Anita Evelyn Lewin

It is with profound sadness that we must say goodbye to our beloved grandmother,

mother, aunt, sister, nieghbour and friend Anita Lewin. Anita died quietly and comfortably in the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax shortly after midnight on Sunday July 7th. 2024. She was 101 years old, and (astoundingly) she lived independently with companion care in her own home until Monday April 22, 2024.

Anita (known to a fortunate few of us as Nana-Lew) was born in Halifax in 1923, and lived in Tantallon during her early childhood years. She was the second oldest of the three daughters and two sons of Ainsley and Ida Boutilier. The family moved to Halifax shortly before The Great Depression. The financial challenges of that era compelled Anita to enter the workforce at the tender age of 14 years. Anita worked throughout her adult life in restaurants, retail accounting, and later as an office manager at the Canada Permanent Insurance Corporation in Montreal. She retired in the late 1970s and returned home to Halifax Nova Scotia.

Anita married Ralph Stoddard in 1940, and gave birth to her only child Glen Stoddard in 1942. Anita and Ralph separated in 1950. She later married John (Jack) Lewin in 1955 and they remained together until Jack’s death in 1994.

Anita was a devout Baptist throughout her adult life. She attended church so consistently that her rare absences never went unnoticed. Her daily prayers and devotions helped to keep her connected to her faith as her ability to physically attend church services decreased with her advanced age. She expressed profound gratitude for the visits of friends, family, nieghbours and pastors during the relative isolation of her later years.

Anita truly had a style and a wit that was unique to her. She always dressed with

attention to colour scheme and detail, a talent that carried her through 10 decades

fashionably. She was an accomplished painter of oils and water colours. Anita also loved to travel, particularly by ocean liner, and later on many cruise ships. These traits, talents and travels were well suited to Anita’s outgoing and gregarious personality. She truly was generations ahead of her time.

Anita was predeceased by her father (Ainsley Boutilier), mother (Ida Casely), sisters (Beula Macbournie & Audrey Pangbourne), brother (Donald Boutilier) husbands (Ralph Stoddard & Jack Lewin), son (Glen Stoddard), nieces (Verla Savioe, Brenda Macbournie & Sharon Lessard) and nephews (James Purcell & Tony Macdonald). She is survived by her brother (Tony Boutilier), nieces (Marilyn Johnstone, Carol Ryan, Anita Arenberg, Donna Riding, Dianne Collier & Yvette Gagnon), nephew (Donald Macdonald), daughters-in-law (Elizabeth Nickerson & Carolyn Stoddard) and grandchildren (Shelley Stoddard & Jeffery Froese-Stoddard).

A memorial service will be held at J.A. Snows Funeral Home 339 Lacewood Dr, Halifax on Tuesday August 13, 2024 at 2:00pm. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Salvation Army, Souls Harbour Rescue Mission and (of course) Hand-in-Hand Thrift Store (Society of St. Vincent de Paul,