Wendy Weseen

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Wendy (Robinson) Weseen. Wendy passed away peacefully with family by her side at the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice Home on November 2, 2026 at the age of 81 years.

Wendy was the loving mother of Katie (Rodney) White, Robin Weseen and Simon (Heather) Weseen. She was also the very proud grandmother of Erin and Olivia White and Kaitlin Weseen. She will be missed by her immediate family as well as her brother Peter (Sandra) Robinson, her sisters Janet Robinson, Susan Dionne and Elaine (David) Labar and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, James Weseen and her mother and father, Mavis and Walter Robinson.

Wendy was born in Castleford, Yorkshire, England as the second of five children. Her formative years were filled with both the love and challenges experienced by many families in post-war Britain. In those early years, she lost her grandmother, an important figure in her life, and the family experienced bouts of homelessness and struggle to make ends meet. In 1955, her father decided to make a change and Wendy and her family immigrated to Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada. This move was pivotal for the family, and she often spoke about the majesty of pulling into the St. Lawrence River after many long days at sea.

The Robinson family spent years in Outlook, Leoville, and Shell Lake, Saskatchewan as well as Redcliff, Alberta before settling in Naicam, Saskatchewan in 1961, when Wendy was in high school. It was there where she met her future husband, Jim, before enrolling in the nurses training program in Saskatoon. Wendy wrote extensively about these years during her childhood and youth in her memoirs and poetry and referenced details in her artwork.

In 1967, Wendy married Jim in a small ceremony in Saskatoon and began a life of working briefly as a nurse and then as a mother to three children. She took great care to provide a creative and nurturing environment, surrounding her children with arts and crafts, reading materials, fresh garden produce, and homemade bread. She opted to stay home for her offsprings’ early years but always found time to be involved in the communities of Macklin, Star City and eventually Tisdale, where Jim worked as an educator.

Mixed in with the chaos of regular family life, the Weseens traveled extensively throughout Canada and the Unites States, Europe, and Jim and Wendy ventured as a couple to the Middle East. In 1979, the family traveled to northern England, where Jim participated in a year-long teaching exchange. This year was memorable and Wendy notably worked in a pub and designed displays for the Bowes Museum. Her artistic interest began to increasingly flourish during this time.

After leaving nursing, Wendy obtained her Social Work and Fine Arts Degrees and subsequently worked as an artist, a community developer, an educator, and a social worker. She instructed community college programs, began the North East Early Childhood Intervention Program, and worked in various roles within the health and educational sectors. Her impact on those with whom she worked cannot be over-stated. Her commitment to social justice and personal and community well-being is widely known.

Wendy had incredible energy and passion and used it to devote time and attention to creating things, organizing festivals (e.g. Doghide River Festival), running community programming, spearheading cultural and historical organizations, and making an impact everywhere she went. She won numerous awards for her volunteering activities and for her art endeavors.

Following her marital separation in 2006, Wendy devoted her time and energy increasingly to travel and artistic pursuits. She explored places like Russia, India, Egypt, and Africa, often as a solo traveller. She was never afraid to explore everything the world had to offer, capturing her experiences through photographs and later documenting them in her artwork and writing.

Beginning in Saskatoon and later after her move to Kamloops to care for her aging mother, Wendy began to extend her creative spirit into the written word. She joined writing festivals and communities, often sharing her poems and essays at open mike events. She created and sold handmade books in support of environmental organizations. She had several poems published in anthologies and was a regular writer for the Kamloops Castanet and occasionally wrote a column for the Globe and Mail.

Wendy’s health was a challenge in her later years, but she never let it stop her creative pursuits, her environmental and social activism, her community involvement, or her connections with friends and family, who were so important to her. She was courageous and fearless in pursuing her interests and relationships and never let her health interfere in embracing opportunities.

Wendy was incredibly proud of her children and grandchildren. She spent countless hours on Zoom calls, connecting with those she loved. She was creative through and through and this passion flowed through every conversation and relationship in her life. She loved thinking and exploring ideas and never tired of searching for learning everywhere she could find it. These values will continue to flow through her children and grandchildren.

Special thanks to the staff at the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice Home for the exceptional care they gave Mom in her final days. In lieu of flowers, we ask you to consider donating to this or any hospice in your area. Mom knew the value of end-of-life care, even before she ended up there herself.