, as it was the only time of year they had it - and of course no Christmas dinner was complete without her marshmallow salad.

I remember going to Grandma’s house as a little girl and enjoying ketchup sandwiches. Everyone who knows Grandma knows that ketchup was a staple in her home. Ketchup on bread was no exception!

Michael, Scott and Daniel shared many lunches, both when Grandma was at our house or we went to Grandma’s house, where they ALWAYS had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was everyone’s favourite, for sure, and they say now that they can’t eat that meal without thinking lovingly of their time with her then.

Everyone knew that Grandma was a good old-fashioned cook, and she never let anyone down if they were invited for a meal. The most incredible and wonderful memory of her cooking that our family remembers and will cherish is her scrumptious apple pie. It came to the point where she would bake apple pie as a replacement for birthday cake because it was loved and enjoyed so much. It was a secret recipe and only in the past few years was I given the exact recipe.

Of course there are many other wonderful memories of times shared with Grandma and our family, and many laughs, tears and joys were shared. Tim and I and our family will miss her very much.

Michelle Wagler

Auntie

Auntie Bess was my mother Ruby Nagle’s big sister - her only sister, and our closest relative. When my brother Roger and I were young, we looked forward to her visits because, as Roger said, she was the kind of aunt who drew you close to her with her warmth, and her way of making you feel that you were very special and important to her.

After my family moved out to Bearspaw in the fifties, we saw Auntie and her family mainly on special occasions throughout our lives. Both sisters didn't drive then, and Auntie was involved with her growing family and her sports activities with Uncle Denny. So it wasn’t until after she was widowed in 1986 and had learned to drive that Mom and I began to see much more of her, as Mom was also widowed the year before and had moved into my farm home. We went on holidays together - once to California for my son James and Liz’s wedding, and then a trip back to her own mother and father’s birthplaces near Ottawa that she had never seen. Over this time, my Auntie Bess became a dear and cherished friend to me.

Auntie Bess loved to come out to the farm to visit us, because it reminded her of her childhood on the family farm in Manitoba. She was a marvelous storyteller, and I never tired of listening to her recall names, places and details of her and my mother’s childhood. She used to say to me sometimes, “Who’s going to remember these stories when I’m gone? I think I’ve led an interesting life, and I’d like to pass them on at least to my great-grandchildren.” As her 90th birthday approached in 2007, I proposed to her, “Why don’t I write down as much of your life story as you’ve told me, and see what comes out of it?” She was very pleased with the result, so we made copies for her to give to her family, along with a 90th birthday portrait she had taken.

This autobiography ended in March 2007, and was intended to be a continuing one, but her enthusiasm for the project died when her daughter Raylene was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in November, 2008. Auntie Bess was devastated at the loss of her only child, who had been such an important part of her life. I don’t believe her heart ever was fully back into enjoying life any more, although she took solace in the extended family that surrounded her.

Auntie impressed every generation of her family with her curiosity, enthusiasm, love of life and indomitable spirit. Her grand-niece Andrea recalls – “Auntie B was always so easy to talk to – you could tell her anything and never were left feeling judged. She was much younger in heart than in years”.

As was a person who lived every day of her life to the fullest, she never considered herself old, and had an unquenchable desire to learn new things. Anyone who met her was touched by her ageless spirit and responded to her outgoing nature, good humour and optimism. She never revealed her age if she could help it, yet was proud of surviving for over 90 years living independently. Even with deteriorating health conditions that would have stopped others in their tracks, Auntie rarely talked about them or accepted help. As we would all find out, Auntie would never want to bother you or interrupt your day with a phone call, so you had to call her first. If anyone wanted to check in on her, they had to have a good reason to visit her – like “Auntie, I’m going to Sobey’s for a few groceries, can I get you anything?” or “I’m in the neighbourhood - would you like to go to Tim Horton's for a double-double?”

Auntie was ageless - she never lost her youthful enthusiasm or her desire to enjoy new experiences. She was a radiant, lovely woman of dignity and grace, with a real sense of style. She took great care to always look her best, with carefully coordinated clothing and jewelery, often in her favourite color of pink. When the giant Cross Iron Mills shopping center opened up nearby, she let me talk her into using a wheelchair just so she could see it all!

The past year had been full of challenges as her heart problems increased, resulting in several hospital stays. When her doctor told her he could do no more, she faced the inevitability of dying with courage and acceptance. Auntie wrote in her autobiography at 90 – “I feel I have had a full and interesting life, and am grateful to be able to enjoy my life as much as I do.” She told us all she was ready to join her husband Denny and her daughter Raylene, and said good-bye to each of us in her own way.

I’m so glad I was able to tell her- “Auntie, you’ve left me with a great legacy of happy memories. You’ve been and will continue to be my inspiration, and you’ve set a high standard for me to follow. I want to be just like you when I am 93.”

Gail Nagle Fraser

Dear Auntie Bess,

You are so much more than a Great-Aunt to me. You are my friend. I miss you dearly every day. It was a privilege to spend time with you. You are a role model to me and a constant reminder of how to live this life. I love you.

Her Journey's Just Begun

by Ellen Brenneman

Don't think of her as gone away

her journey's just begun,

life holds so many facets

this earth is only one.

Just think of her as resting

from the sorrows and the tears

in a place of warmth and comfort

where there are no days and years.

Think how she must be wishing

that we could know today

how nothing but our sadness

can really pass away.

And think of her as living

in the hearts of those she touched...

For nothing loved is ever lost

and she is loved so much.

Colleen

My Dear Friend Bess

My friendship with Bess goes back to over fifty years when in the late fifties we were more or less adopted by the MacFarlane family through Norma & Derry. We were included in their family get-togethers and that is where our friendship- with Denny & Bess started. We enjoyed many social events and Saturday night card parties that went well into the wee hours. We lived fairly close to each other on the North Hill.

