My darling  Aunt Sheila. One of the kindest, sweetest people that I knew. Thank you for all the happy memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life.  I sincerely hope that you are at peace and that you are with Ted, Karen, Michael, Ken and your wider family.

With lots of love.

It was an honour to deliver Mum's Eulogy with my brother Phil, below is a copy of our notes:
Also please see mum's tribute slideshow at https://vimeo.com/171783397


EULOGY
(PHIL) Tim and I would like to thank you all for being here today to celebrate a wonderful Mum, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, wife, aunt, and friend.

(TIM) Our Mum came into this world on June 8 1936 in Calcutta Indiashe lived in a town called
Saidpur, in North-Eastern India. She was the seventh of 8 children.  Her heart was large from the beginningalways picking up strays' that she claimed were hers, her love of animals started right from the get-go.  Her generosity didn't stop there, when she was in boarding school and received a care-package from her Mum; Annie, her kind heart extended to those who were less fortunate and wanted to give most of her package away. Much to her older sister Gwens dismay.

(PHIL) In 1955, Mum worked as a secretary in Calcutta and that is where our Mum and Dad met and then they got married in early 1956.  Our brother Michael came along, followed shortly thereafter, a life-changing move to London England where Karen and Ken were born in an area called Poplar.  After 4 years they moved to Frinton-on-Sea where Tim was born but it wasn't to end there last but not least I joined the family once they had moved back to Seven Kings, in Essex. April of 1960 Mum worked for a Real estate company in Essex until February 1966 right up until I came along.  

(TIM) Mum took some time away from work, her next job was when Phil was 17 months old in 1967 once again using her proficient secretarial skills in a local government office. She was determined to raise a family and hold down a job to support her family.  Then she went to the London Hospital, Medical College in her field of secretary and did extra work on the side typing up, Medical student PHD candidates theses' and all the while caring for the family of 5 kids. She was very busy.  She always took care of the house, knitted sweaters and sewed clothes and the list goes on and on, including getting meals on the table every night, I remember fondly the time spent in the kitchen being in charge of making sure the onions got golden brown' and didn't burn' that was my job, apparently Michael was no good at doing this, so I felt proud of being so good at it. It was only a few years later that I figured out he would burn them so he wouldn't have to work in the kitchen, and maybe watch TV instead.

(PHIL) In 1975 the decision was made to move the entire family of 7 to Canada. Mum of course found a job right way with the Federal Dept. of Supply and Services in the capacity of the Finance and Admin clerk. She retired when she was 55 in 1991 right around the same time Dad retired. but after some holidays travelling she decided she wasn't quite done and took on a part-time work role for Flora Canada, a vitamin health food manufacturer. She was secretary for the owner who marvelled at Mum's old school' secretarial style including proficiency in short-hand a truly lost art.

(TIM) With more time on their hands the new venture that started with the pet dog Max, the long-haired dachshund became the new focus.  Penemma Kennel was created and it became a retirement vocation and passion and both Mum & Dad were striving to establish a new bloodline of dogs in Canada cream coloured miniature long-haired dachshund a very unique line.  

(PHIL) In 1992 they moved out of Richmond and set up their kennel in South Surrey. Trips to the UK to bring new breed lines back and participating in shows to demonstrate their unique species of daschiesIn 2003 they moved into the Cloverdale area and expanded the kennel to continue their dreamand raise dogs.  
All the while, by 2004 the immediate family continued to grow and Mum was surrounded by a growing number of grandchildren a perfect 10!  

(TIM) As life went on in the late 2000's things started to change for Mum, we all realized that Mum was getting a bit dotty' whether it was losing her glasses or repeating her stories it turned out to be, in the clarity of hindsight the beginning of her new and greatest challenge of all. 
A Mother's loss is always different from everyone elses.  In 2009, her beloved daughter Karenwas taken from her and all of us, unexpectedly then within a short 7 months her eldest son Michael died in 2010. Our brother Ken fought a courageous battle with cancer for six years, but in 2011 Mum lost her third child Three children in three years, a crushing weight on ones' life as a parent, when we all want to believe that we won't out-live our children. Was the rapid decline into alzheimers and dementia pushed along by the weight of loss, we can only speculate about that, but we do know her world that she lived in slipped away from the world we live in.

(PHIL) For many years Mum was devoted to her faith and was sustained and comforted by it, as a regular attendee at Mass it was highlighted by the weekly participation in the adoration vigil. 

We as a family were ready to accept and embrace the new chapter in her new life, after losing Dad, as Mum started to get settled at Zion Park Manor, the first few pages of this new chapter were being written. They told a story of someone who had found some peace and contentment in this new place, no longer was Mum thinking she should be somewhere else we would visit and enter her world, a world where she was quick with a laugh and a smile when you visited, always happy to see the latest picture or video of the kids or the eight Grandbabies'. She may not have known who was who, but there was no escaping for her true affection for children and animals and us adults who embraced her as only family can.
  
In a word we accepted', this truly was but the first part of the new journey, but it was not to be so, this chapter was the shortest of all. We are shocked, we are heartbroken this was not what we expected or could foresee.

(TIM) So now we have our memories, a life full of memories. All through my life Mum was always ready to share a storyespecially one she thought was humorous whether it was me when I was a wee lad as we walked and she held my hand up and I complained as it got pins-and-needles or of when Ken was caught chasing me around the playpen with a broom. Which upon reflection does seem a bit funny, but it all really depends on which end of the broom you're on' doesn't it
She loved to tell and re-tell stories like this.

(PHIL) I remember the time I spent with Mum at work at the London Hospital before I was school-age, and all the compliments she used to get on the thoroughness and speed at which she completed her work.

(PHIL)  But now here we are and the time has come to say good-bye  

(TIM) How to do you say goodbye to a Mother? I think you say goodbye by honouring her memory, the life of devotion, the life of hard work, the life of unconditional love, that while sometimes impaired by circumstances was always was there in abundance, looking for an outlet. Carry that memory in your own heart and always know that a mother's love is special, a bond that can never be broken, a bond that transcends the challenges we face and remains the anchor that you can rely on.

Goodbye Mum

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Victory Memorial Park & Funeral Centre

Sheila Raphael

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OBITUARY

Sheila Florence Raphael

8 June, 1936 – 1 June, 2016

Victory Memorial Park & Funeral Centre

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