Mary Anne Clavelle

Anne was a special influence in the lives of those who loved her and she will be deeply missed throughout all the years to come.

Anne was born on April 11, 1937, seven and a half miles north of Watson, Saskatchewan. Her parents, Mary Anne and Russel Esawoloff, were homesteaders from Russia, and Anne carried forward that Russian heritage with quiet pride and enduring respect for the roots that shaped her family.

Anne attended Daisy Local Rural School. After completing Grade 8, she devoted herself to helping at home and taking on the outside chores on her parents’ farm; work that reflected a steady sense of responsibility and a willingness to do what needed to be done.

At the age of 18, at the request of the matron of the Watson Hospital, Anne began working there as a nurse’s aide. During those years, rural roads could blow in so completely that travel was possible only by horse, and so Anne, her brother Bill, and her father moved into Watson. At 20, with a reference from the matron, she applied to the newly built University Hospital in Saskatoon, continuing her work in care and service. While in Saskatoon, she lived with Elsie Konkin, also from Watson.

It was through Elsie—when Ray Meiklejohn, who was dating Elsie, invited Anne to join them for a dance at Danceland—that Anne met Albert on what began as a blind date. Anne and Albert married in 1960, and, as the saying goes, they were both young and blind. Together they spent most of their lives on a farm in the Plunkett area, building a life grounded in family and the daily commitments of home and land.

Anne was predeceased by her daughter, Pamela, as well as three sisters and two brothers. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Albert, and four children: Joe, Mark, Cathy (Jay Elliott), and Coralee (Ray Gilmour) as well as 9 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.