Anita Marie Bauder

Anita Marie Bauder- A life, well-lived; a mother, grandmother, wife, and a dear friend to many; a strong but gentle soul who loved all creatures great and small; Anita Marie Bauder (Boutilier) passed away peacefully on October 19, 2023, in the company of family and friends, at Dartmouth General Hospital, Nova Scotia.

Nita, as everyone knew her, was born in French Village, Nova Scotia on October 17, 1941, the daughter of Eric Sydney Boutilier and Grace Marie Dauphinee. Nita was predeceased by her parents, her infant sister Grace Boutilier, and her brother Eric Boutilier.

After losing her parents as a young teenager, Nita moved to Halifax and attended Queen Elizabeth High School. She was hired out of high school by Maritime Medical as a medical insurance assessor and in the summers worked in Hubbards at Chez EdMar, a seaside dance club, where she met a visiting naval officer, Donald Gordon Bauder, her husband and friend for the past 61 years.

Nita lived in Nova Scotia her entire life, except for three years in the late 1960s, when Don, Nita, and their young daughter, Donita, lived in Cornwall, United Kingdom, where Don was the Royal Canadian Navy’s exchange officer to the UK’s Royal Navy. Nita had an exciting life in the UK, travelling throughout Europe, hosting official dinner parties, and her favourite experience, attending a garden tea party hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

After returning to Nova Scotia, and adding their son, Andrew, to the family, Nita and Don settled in Dartmouth (including a few years at C.F.B. Shearwater). In Shearwater, Nita was a girl guide and beaver leader and taught Sunday school. For most of the 1970s, Nita and her family spent their summers and weekends at their cottage, an old farm property in Feltzen South, Lunenburg County. Nita tended her endless gardens of vegetables, later pickling much of the harvest, while generously hosting many neighbours and friends from far and wide, who spent their summer holidays at Nita and Don’s oceanfront “Farm”.

Later in life, Nita built a successful business under the name of Nita Bauder Sales. As sales representative for several giftware companies, including Gourmet du Village, Harrogate House, and Little Blue House, Nita (and Don) travelled to countless Atlantic Canadian towns selling product to giftshops. Twice a year Nita would work very long hours to set-up her award-winning booth of giftware samples at the Maritime Gift Show, usually at the Halifax Forum, while also working at the big national gift shows in Toronto.

In her later years, Nita lovingly nurtured her beautiful gardens on Johnstone Avenue in Dartmouth, where passerby's would often stop to admire the wilderness of colours and variety. She hung well stocked bird feeders throughout the gardens and outside her dining room window, enjoying the visits of numerous species of birds, each of which she seemed to know individually.

Nita cherished every minute she spent with her beloved granddaughter, Ema, often during shopping trips and Thanksgiving family camping trips in Ontario. Nita also enjoyed the company of her many dogs and cats over the years, all of whom were treasured members of her family.

Nita is survived and missed by her husband, Don; daughter, Donita (Bob Hatter) Bauder, Dartmouth; son, Andrew (Pamela Chang) Bauder, Burlington, ON; granddaughter, Ema Bauder, Burlington, ON; niece, Lesa Boutilier, Kitchener, ON; best friend Carol Parks, Dartmouth, and Carol’s children Lynn Wilson, Lahave; Heather Parks, Windsor; Andrea Parks, Adelaide, Australia.

Nita’s family would like to thank the staff of the Dartmouth General Hospital, particularly the Intensive Care Unit that provided compassion to Nita and her family in her final days.

No funeral service will be held. A celebration of Nita’s life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada or to the Canadian Wildlife Federation.