Regina Blanche Summers

She was the mother to Tim (Sylvia), Dave (Gina), Lori, Dawn (Darin), and Bob (Sylvia); Grandmother to Calvin, Sharly, Glynnis, Matthew, Melissa, Dylan, Dawson, Ankya, and Natalya; and Great Grandmother to Liam, Jordan, Emily, and Wrenley.

She was an exceptionally dedicated mother, giving each of her five children the dedicated care and support they needed to find their own paths in life. There was no great speech or fuss about it. She was simply there. That was Mom.

She married Jim Summers when they were young and spent 55 years with him before his death in 2015. Jim was a larger-than-life character, a water-well driller, and a man with a formidable reputation for toughness during his early years. Mom brought a much-needed steadiness to his life, and together they created a home, raised a family and built a business.

Mom had plenty of toughness of her own.

She survived medical crises that might have ended many lives: a brain aneurysm, an aortic aneurysm, uterine cancer, and a massive heart attack that required prolonged resuscitation. The doctors in the hospital called her a miracle woman. After the brain aneurysm she walked with a cane, but that didn’t slow her down. As the years went by, the canes themselves became part of her story, including a collection brought home from Africa.

Africa held a special place in Mom's heart. Her first journey there was in 1986, when she travelled to Ethiopia to be with Dad while he worked drilling water wells in the Ogaden Desert. What stayed with her most was not the adventure, but the people. After a later visit to Malawi, she founded Water for Life in Africa and spent years helping raise money to provide wells to villages that needed them. Thousands of people in Malawi have clean water today because of Mom’s efforts.

She loved her home, which reflected those travels and was filled with things from Africa. She enjoyed going for coffee at Bings Cafe, where Dawn worked, and she valued the familiar routines and people of her community.

At home, Mom was a private person who loved doing puzzles, reading, painting pictures of Africa. She also loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Her determination and love of family remained with her to the end. In her final days, she called the people she cared about and encouraged them to come and say goodbye. She told us to go forward, enjoy our families and friends, and to live our lives to the fullest. A small family gathering will be held to celebrate her life.

We will miss her enormously.