Gabrielle Anderson

Gabrielle Anderson was born on November 1, 1936, to Antoinette and Ovilla Grenier, who were Québécois settlers in the Plamandon, Alberta, area. They farmed their homestead with the help of Gabrielle’s 13 siblings, raising varied crops and livestock to support their large family. She married Lawrence Anderson on February 7, 1956, and they were married until Dad’s passing on February 14, 2003. They had six children: Rose (Collin), Clinton (Barb), Anne, Joanne (Ted), Darlene (Russell), and Michelle (Brent).

Our family lived in the Edmonton, St. Albert, and Duffield areas, and Mom and Dad were active members of the communities where they lived. No matter where they lived, Mom cared for her large family and tended the enormous gardens necessary to feed them. She loved working in the garden, where it was peaceful, and enjoyed growing both vegetables and flowers and was a craftswoman in food preservation.

Mom was an artisan, working in the mediums of counted cross-stitch, knitting, crocheting, quilting, and almost any other handicraft she set her eye on. She was a master of colour and technique, creating countless works of art that hang in our homes and our hearts.

There were cousin camps and fishing trips with their nine grandchildren: Drew, Lauren (Mark), David, Jonathan (Chelsea), Ryan (Béa), Amber (Blake), Aidan, Brendan, and Emma. There are now nine great-grandchildren: Rowen, Sadie, Dax, Ainsley, Élodie, Juneau, and Samuel, all of whom Mom took great delight in. Identical twin boys joined the clan this week, and we are certain that Mom watched over their safe arrival.

In addition to Dad and many of her siblings, she was predeceased by our sister Joanne and great-grandbaby Merit, who was loved before we were able to meet him.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, July 23, at 1:00 p.m. at Parkland Funeral Home in Stony Plain, Alberta.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Parkinson Canada. Mom endured Parkinson’s for the last 20-plus years of her life, never complaining much about it and enduring the vivid hallucinations that are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease dementia for the last of those years.