Eleanor Olver

Eleanor passed away peacefully at the age of 94 with her youngest child at her side. The family extend their gratitude to the staff at RUH for their kindness, expertise and comforting care during her last weeks.

Mom was born in Quill Lake, SK to Cliff and Clara Richard. She grew up on the farm where her love of nature, animals and birds was nurtured. It was also where she learned the value of hard work at a young age and was expected to help with chores every day. She always preferred to do the outside work over housework and could be found tending the chickens, pigs, cows and horses. She rode her horse ‘Jeff’ to Kingscourt school. This was sometimes a challenging task as Jeff was a stubborn Shetland and would occasionally turn around half way and gallop back to the barn with Mom hanging on for dear life. Mom and her older sister Helen were close in age and did everything together. According to Mom, Helen was brave and daring so she let Helen try things first and if disaster didn’t befall her, Mom would give it a go. Their younger brother Marcel was their patient pupil when they wanted to play school – up unto a point when he’d had enough of their instruction and ran off to do more adventurous things. Mom had a soft spot for her younger sister Carol who was strong of character and a defender of the underdog. Mom always looked forward to visiting her second cousins who lived several miles away. The youngest ones, Jean, Lillian and Cecil were about the same age and even though they spoke only French at that time and Mom spoke only English it did not seem to matter much when it came to play.

To further her schooling Mom went to Manitoba and attended St. Frances Xavier for Grade 8 and St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Boniface for Grade 9. Her paternal grandparents and aunts lived in Winnipeg and frequent visits with them helped ease any loneliness. Mom shared some stories of her boarding school antics with us over the years but we think we only heard selected parts! She completed her Grade 10 & 11 at Sion Academy in Saskatoon where she made wonderful life long friendships. Then, she was off to Robertson’s Secretarial School for a year and onward into the workforce.

Her first job at the Quacker Oats company in Saskatoon would prove pivotal. Two of her co-workers set her up on a blind date with their brother. The date was a dance at Mayfair Community Hall. They danced all night and the rest was history according to our Dad.

Thank you Aunty June and Aunty Joyce!

Eleanor and Doug were married June 30, 1952 and forged a strong, loving, faith filled partnership over their 67 years together. They raised a family of six children and would eventually welcome 28 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren (with 3 more on the way).

Once the family began to grow, Mom became a stay at home mother. With six busy kids she put her office manager skills to domestic use and kept us all organized and the household running smoothly. Once all the children were in school she went back to work. First, at the Colonial Confectionary and then at the U of S Bookstore in the accounting department, finally retiring in 1995.

Mom described raising her family as busy, happy times. She was not a helicopter parent but allowed us the space to make our own mistakes, then was present and supportive as we inevitably worked through the consequences. We felt loved but not smothered, encouraged but not pushed, guided by example not endless words and always valued and cherished. Over the summer holidays our Dad worked as an instructor and platoon commander with the Army cadets in Vernon, BC and Banff, AB. The whole family made the trip and while Dad lived in barracks, Mom camped with her six kids providing them with wonderful memories of the best childhood adventures a kid could ever have. We marvel at how she could have logistically done this initially camping in tents, then upgrading to a trailer as we got older. Mom encouraged us to explore our interests and educational pursuits. She was proud of our accomplishments big or small.

In 1983 our parents built their dream home complete with an indoor pool. Their home on the acreage in Furdale, SK became the hub for family gatherings. All the grandchildren learned to swim in Grandma’s pool. Her door was always open to her growing extended family and she nourished them with homegrown food from her large gardens, raspberry patch and honey from the beehives. Her homemade soup and buns were our comfort food. Looking after her family and the acreage was always a labour of love for Mom. If she wasn’t in the kitchen, garden or barn you could find her in the field cutting grass on the Grasshopper ride on mower. She loved her animals, had a green thumb and made sure the bird feeders were always full.

Quiet, country living filled her with peace and contentment.

Mom had a love of poetry. Not the classics but poems written by family. She left us with poems she wrote that are a reflexion of what she valued. Some express her deep, abiding faith and others how much she loved her grandchildren. Her sense of humour shines through in her words and today those poems are treasures for her family. She also left us with her memoirs and now generations to come will have insight into her life.

Thank you Mom, for all that you have done for us.

Your faith has guided us and your love has sustained us.

Eleanor was predeceased by her husband, Doug Olver, her siblings and their spouses, Helen (Chris) Small, Marcel (Sharon) Richard, Carol (Gus) Sauer, her son-in-law Mark Tennant, her husband’s siblings and their spouses and her nephews Doug Olver, Lyle Moore, Randy Moore and Murray Richard.

Left to celebrate her life and legacy are her six children Gary(Dianne) Olver, Gail Tennant, Grant (Sherry) Olver, Garth (Myra) Olver, Greg (Terri) Olver, Glenn (Manorie) Olver, their families (including 28 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren) as well as extended family and friends.