Helen Jean Ard

Helen Jean Ard nee Rice, passed away at her residence at Missionwood Retirement Home on October 16th, 2021; just 33 days after her husband Ed passed away. Her son Rob and his wife Bernie and her son Brian and his wife Ann were with Helen when she passed away.

Helen, the first child of Kenneth and Beulah (Harris) Rice, was born on a farm in Hibbert Township near Mitchell, Ontario on September 20th, 1930. Helen met the love of her life, Edward James Ard, while riding the bus to school in Mitchell when she was 14 and he 17. They had a brief romance before Ed left Mitchell in 1947 to join the RCMP. After graduation from Mitchell High School, Helen went to “Normal School” (Teachers College) and went on to teach at a one-room schoolhouse. Helen and Ed stayed in touch by writing letters while Ed served his first 5 years in the RCMP in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Ed and Helen were married at Turin, Ontario, on August 12th, 1952 and immediately moved to Edmonton, Alberta. Over the next 28 years, Helen and Ed moved 11 times including a move to Fort Chimo, a remote Inuit settlement in northern Quebec in 1953; less than one year after they were married. Most of her first 14 years of marriage were spent in the Yukon and North West Territories. In Watson Lake, Helen cooked meals for the two single constables, provided meals to prisoners and answered the police radio if nobody was in the office. Helen also continued to teach during the years she was in the north. In 1980 Ed retired from the RCMP and they moved to West Kelowna, where they lived until they moved into the Missionwood Retirement Resort in 2017. Helen volunteered with Meals on Wheels in Kelowna, delivering meals to senior citizens and also volunteered with the Hospital Auxiliary at the Flower Shop at Kelowna General Hospital for 35 years. Helen and Ed were avid Bridge players for nearly 50 years and were members of several Kelowna Duplicate Bridge clubs. They played bridge right up until Ed’s passing in September. Wherever Helen and Ed went they made life-long friends. Many of their friends were RCMP couples that they met in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and they met many more friends during their years in Kelowna. Helen and Ed have 5 children – Bill (Liz) born 1953, Rob (Bernie) born 1955, Brian (Ann) born 1959, Nancy Ferguson (John) born 1961, and Barry (Clare) born 1964. They have 13 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. Helen’s 8th great grandchild will be born in January 2022. Helen is also survived by her sister Marjorie McDougall and her brother Bob Rice. The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.