Wilhelmina “Meintje” (nee Altena) Welburn

Willie is reunited with her Jack whom she has missed terribly since October 1, 1993. Also predeceased by her parents, sisters Margaret “Maaike” Weare, Charlotte “Sjoukje” Miles, Mabel “Iebeltje” Reynolds, brother Alan “Eelke”, and her granddaughter Alison Leaney.

She will be lovingly remembered by her children Jack and Lynda (Woodward), Sharon and Stephen Barrett, and Doreen and Barry Pearlman. She was simply “Grandma” to grandchildren Jim, Sheryl, Adrienne, Dawne, Margaret, Rachel, Bob, Katherine, Elizabeth and Beth, “Beppe” to many of her 18 great-grandchildren, “Aunt Willie” to her many nieces and nephews, and “Willie” to cousins and friends.

Willie was born on January 10, 1923, to Anna “Antje” (van der Lei) and Leslie “Linze” Altena in Boornbergum, Friesland, Netherlands. Her family immigrated to Canada in 1927 and settled in the Hamilton area.

She attended Mohawk Trails School (now a Museum) and Glanford School on Hwy #6. Always a hard worker, she worked as a house cleaner in her teen years and at the Hamilton Farmers Market selling produce from the family farm. It was at the Market where she met a handsome RCAF airman in July 1942, Jack Welburn.

Married in December 1942, she and Jack raised their young family while running a small dairy farm in Mount Hope at the end of English Church Road. Those were demanding years - Willie could remember waking up to find frost on the bedspread - but she tended to remember them happily, speaking of her dear little children. She also worked for many years as a rural Mail Carrier in Hannon, Ontario – the whole family was involved in helping deliver the mail.

She and Jack spent a wonderful retirement between the beloved cottage at Star Lake in the Muskokas and St. Petersburg, Florida, often hosting friends and family, playing Uno or Scrabble, drinking tea from delicate teacups, and sharing stories and laughs. She was an excellent cook and hostess, with cookies for tea and scotch mints for Sundays always close at hand.

Willie enjoyed knitting, sewing, and embroidery but the most important things in her life were her faith and her family. She grew up in the church and was a prayer warrior. Whether it was Central, Bethel or Mountain Gospel Church, she was often a volunteer leader in programs like Sunday School and Pioneer Girls Club.

She was dignified yet warm; she was affectionate and curious and asked questions in a way that made you feel she was truly interested. It was said that, while her husband Jack had the gift of making friends, Willie had the gift of keeping them.

Relatives and friends are invited to Visitation at the Cresmount Funeral Home, 322 Fennell Avenue East, Hamilton on Tuesday, April 1st from 11:30 am – 1 pm. The Funeral Service will be celebrated in the Cresmount Chapel at 1 pm. Burial at Mount Hamilton Cemetery, 260 Rymal Road, Hamilton.

As expressions of sympathy, donations to Rural Life Mission would be appreciated by the family.