They were there when our children were born and became their Uncle Denny and Auntie Bess.

We were please when in 1963 they joined the Turner Valley Golf Club of which we were members. We played weekends with them and when our Trailer Park next to the club was set up in the 70’s they were part of it.

They joined the Army & Navy Curling Club League at the time I was president. Saturday afternoons we would get our games finished as soon as possible because the Happy Hour fun time followed. It was great.

We golfed with them during the summer and then curled with them during the winter and also had season tickets to Stage West performances for many years, so we spent a lot of time together and our friendship strengthened.

For many years they came to the Labour Day Kalispell Buffalo Hill Golf Tournament with us, following behind us on the highway, since we always traveled together. It was such a fun weekend and one year Bess was crowned “The Caesar Queen”. I won’t expound on that. It always brought a smile to her face in the later years when that story was told.

In the 1970’s my husband, Al, arranged golf trips to San Diego, four couples in all. We went to a couple of the Padres baseball games which was fun. One year when we stayed at Half Moon Bay we presented Bess with a white tee shirt which we had made up with large black letters spelling HOWARD on the front of it. Because Bess was nicknamed Howard after Howard Cozell whose famous saying was “I tells it like it is”. That was our Bess; she didn't beat around the bush with anything. She wore that shirt out on the golf course and I think raised a few eyebrows because I’m sure people wondered why that nice grey-haired lady was wearing that tee shirt. She was a good sport.

One year when the San Diego courses were flooded we were lucky to get our trip changed to Kauai at the last minute. We stayed at Princeville and played that course. We had two condos and Denny & Bess stayed with us. When we were leaving the airport at Kauai a wind storm came up and we boarded the plane but couldn't find Denny & Bess. Looking out the window, there they were frantically waving and being held back by airport personnel. We immediately found a stewardess (that is what they were called in those days) and told her that those two people waving frantically were part of our party and should be on this plane. She got them aboard. What had happened was the ticket agent that checked them in had put the wrong flight number on their boarding pass.

After Denny passed away Bessie learned to drive so she could continue with her golfing at Turner Valley. She used to drive to my house and then we would go out together. That cut down her driving time. At times our friend, Anne, who lived fairly close to Bess, would pick her up and that saved her the drive. Bess was most appreciative of all we did for her. She rode with me on my cart. I would just say “Bess it’s on the bill”. We always had a chuckle over that. Bess wanted to get a nine and eleven wood and I said I would get it for her because I just happened to know the Adam’s rep and could get them for her wholesale. Which I did and it helped her game a lot. She was able to hit the ball quite a bit better by getting it up higher in the air.

When the time came that Bess realized she was going to have to pack up the game she gave the eleven wood to Anne and the nine wood to me. Now when I take that club out of my bag to hit the ball I always think of Bess, She will always be with me.

Towards the end of her golf days and at the end of one season I decided to make up “The Bill”. I listed all the things that she said I did for her and put a price next to them, and then I listed all the things that she did for me and gave her a credit. At the end of the second page she had a balance owing of one dollar to be paid in American funds because I spend the winters in California. When she received “The Bill” in the mail she just about died laughing....it made her day, she said. Anyway, when I received her annual Christmas card with the little note that she always wrote, inside it was a one dollar American bill and to this day I still have that card with the bill inside and I will treasure it.

During Bess’s final years we stayed in touch by phone and when we were in town taking her to the occasional lunch at Tim Horton’s or just having lunch in her senior dining room.

You may have noticed that I called her Bess and not Bessie and that is because she told me once that she didn't’t want to be called Bessie, she preferred Bess and that is why I have always called her Bess.

Bess was a dear friend, sharp as a tack and a Grand Lady. I will miss her but I will never forget her because we have fifty plus years of memories.

Kathy Johnson

* * * * * * * * * *

MACFARLANE, Bessie V.

It is with profound sadness that the family of Bess MacFarlane announces her passing on Wednesday, September 8, 2010. She is now reunited with her loving husband Dennis (September 25, 1986) and her beautiful daughter Raylene (November 8, 2008). Bessie Dial was born on March 16, 1917 in Regent Manitoba and moved to Calgary as a young girl. She met and married Dennis MacFarlane in 1939. In 1941, they welcomed their only child, Raylene. Bess and Dennis spent many weekends golfing at Turner Valley and met and made many lifelong friends. Many wonderful times were spent at family gatherings and reunions hosted by her dear brother and sister-in-law, Derry and Norma MacFarlane and with Bess’ sister Ruby and her family. Bess is survived by her granddaughter Michelle (Tim) Wagler, grandson Allan Northcott, son-in-law Ray Northcott and 4 great-grandsons: Michael, Scott (Carmen) and Daniel Wagler and Liam Dunn-Northcott. She is also survived by her many loving nieces and nephews and a large extended family; all of whom will miss her terribly. Special thanks to Derry MacFarlane Jr., Gail Fraser, Dr. I. Belenkie and the staff at the Cardiac Function Clinic and the wonderful staff of Chinook Hospice. Thank you also, to everyone who visited and brought joy to her during her final days. A Funeral Service was held at FOSTER’S GARDEN CHAPEL, 3220 – 4 Street N.W., Calgary (across from Queen’s Park Cemetery) on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. Interment followed at Queen’s Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made directly to the Calgary Humane Society, 4455 – 110 Avenue SE, Calgary AB, T2C 2T7. Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family via the website www.fostersgardenchapel.ca.

FOSTER'S GARDEN CHAPEL

FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM

Telephone: 403-297-0888

Honoured Provider of Dignity Memorial