Gwendoline May Burgess

Gwen was born in Menaik, AB on Dec. 23, 1931 and eventually moved to Winnipeg, MB to become an x-ray technician. Working in x-ray at the Winnipeg General Hospital, she met her future husband, Ian Burgess, who was a medical intern on staff. They were married and eventually moved to Calgary in 1969 where Ian set up his paediatric practice, and where they have lived ever since.

Gwen loved singing in her church choir at St. Laurence Anglican Church in Lakeview, where she was secretary of the Altar Guild and an integral member of many other service groups there from her arrival in Calgary. She was known far and wide for her miraculous green thumb, her skills with a sewing needle and her baking (especially birthday cakes for her grandkids). She enjoyed going to & supporting Calgary Opera, Calgary Philharmonic & Theatre Calgary.

Most of all she was known for her gentle kindness, caring, loving attitude toward anyone she met, who often became friends for life.

She is remembered with love by her husband, Ian; her daughter Norine Burgess and her children Sophie, Libby and Nikolaus Schade; her son, David (Cheryl) and their children Katie & Scott; her stepbrother John Witte (Gwyn), stepsister Anneliese Humbke (Stan) and numerous nieces and nephews, cousins, and loving friends. She is pre-deceased by her sister Donna Sarrazin, her brothers Jim Sweet & George Sweet and her stepbrother George Witte.

Special thanks go to the EMS team, as well as the staff at the Foothills Hospital ER and Trauma unit (McCaig Tower) for their empathetic, excellent care.

A celebration of Gwen’s life will be planned for a later time. The family welcomes donations in her name to Rotary International’s Ending Polio via https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio or St. Laurence Anglican Church https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/39504?v1=true.