Charlene Alberta Gullason

THE DASH 1933 - 2026

On October 18, 1933 Charlene Alberta Woodruff was born to John Errol and Florence Esther Woodruff in Kearney, Ontario. She was the youngest member of her family, and she had one older sister, Barbara, and three older brothers, Kelly, Bud and Loren.

She spent her formative years in Kearney, and seemed to experience a number of unforgettable adventures growing up in this small town. During her younger years a neighbour, Mrs. O’Connor, gave her the moniker of being a “red haired, freckled faced little bugger”, as she was always getting into mischief. Harry White, also of Kearney, told her and her friends that “if they wanted to steal corn from his field for their corn roasts, they had better make sure that they took it from the next field over, rather than stealing the corn he needed to feed his cows”. As if these weren’t enough antics, she fell out of the back door of a bus while she was on her way to school, and to top it all off, she jumped off the bridge in Kearney into the river below despite being told not to, as it was too dangerous. As a teenager she was a member of the “Kearney Seven”, which was a group of seven teenage girls, who thought they were pretty special as they pranced around town together.

She attended elementary school in Kearney, and she was bussed to Burks Falls for her high school years. Her name was placed in the cornerstone of the newly built high school as she was one of the first students to attend the school. After she graduated, she attended Business College in Toronto, where she learned office skills that set the pathway towards her career in administrative work.

Charlene met her future husband, Lorne Gullason, at Camp Borden in 1955. She was working as a civilian in the offices at the military base at the same time that Lorne was enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force when their paths crossed for the first time. They started dating soon thereafter, and got married on April 27, 1957 at the United Church in Kearney. Two children arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, Paula in 1958 and Robert in 1961.

Military life prevailed in their lives for the next 28 years with respect to Lorne’s career. They started married life in Angus, which is near the military base at Camp Borden. They were soon transferred to Comox, British Columbia, where Lorne was in charge of a ground crew that provided mechanical support to the Snowbird squadron and to CF 101Voodoo jets. Lorne was sent to Tanzania, East Africa for a year in 1968, and the family moved to Kearney, Ontario to reside with Charlene’s parents while he was away on National Defense business. When he returned in 1969, the family moved to North Bay, Ontario, and frequent trips were made back and forth to Kearney until Charlene, Lorne, and Robert moved once again on military assignment to Moosejaw, Saskatchewan in 1977. At that point in time, Paula got married to Maurice, and opted to stay in Ontario.

Charlene and Lorne remained in Saskatchewan for the next 20 years, as Lorne received his discharge from the military in 1979, and they moved to Lorne’s homestead property in Canora, Saskatchewan to take over the family’s 8 acre hobby farm, and to care for his elderly mother. After retiring from the military, Lorne received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant, and became the commanding officer of the air cadet squadron in Canora. At the same time, both Lorne and Charlene became active members of the Legion.

In the 1980’s, Charlene was also kept busy with managing a large vegetable garden, cooking family favourite meals, and attending courses at the University of Regina where she obtained a certificate in Public Administration. With this qualification, she worked at the school division office, and at the municipal office as an assistant administrator in Canora, until her retirement.

Charlene’s Life Roles, Hobbies and Interests

Daughter, Tiny (a family nickname that was derived from Barbara mispronouncing Charlene),sister, aunt, girlfriend, fiancée, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, “GG” – a short form for great grandmother, Char, and friend represent some of the cherished roles that Charlene had throughout her life, and she owned all of them with a great deal of pride and compassion for others.

She enjoyed singing and attending live theatre performances. Before she got married, she was involved in a Glee Club in Barrie, Ontario. This organization used to put on musical theatrical productions that Charlene really enjoyed participating in. In later years, she and Lorne became regular members of the United Church, and one of the first things that she did was to join the choir.

Charlene made a lot of her own clothes when she was younger. She also enjoyed camping, fishing, playing Rumoli, cribbage and euchre whenever she got the chance. There were many memorable euchre tournaments that took place at our house during the Christmas holidays over the years. She liked the challenge of completing crossword and Sudoku puzzles as well. She was quite adept at accounting, and she used to complete her own income tax forms each year. She was also an avid fan of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Most of all, Charlene especially enjoyed spending time with friends and family. She made several friends over the years through her church, by getting to know her neighbours, by staying in touch with her childhood friends in Kearney, and by staying in touch with military families who had long since been transferred elsewhere. She was especially proud of her grandchildren, Colleen, Suzanne and Jeff, and her seven great grand children, Kyle, Ryan, Ashley, Samantha, Sarah, Evelyn, and Arthur.

She will always be fondly remembered as being feisty, opinionated especially when politicians did silly things, and as a deeply caring person who will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Visitation will be held at Oshawa Funeral Home, 847 King Street West, Oshawa, ON, L1J2L4, CA, on September 18, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm.  

A Celebration of Life will be held at Oshawa Funeral Home, 847 King Street West, Oshawa, ON, L1J2L4, CA, on September 18, 2026, at 2:00 pm.